Dr Gustavo Sousa
PhD MSc BEng
School of Architecture and Landscape
Research Associate
Full contact details
School of Architecture and Landscape
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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I am a researcher, engineer and tech enthusiast. My experience includes research and practice in both academia and industry. I have a bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering, and an MSc in Energy and Engineering, on the topic of Bioclimatic Design. I completed a PhD in Building Technology at the University of Nottingham which looked at the analysis of strategies for both new and existing housing towards the reduction of carbon emissions associated to energy demand, particularly by identifying promising technical improvements, as well as by capturing potential incentives to adopt these improvements.
I worked in practice for several years in the area of automation technology, from domestic applications related to lighting, appliances and low-scale energy solutions, to commercial projects, involving building management systems and HVAC automation. I also worked with Latin-America based companies in the area of rainwater harvesting, multi-scale waste management, and corporate energy efficiency and conservation, with a particular emphasis on energy awareness programmes.
I joined the Sheffield School of Architecture in 2017, as ESRC/UKRI Innovation Fellow, contributing to the work of the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) on the topic of housing stock decarbonisation.
More recently, I contributed to Catalyst, a project part of the UK-BEIS Heat Pump Ready Programme: Stream 2, in collaboration with EDF Energy, DAIKIN and SP Energy Networks. The aims of this project were: to provide a robust energy model with which to identify heat pump eligibility across the national housing stock; and to develop staged workflows with which to predict dwelling characteristics and energy systems of houses.
- Research interests
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I'm interested in…
+ Stock analysis and statistical modelling
… studying the composition of the housing stock, its typologies, its services, and the accuracy of data characterising it. One of my major aims has been to develop a hub of data sources, so that further studies can be linked with ubiquitous and up-to-date information.
+ Housing energy models
… looking at the factors affecting energy performance in dwellings and the appropriate representation, of the building envelope—to faithfully evaluate energy flow pathways; of occupant behaviour—to capture activities and responses to adapt indoor conditions; and of the characterisation of appliances and systems—to determine the magnitude of energy demand in dwellings.
+ Multi-scale simulation and policy testing
… exploring different pathways to achieve energy demand reduction in the housing stock. On the one hand, by adapting the accessibility of physical-based models (of houses) to perform high performance computing simulation, as well as further parameterisation of the data supporting them; and on the other, by integrating household conditions and evidence, to emulate policy testing, to represent processes of decision-making, and to visualise the adoption of new technologies.
+ Semantic model of the built environment
… contributing to the formalisation and development of semantic models regarding the built environment, with a particular focus on housing. This involves studying relevant ontologies, as well as enhancing connections and schemes for efficient transfer of knowledge.
- Publications
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