Dr Hu Du
BEng PgDip PhD FHEA
Senior Research Fellow
- duh4@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 5589
- 1.28, Bute Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3NB
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Responsibilities
Dr Hu Du’s main responsibilities at Cardiff University include:
- Developing research ideas to strengthen and expand the existing programme of research
- Developing research proposals for external funding of research
- Researching into future technologies for capturing solar energy and the integration in the built environment
- Developing research networks locally, nationally and internationally in support of the research programme
External activities
- Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy
- Member of the International Building Performance Simulation Association
- Welsh Crucible 2017
- Reviewer of Applied Energy
- Reviewer of Building and Environment
- Reviewer of Building Simulation
- Reviewer of Automation in Construction
- Reviewer of Building Services Engineering Research & Technology
Dr Hu Du is the Principal Investigator for European Commission funded Horizon 2020 Plug-n-Harvest project (2017-2021) at Cardiff University. He is also supported by the Welsh Government's Sêr Cymru programme researching into future technologies for capturing solar energy and the integration of solar technologies in the built environment, at building communities and larger scales. The Sêr Cymru programme is part of the Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales’ strategy to increase research capacity in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) related subjects, and is designed to attract high-profile scientific talent to Welsh universities.
Before joining Cardiff in December 2014, Dr Hu Du was a Senior Lecturer in Architecture and Energy Simulation at the Oxford School of Architecture and Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, Oxford Brookes University. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer after 2-year lectureship at the same institute. He led a postgraduate teaching module (Modelling and Passive Design Strategies) and supervised MSc dissertations on the MSc Sustainable Building: Performance and Design programme. He also worked on a range of cutting-edge research projects on climate change adaptation of new buildings, innovative refurbishment and building performance evaluation of existing buildings. He developed and evaluated refurbishment strategies for two historical office buildings funded under the Innovate UK’s ’Invest in Innovative Refurbishment’ programme and conducted building performance evaluation for a visitor centre funded under the Innovate UK’s ’Building Performance Evaluation’ programme. He also developed climate change adaptation strategies for five live architecture projects (a new eco-town development, two low impact schools and two sustainable healthcare buildings) funded under the Innovate UK’s ’Design for future climate: adapting buildings’ programme.
Dr Hu Du gained his PhD from University of Northumbria with the thesis titled: ’Modelling of building performance under the UK climate change projections and the prediction of future heating and cooling design loads in building spaces’. He holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Building Energy and Environmental Performance Modelling from Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University and a BEng in Building Environment and Services Engineering from Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, China. As PhD researcher, Hu worked on the 3-year EPSRC funded COPSE (COincident Probabilistic climate change weather data for a Sustainable built Environment) project (2008-2011), wherein he developed a simple calculation method for predicting the distribution of future cooling design loads, and a tool in Matlab to generate future Test Reference Year and Design Reference Year weather files from UK Climate Projections 2009 Weather Generator raw data.
2019
- Du, H., Huang, P. and Jones, P. 2019. Modular facade retrofit with renewable energy technologies: The definition and current status in Europe. Energy and Buildings 205, article number: 109543. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109543)
- Dong, Y.et al. 2019. Review of latent thermal energy storage systems for solar air-conditioning systems. International Journal of Energy Research (10.1002/er.4960)
- Dong, Y.et al. 2019. Review of latent thermal-energy storage systems for solar air-conditioning systems. International Journal of Energy Research (10.1002/er.4960)
- Wang, D.et al. 2019. Frost and high-temperature resistance performance of a novel dual-phase change material flat plate solar collector. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201, article number: 110086. (10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110086)
- Du, H.et al. 2019. Post-Workshop Report for Plug-N-Harvest Modular Façade Retrofit Workshop on Sustainable Places 2019. Proceedings 20(1), article number: 14. (10.3390/proceedings2019020014)
- Segarra, E. L.et al. 2019. Methodology for the quantification of the impact of weather forecasts in predictive simulation models. Energies 12(7), article number: 1309. (10.3390/en12071309)
- Chen, L., Du, H. and Li, Y. 2019. Scoping low-cost measures to nowcast sub-hourly solar radiations for buildings. Presented at: Sustainable Built Environment Conference, Cardiff, 24-25 September 2019. pp. -.
- Du, H., Bandera, C. F. and Chen, L. 2019. Nowcasting methods for optimising building performance. Presented at: Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Rome, Italy, 2-4 September 2019. pp. -.
2018
- Bandera, C. F.et al. 2018. Exergy as a measure of sustainable retrofitting of buildings. Energies 11(11), article number: 3139. (10.3390/en11113139)
- Du, H.et al. 2018. Development of a REST API for obtaining site-specific historical and near-future weather data in EPW format. Presented at: Building Simulation and Optimization 2018, Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, 11-12 September 2018.
- Ng, B.et al. 2018. Refurbishment options to decarbonise a 1960s public office building by 2050s. Presented at: CIBSE Technical Symposium, London South Bank University, London, 12-13 April 2018.
- Huang, P.et al. 2018. Heat and moisture transfer behaviour in Phyllostachys edulis (Moso bamboo) based panels. Construction and Building Materials 166, pp. 35-49. (10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.01.092)
- Wei, S.et al. 2018. Occupant adaptive behaviour: an effective method towards energy efficient buildings. Presented at: CIBSE Technical Symposium, London South Bank University, London, 12-13 April 2018.
2017
- Du, H., Barclay, M. and Jones, P. J. 2017. Generating high resolution near-future weather forecasts for urban scale building performance modelling. Presented at: Building Simulation 2017: 15th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, San Francisco, 7-9 August 2017Proceedings of Building Simulation 2017: 15th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, San Francisco, USA, August 7-9, 2017. International Building Performance Simulation Association
- Du, H., Jones, P. J. and Long, C. 2017. A novel approach to predict real-time urban heat island effect and indoor overheating. Presented at: Passive Low Energy Architecture (PLEA) 2017, Edinburgh, UK, 3-5 July 2017.
2016
- Du, H., Jones, P. J. and Ng, B. 2016. Understanding the reliability of localized near future weather data for building performance prediction in the UK. Presented at: The IEEE International Smart Cities Conference, Trento, Italy, 12-15 September 2016Smart Cities Conference (ISC2), 2016 IEEE International. IEEE pp. 1-4., (10.1109/ISC2.2016.7580826)
- Fong, J.et al. 2016. Application of a new dynamic heating system model using a range of common control strategies. Buildings 6(2), article number: 23. (10.3390/buildings6020023)
- Du, H., Jones, P. J. and Lannon, S. C. 2016. Creating localised near future weather data for predicting the performance of buildings in the UK. Presented at: The 12th REHVA World Congress CLIMA 2016, Aalborg, Denmark, 22-25 May 2016 Presented at Heiselberg, P. K. ed.CLIMA 2016 - 12th REHVA World Congress, 22-25 May 2016, Aalborg, Denmark, Vol. 9. Aalborg: Aalborg University, Department of Civil Engineering pp. 537.
2015
- Ng, B., Du, H. and Underwood, C. 2015. Investigation of the sensitivity of the future climate and building construction standards to the ground source heat pump (GSHP) design. Presented at: CIBSE Technical Symposium, London, UK, 16-17 April 2015.
- Gupta, R. and Du, H. 2015. Building performance evaluation programme: College Lake Visitor Centre.. Project Report. Technology Strategy Board.
2014
- Levermore, G.et al. 2014. Deriving and using future weather data for building design from UK climate change projections? An overview of the COPSE Project. Project Report. Manchester: Manchester University.
- Gupta, R. and Du, H. 2014. Adapting Dragon Junior School for future climate. Project Report. [Online]. Technology Strategy Board. Available at: https://connect.innovateuk.org/documents/3197389/9829689/Final%20Report%20version%202
2013
- Lamond, J.et al. 2013. Evaluative application of UKCP09‐based downscaled future weather years to simulate overheating risk in typical English homes. Structural Survey 31(4), pp. 231-252. (10.1108/SS-01-2013-0005)
- Gupta, R. and Du, H. 2013. Adapting the design of hospital buildings against a warming climate. Presented at: Building Simulation 2013 (BS2013): 13th International Conference of the International Building Performance Simulation Association, Chambery, France, 25-28 August 2013.
- Prasad, S.et al. 2013. Adapting the new Queen Elizabeth II Hospital for future climates. Technical Report.
- Gupta, R. and Du, H. 2013. Using a simulation based approach to adapt the designs of zero carbon homes against a warming climate. Presented at: CIBSE Technical Symposium, Liverpool, UK, 11-12 April 2013.
2012
- Du, H., Underwood, C. P. and Edge, J. S. 2012. Generating test reference years from the UKCP09 projections and their application in building energy simulations. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 33(4), pp. 387-406. (10.1177/0143624411418132)
- Du, H. 2012. Modelling of building performance under the UK climate change projections and the prediction of future heating and cooling design loads in building spaces. PhD Thesis, Northumbria University.
- Du, H., Underwood, C. P. and Edge, J. S. 2012. Generating design reference years from the UKCP09 projections and their application to future air-conditioning loads. Building Services Engineering Research and Technology 33(1), pp. 63-79. (10.1177/0143624411431775)
- Barclay, M.et al. 2012. Balancing comfortable thermal & acoustic built environments in a sustainable future. New Zealand Acoustics 25(1), pp. 4-13.
2011
- Du, H., Edge, J. and Underwood, C. 2011. Modelling the impacts of new UK future weather data on a school building. Presented at: Building Simulation 2011, Sydney, Australia, 14-16 November 2011Proceedings of Building Simulation 2011. pp. 538-545.
2010
- Barclay, M.et al. 2010. Estimating urban natural ventilation potential by noise mapping and building energy simulation. Presented at: 20th International Congress on Acoustics, Sydney, Australia, 23-27 August 2010Proceedings of 20th International Congress on Acoustics, ICA 2010.
- Du, H., Underwood, C. and Edge, J. 2010. Modelling the impact of a warming climate on commercial buildings in the UK. Presented at: Clima 2010 -10th REHVA World Congress 'Sustainable Energy Use in Buildings', Antalya, Turkey, 9-12 May 2010.
Research interests
Dr Hu Du is the Principal Investigator of 4 research projects. He has been very active in pursuing research in the low carbon building field where he has been working on 17 cutting-edge research and innovation projects (with a total value over £2.8 million) funded by European Commission, Innovate UK, EPSRC, Welsh Government, British Council and Leverhulme Trust.
Dr Hu Du is interested in building performance modelling and evaluation, sustainable building technologies, building adaptation in a changing climate, innovative refurbishment, lighting environment modelling, dynamic thermal modelling, CFD modelling, urban scale modelling, building optimisation and statistical analysis of big data. His projects and roles in these projects are listed below.
- Welsh European Funding Office (European Social Funds) Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS 2 East): Developing optimal domestic low carbon ventilation technologies to improve air quality and reduce health risks from indoor and outdoor air pollution, 2019-2022, £39,911, role: Co-I.
- European Commission (Horizon 2020): Plug-n-Harvest, 2017-2021, €399,085 for Cardiff University (total European Commission grant €5.99m), role: Principal Investigator at Cardiff University.
- HEFCW Cardiff University Global Challenges Research Fund: HABITAT- HArvest modular façade for zero bills Buildings In Tibet plATeau, 2018, £34,408, role: Principal Investigator.
- British Council (Researcher Links Workshop Grants): China-UK Workshop on Renewable Energy Systems in Zero Carbon Villages, 2018-2019, £22,800, role: Principal Investigator.
- HEFCW Welsh Crucible Seedcorn funding: Health cost of mould and damp in Welsh homes, 2018-2019, £9,976, role: Principal Investigator.
- Welsh Government: Sêr Cymru Academic, 2014-2019, £360,000, role: Co-I.
- Innovate UK (Invest in innovative refurbishment – Tranch B Phase 2): Innovative refurbishment of internal wall insulation, 2013-2014, £839,439, role: Co-I.
- Innovate UK (Invest in innovative refurbishment –Tranche 2): Innovative glazing and ventilation package for historic buildings, 2013-2014, £601,849, role: Co-I.
- Innovate UK (Invest in innovative refurbishment –Tranche 1): Innovative glazing and ventilation package for historic buildings, 2012-2013, £19,986, role: Co-I.
- Innovate UK (Invest in innovative refurbishment – Tranch B Phase 1): Innovative installation of internal wall insulation, 2012-2013, £19,992, role: Co-I.
- Innovate UK (Building Performance Evaluation): In-use BPE study of College Lake Wildlife Visitors Centre, 2012-14, £58,290, role: R.
- Innovate UK (Design for Future Climate: Adapting Buildings): Dragon Junior School for the Future, 2012-13, £99,915, role: R.
- Innovate UK (Design for Future Climate: Adapting Buildings): New Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Hospital, 2012-13, £99,942, role: R.
- Innovate UK (Design for Future Climate: Adapting Buildings): Edge Lane – TIME ‘To Improve Mental Health Environments’ Project, 2012, £99,752, role: R.
- Innovate UK (Design for Future Climate: Adapting Buildings): Ebbw vale 11-16 School, 2012, £100,000, role: R.
- Innovate UK (Design for Future Climate: Adapting Buildings): NW Bicester Eco Town, 2012, £100,000, role: R.
- EPSRC: COPSE – COincident Probabilistic climate change weather data for a Sustainable built Environment, 2008-11, £84,790, role: PhD R.
Supervision experience
2 research assistants and 3 PhD students
I am interested in taking 1 or 2 PhD students each year in the following research fields:
- Big data for buildings and cities
- Building integrated renewables
- Urban heat and microclimate
- Low carbon ventilation
- Weather data and climate change
- Building performance prediction
- Modular building retrofit