Marlena Swan
Doctoral Researcher
Loughborough University
Marlena is an ARB-registered architect with 6 years of experience in the construction industry. Before joining ERBE CDT in October 2022 she worked as an architectural assistant and architect in practices in Yorkshire, Merseyside, and Cheshire, on projects across residential, commercial, and education sectors. Through education and work, Marlena developed a strong interest in environmental design, building physics and energy modelling. During her PhD, Marlena spent 7 months seconded to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) as a data analyst, working on assessment of overheating mitigation strategies for UK homes and contributing to policy development.
Investigating the suitability of reduced input models for overheating assessment and adaptation strategy recommendation in existing UK dwellings
Current overheating assessment methods used in the UK are either very simplistic – based on rules of thumb such as window to floor area ratio; or very complex – requiring the use of specialist software, detailed models and expert knowledge. The aim of this project is to investigate the possibility of using reduced input models based on data already collected as a part of EPC assessment, legally required for all homes sold and rented in the UK. The simplified models will be compared to complex models calibrated with measured data to provide confidence in the results.