Masi (Masoumeh) Shiran

Environmental Impact Assessment of Retrofit Strategies for Residential Buildings in New Zealand: Focusing on Carbon Emissions, Moisture Risk, and Overheating

As an architect, teacher, and researcher, I've become increasingly passionate about finding sustainable solutions for New Zealand's existing housing stock. My journey into this field has been driven by a growing understanding of how climate change is fundamentally reshaping our approach to building design and infrastructure. My PhD research delves into the challenge of upgrading existing homes to meet the 2023 New Zealand Building Code (NZBC) H1 Energy Efficiency standards. These aim to improve the energy usage, and also reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of new housing. However, existing homes will still be the majority of New Zealand’s housing stock in 2050, so they are my focus. This work is more than an academic exercise - it's a critical exploration of how we can transform our current housing to be more resilient and sustainable in the face of unprecedented environmental changes. My research will investigate a range of interconnected issues that are crucial to effective home retrofitting. This includes understanding the risks in well-insulated homes of overheating, moisture management, and life cycle assessments (LCA) for energy and carbon. This will be implemented using simulation models based and calibrated on houses in the Wellington region. The Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ) is supporting this work through a postgraduate scholarship.

Supervisors

Professor Brenda Vale, Dr Nigel Isaacs, Stephen McNeil

Qualifications

Master of Architecture (MArch), Victoria University of Wellington (2018-2019)
Master's degree in Urban Regeneration and Development, The University of Manchester (2011-2012)
Bachelor's degree in Architecture, University of Mazandaran (2005-2010)

Awards

The Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ) is supporting this work through a postgraduate scholarship.

Contact

masoumeh.shiran@vuw.ac.nz