A research project with UEL and the US Green Building Council

Matter’s Roland Karthaus led a research team at the University of East London to explore potential new applications for urban design and sustainability standards. Working over a period of 3 years, in partnership with the US Green Building Council, the team analysed and compared leading international standards including BREEAM Communities and LEED ND to assess their adaptability and responsiveness to different contexts and circumstances. Through extensive testing in neighbourhoods in London and Cambridge, LEED ND was reconstituted as a framework to assess local priorities for sustainable urban design.

Working with pilot neighbourhood planning groups in Bermondsey and Paddington, the team developed an online GIS-based tool for community engagement in neighbourhood planning. The team studied a diverse range of neighbourhoods, including a Georgian era conservation area, to draw out the fundamental attributes of sustainable urban design and represent them as a series of layers. Models were built to explore and communicate the ways that these layers interact with one another.

“On behalf of the USGBC, I wanted to recognise your contributions to the development of innovative approaches for planning and evaluating the green dimensions of existing neighborhoods. Your research has contributed directly to the evolution of our thinking regarding the application of LEED for Neighborhood Development.“
Christopher R. Pyke, Vice President of Research, US Green Building Council

Read one of the published papers here and one of the case-studies here

Partners: USGBC, Westminster Council, Southwark Council, Paddington Development Trust

Team: Roland Karthaus, Dimitra Kyrkou, Michela Pace, Lisa Brown, Cris Blanco