In the previous century, construction professionals and others were mostly concerned with heat loss and energy consumption in buildings. However, in the first quarter of the 21st century, we have become acutely aware of the problem of overheating in the UK and the urgent need to keep the heat out in the summer months.

In the summer of 2022, record-high temperature records were verified for Wales for example, with 37.1°c at Hawarden Airport, Flintshire on 18 July - this is an issue not only of discomfort but of preventing serious illness and sometimes death. External sources of unwanted heat are numerous, such as solar gain through windows & the building fabric and high external temperatures but it can also come from within the building - hot water and heating systems, electrical appliances and occupant habits to name a few.

About the session

Doug Johnson, director and founder and Pablo Jiménez-Moreno, Building Performance Consultant, of MESH - a net zero building performance and design consultancy- will elaborate on the primary causes of overheating, how the built environment is increasingly regulating for thermal comfort and some of the best ways to mitigate against overheating for today and the future. Doug and Pablo will use some of MESH’s own case studies to illustrate how to intelligently design buildings to provide comfortable, healthy and sustainable places to live and work.

About the speakers

Doug Johnson

Doug Johnson is the Director and Founder of Mesh Energy. He is a chartered mechanical engineer, author and has over a decade of experience in the sustainable
design and delivery of low energy buildings. Having initially started in the high-end bespoke home market, Doug’s experience now covers projects from £250K to £20M across a wide range of building sectors. Always open to opportunity and happy to curiously ask ‘what if’, his speciality is growing a highly engaged-team, navigating the fast-paced sustainable built environment advances and looking for way to better share information through education.

Pablo Jiménez-Moreno

Pablo Jiménez-Moreno is an experienced architect and independent energy consultant. He has worked on various house projects in the UK. Pablo possesses a PhD in Sustainable Architecture from the University of Edinburgh. He worked for Oxford Brookes University looking at the capability of dwellings to adopt low carbon technologies, from dwelling to a county level. With particular interest in zero carbon and zero energy, Pablo has extensive knowledge on the different design and technological solutions available to deliver sustainable projects that meet the wants and needs of different clients.
 
Within Mesh, Pablo advises clients on their energy strategy new build and retrofit projects. He analyses heat loss models and explains the cost benefit analysis of improving insulation and implementing renewable technologies moving away from fossil fuels. Pablo has the skills to look holistically at the project and work out the optimal solutions for clients within their parameters.