Sustainable Cities and Environment

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University of Nottingham > Engineering > Research > Research Areas > Sustainable Cities and Environment

This is the place where we design the places of tomorrow.

Our experts are pioneering new technologies to decarbonise our buildings and help establish a circular economy to protect the environment.

We’re turning research into reality to help solve real world challenges including:

Better management of European peatlands using satellite monitoring
Recovery of pollutants from wastewater to create valuable products
Decarbonisation of new and existing housing stock using integrated energy efficient technologies

Our transformative research is addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and shaping the real world.

Our research also informs our courses, from undergraduate and masters degrees, to PhDs.

Explore our innovative research

Creative energy homes - New energy storage technology which could reduce household bills
Measuring structural damage - A digital method to quantify damage to foundation piles after storms
Managing peatlands – Monitoring and managing European peatlands response to climate change
Climate resilient bridges - Testing a new sustainable composite for bridge strengthening
Sustainable metal recovery – Creating a circular economy to recover rare earth elements from waste
Trent Basin - An award-winning community energy scheme in Nottingham
Climate resilient crops – Exploring how plants sense water stress to underpin future food security
Pollutants to products - Sorbent materials to recoup wastewater pollutants for valuable products
Clean cooking – Novel cooking technologies to improve health and reduce carbon emissions
Retrofitting housing - Developing a retrofit roadmap to decarbonise Nottingham’s housing
Low carbon heating – Harnessing waste heat to achieve low carbon heating for UK communities
Power to the people - Integrating people, processes and places to sustainably design our cities

Spotlight on:

Kenyan clean energy hubs

Improving access to reliable and affordable energy in low-income communities in Nairobi by transforming schools into green energy hubs to generate, store, and distribute renewable energy.

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"Our research is reviewing how we can retrofit our homes, looking at cost effective and efficient methods to reduce energy consumption."

— Dr Lorna Kiamba

Read our research impact success stories

Our research shapes society and boosts business. Discover more of our research impact stories.

Testing building airtightness

A building airtightness technique, recognised in the UK Building Regulations, to improve the energy efficiency of new and old buildings.

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Designing safer pipes

Preventing environmental disasters by modelling multiphase flow to validate pipe design models underpinning the oil and gas industry.

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Creating unique pavilions

Designing and constructing temporary hospitality pavilions and prestigious exhibitions for art, sport and industry using tensile membranes.

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Revolutionising copper extraction

Reducing energy consumption in copper extraction by over 20% by using microwave technology to extract copper from its ore.

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Transforming museum experiences

Using the Dinosaurs of China exhibition in Nottingham to demonstrate the effectiveness of research principles developed to enhance visitors experiential learning.

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