Dr Jing Zhao

Personal statement:

I am a Senior Lecturer in Architecture at UWE Bristol, specialising in Net Zero policy, Passivhaus, and retrofit engagement. I adopt a socio-technical approach and systems thinking to examine the decarbonisation of residential buildings. My research has informed national and EU policies, with work cited in the British Academy’s Governance for Net Zero report, European Academies’ Science Advisory Council’s Decarbonisation of buildings report, and the UK Parliament’s Heat Resilience and Sustainable Cooling inquiry. I hold a PhD in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh and have worked in both China and the UK across international practices.

My research primarily focuses on Net Zero and Housing. It is underpinned by building a better understanding of people’s perceptions, opinions and behaviours such as retrofiting and using low carbon technology in their home environments, as well as the sociotechnical and organisational change in the decarbonisation process in building sector, and the policy implications. My area of expertise extends to examining the delivery of Low Carbon Housing, Passivhaus, especially Affordable Housing, their social value and local benefit, as well as how they can be integrated into policy development, implementation, and on-going evaluation.

Publications:

‘Do Passive Houses Need Passive People? Evaluating the Active Occupancy of Passivhaus Homes in the United Kingdom’, Energy Research & Social Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101448

‘Effects of landscape patterns on the summer microclimate and human comfort in urban squares’, Sustainable Cities and Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021

‘Implementing net zero affordable housing — towards a human-centred approach’, Journal of the British Academy. https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/011s4.009