CUBES (Cambridge University Built Environment Sustainability) is an interdisciplinary research group led by Dr Alice Moncaster aimed at facilitating a quicker transition to a low-carbon, more sustainable built environment.
Of all industrial sectors, the built environment puts the most pressure on the natural environment. In the European Union, it accounts for 50% of all extracted materials, 42% of the final energy consumption, 35% of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and 32% of waste flows. It is evident that irrespective of which problem sits at the top of the policy agenda—resource scarcity, energy security, or climate change and global warming—the built environment has a key role to play across all.
Most of our past and present research focuses on embodied and whole life carbon of buildings and we are currently extending our work further to include embodied materials, resource depletion, circular economy, and – in general – a more holistic environmental impact assessment. We often use an industry-academia co-production of knowledge, as it has proved one of the most effective pathways to real-world impact.
We welcome collaborations from academia and industry to broaden our research themes and increase our impact.
Current Members
Lara Mifsud
Jack Claydon
Sadiya Jaleel
Past Members
Katie Symons
Eleni Soulti
Dr Ji-Young Song
Stratos Gavotsis
Cham Ariyaratne
Daniella Sahagun
Sarah Fitton
We have worked and are working on several funded projects, listed below.
Implementing whole life carbon in buildings 2015-17
PI: Dr Alice Moncaster – RAs: Catherine De Wolf, Dr Francesco Pomponi
Project partners: RICS, Arup, Faithful and Gould (Atkins), Sturgis, SBP, Laing O’Rourke, Land Securities
Funding: EPSRC £80k (Cambridge), as part of £400k project funded by Innovate UK + partners
The project aims to develop a common whole life carbon calculation framework, and a certification scheme, to be used across the building industry.
Quantifying embodied carbon reduction potential in buildings 2015-16
PI: Dr Alice Moncaster – RA: Dr Francesco Pomponi
Funding: £38k Isaac Newton Trust and Department of Engineering
Developing an understanding of the key issues and strategies for embodied carbon reduction.
International Energy Agency EBC Annex 57 2012-2016
PI: Dr Alice Moncaster – RAs: Eleni Soulti, Dr Francesco Pomponi
Key project partners: Utsunomiya University Japan, CSIRO Australia, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany, KTH Sweden, NTNU Trondheim Norway, SBi Denmark
The invited UK member of a major five year international project on embodied energy and carbon in buildings, working with 25 researchers from 15 countries to develop inter-Governmental guidelines. Co-leader of subtask 4 and lead author of the report on ‘Design and construction methods for buildings with low embodied energy and CO2e emissions’.
Design for Future Climates (D4FC), St Faith’s School 2011–2013
Consultant: Dr Alice Moncaster RA: Dr Vicky Cheng
Project partners: Verve Architects, St Faith’s School
Funding: £10k (Cambridge) as part of £100k project funded by TSB
Worked with design team and client to develop adaptation strategies for Victorian and modern school buildings.
Project Butterfly 2010-2012
Dr Alice Moncaster: Senior Research Associate, leading project for Cambridge, and wrote funding application RAs: Katie Symons, Dr Ji-Young Song
Project partners: BLP Insurance, Willmott Dixon, UCL Energy Institute
Funding: EPSRC £180k (Cambridge) as part of £1.1m project funded by TSB + partners
Designed, developed, and successfully delivered a tool for embodied energy and carbon calculation.
Domestic retrofit at Rampton Drift 2011-2012
Consultant: Dr Alice Moncaster MEng student: Daniella Sahagun
Project partners: South Cambs District Council (SCDC), Willmott Dixon
Funding: Central Government (DCLG), via SCDC
Led a research programme into the technical and social challenges of retrofit programme.