Sustainable and Healthy Environments Lab

The Sustainable and Healthy Environments (SHE) Lab is a hub of knowledge and research supporting cross-disciplinary innovation and collaboration between researchers, industry professionals, and the community more broadly. The Lab advances research success through enhanced cross-disciplinary partnerships and emphasis on translation and impact.

The SHE Lab’s streams of research in sustainability, energy efficiency, adaptation and mitigation are focused on addressing wicked climate change-induced challenges. The SHE Lab’s streams of research in health are focused on how spaces and organisations can improve people’s health and wellbeing with an emphasis on the design of high-performance environments that support healthy lives and lifestyles.

The SHE Lab is the only cluster of its kind in the Global South in terms of engagement with international and national certification and rating tools that are adopted by the industry at large scale globally. Sustained contributions to the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), Green Building Council of Australia (IWBI) and National Australian Building Rating System (NABERS). Combined, building and indoor environment performance from these tools are adopted by certified projects in five continents.

Key topics of expertise and interest include:

• Resilience and climate adaptation: advancing knowledge on resilience considerations and climate-related risks relevant to people, places and organisations
• Indoor Environmental Quality: evaluating the performance and experience of indoor environments and its impact on occupants’ comfort and health
• Post-Occupancy Evaluation: developing and deploying user-centred methodologies to link the design and performance of spaces from occupants’ perspective
• Interior, biophilic, active and universal design: understanding how spaces can be designed to deliver comfortable, accessible, inclusive and healthy environments to all
• New ways of working, learning, and designing spaces: understanding how spaces can be designed to support work and learning for people and organisations
• High-performance buildings and operations: leveraging design, performance and retrofit solutions that can deliver high-performance environments
• Building codes, standards and certification: challenging and helping shape building and certification in Australia and the Global South
• Building simulation and modelling: using building simulation and modelling to improve the design, performance and experience of spaces
• Data analytics and sensing technology: deploying novel data techniques and sensing technology to evaluate and predict built environment performance and influence the design and experience of spaces

The SHE Lab is also a strategic hub for academic progression and capacity building in the built environment field in Australia and the Global South more broadly. The Pilotfish program is designed to support Early Career Academics from diverse backgrounds to shape their research program and narrative. The Pilotfish program has supported several ECAs to achieve academic promotion and/or full-time academic position placement in Australia and overseas.