- Susan Roaf
Susan Roaf is a visiting Professor at the
Open University andArizona State University as well as an Oxford city councillor. In 2005, she became Professor of Architectural Engineering atHeriot Watt University in Edinburgh.She was born in Malaysia and completed a degree from
Manchester University . Her doctoral thesis was on the windcatchers of Yazd in Iran fromOxford Brookes University where she taught from 1989 to 2005 both in professional studies, technology and design. She has practiced for a number of years on the design of housing, schools, hospitals and town planning. [http://www.sbe.hw.ac.uk/staff/lect/roaf.html Heriot Watt School of the Built Environment]In 1995 Susan Roaf built the Oxford Ecohouse: a house in Oxford designed to maximise energy efficiency. It is equipped with the first photovoltaic cell roof installed in Britain.
A six bedroom family home, it produces only 130 kg CO2/annum per metre square, in contrast to comparable UK houses that produce 5000 kg CO2/annum m2. It has 4 kW peak of photovoltaic output, 5m2 of solar hot water panels and additional heating from a passive solar sun space.
It was designed using low energy construction techniques, high thermal mass and a wood burning stove to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 95%.
The house has featured in a number of architecture books and is used as a research source in sustainable design.
Books
* "Ecohouse 2", Architectural Press 2nd Edition edition (31 Jul 2003) ISBN 0750657340 Professor Susan Roaf
* "Closing the Loop: Benchmarks for Sustainable Buildings", RIBA Enterprises ISBN 1859461182 Professor Susan Roaf
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
