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Eleni Ampatzi  BSc & MArch equivalent, MSc, PhD

Dr Eleni Ampatzi

BSc & MArch equivalent, MSc, PhD

Senior Lecturer, Director of Postgraduate Learning & Teaching

Welsh School of Architecture

Email
AmpatziE@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29208 74603
Campuses
Bute Park, Room n/a, North Road, Cardiff, CF10 3DX
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

Responsibilities

I am the Director of Postgraduate taught (PGT) for the Welsh School of Architecture, and as such responsible for managing the portfolio of postgraduate taught programmes that the school offers. 

I am a Senior Lecturer with background in Architecture and Architectural Science. I teach primarily on the postgraduate programmes that the school offers, in subjects relevant to environmental design. My research concerns the interaction of buildings and system services by focusing on demand-side determinants of ideal system performance. I am currently available for postgraduate research supervision in subjects related to my research expertise (see other tabs for further information). Any interested candidates are welcome to contact me directly prior to applying.

In the past I have been Course Leader for the MSc in Environmental Design of Buildings (and MSc in Environmental Design of Buildings by distance learning), Deputy Research Director and Chair of the Staff meetings.

Publication

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2013

2012

2010

2008

2007

2005

Articles

Conferences

Datasets

Thesis

Research

My research is concerned with the demand for services, in environmental, human-centric designs. My past research work has looked into the details of demand profiles and the use of thermal energy storage for managing gaps between energy demand and supply. In line with other work in this broader area, my work has demonstrated the influence that design requirements have on predicted energy use and potential for renewables.

I am currently contributing to the work done internationally in revisiting some of the fundamental hypotheses underlying our current knowledge of indoor environmental quality and the building user's needs. More specifically my work now aims to generate evidence that can shed more light on how verbal communications of the thermal experience, as these collated using questionnaire surveys, may be influenced by contextual factors or language choices. Furthermore I am also interested in the use of complementary, 'objective' techniques for gauging the human thermal experience, such as those involving the collection and analysis of physiological data (typically skin temperature and heart rate). This holistic approach to evaluating the user's thermal experience is aimed at overcoming communication bias in the evaluation of thermal environments and in establishing accurate requirements for design. Shaping clear and relevant objectives for the design of real, transient environments is crucial for our fight towards climate change.

Teaching

I currently teach on the Architectural Science Masters suite. I am the module leader of the ART 034 Environmental Design Practice, a 40-credit project-based module that mirrors a real-life building design process from site analysis, to passive design and use of efficient system services. I also contribute to the Climate Comfort and Energy module (MSc), and supervise a number of postgraduate dissertations (MSc and MArch level), as well as contribute to the assessment of Architectural Technology modules (BSc).

Past contributions to MSc modules: module leader of Outside Inside; Environmental Design Application, Climate Comfort Energy, Efficient Services.

Biography

In recent years Eleni has become involved in research work that forms part of the International Energy Agency's Energy in Building and Communities Programme and in particular Annexes 69 and 79. She currently contributes to a number of international collaborative studies stemming from Sub task 1 of the IEA EBC Annex 79 that focuses on "Multi-aspect environmental exposure, building interfaces, and human behaviour" (more detail in Research).

Eleni holds a PhD in Architectural Science and a Masters Degree in the Environmental Design of Buildings. She is qualified as an architect and has practiced architecture in Greece. Her main research interests lie in the integration of low carbon system services into buildings, using holistic approaches that aim at efficient synergies between the two.

The importance of thermal energy storage technologies in enabling the use of solar thermal systems and the associated influence of occupancy patterns have been focal points in her research, which started with her BRE Trust funded PhD thesis. During her PhD she participated in PREHEAT, a European funded project for policy reinforcement of heat storage technologies. Her research has examined the predicted thermal energy needs and potential capacities for heat storage, in existing typical houses that have not undergone any refurbishment. She has investigated variations in the performance of solar thermal powered systems in this context, examining in detail both the supply and demand sides. She has also worked for the “Scenario Modelling for a Low Carbon Wales” cross-cutting theme of the Low Carbon Energy Institute. Her contribution to the project included the analysis of the spatially disaggregated energy demand of the Welsh built environment and the regional-scale assessment of Wales’ solar energy resource.

Honours and awards

Sustained Outstanding Contributions Award in 2015

Professional memberships

  • Associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Member of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE-TCG)

Committees and reviewing

Journal reviewer (Solar Energy, Energy and Buildings, Sustainable Cities and Society, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment and others).

Book reviewer for RIBA (Royal Institute for British Architects)

Grant reviewer for Cara Syria Programme: Syria Research Fellowship Scheme (SRFS)

Past: Editorial board for MADE wsa journal.

Supervisions

  • The effectiveness of language choices in thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) research.
  • Physiological data collection and analysis for the evaluation of indoor thermal environments.
  • Inter-individual differences in thermal perception.
  • Difficult-to-treat thermal environments and personal comfort systems.
  • Generating evidence for the benefits of biophilic design.

Current supervision

Monoya Syam

Monoya Syam

Graduate Tutor

Mohd Hussin

Mohd Hussin

Graduate Tutor