International SEEDS Conference 2021

International Conference for Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society

Adapting and changing behaviour and practice

The global response to the pandemic has shown that we have the ability to adapt when faced with adversity. A united response to the climate change emergency is required if the human race is to avert the catastrophic loss of an eco-system which we rely on for a healthy and balanced existence.  For some, the zero carbon agenda is promoted as a vehicle for economic recovery. Thus, while we build a new environment and infrastructure to restore the economy, are we on the right trajectory for sustainability. Efforts to restore natural habitats are being encouraged, yet we all witness the continued destruction of our ecosystem, humankind remains wasteful and reliant on carbon rich fuels.

How do we transform to a more sustainable existence?

This year SEEDS invites papers from across the broad spectrum of The Sustainable Development Goals and encourages the community to bring forward practices that are tackling the climate emergency and to evaluate their impact.

The International SEEDS Conference will once again bring experts together from around the world focusing on a sustainability agenda and the positive and detrimental changes that are taking place.  As well as addressing technical issues, measuring, monitoring and evaluating change, emphasis is placed on our environment, infrastructure and buildings; how they exist in relative isolation and the possibilities for a sustainable integration. 

The SEEDS Conference addresses the interdependence of people, the built and natural environments, and recognises the interdisciplinary and international themes necessary to assemble the knowledge required for positive change. 

The conference themes include:

• Sustainable Engineering and Production (Factories of the Future - building design for industry/ business/ agriculture)
• Sustainable Infrastructure (Highways, water, sanitation)
• Sustainable Place Making (Social dimensions and natural capital considerations)
• Sustainable Behaviours (social sustainability, social justice, climate action)
• Waste, Recycling and Sustainability (responsible sourcing, consumption and production)
• Smart and Sustainable (human and machine - smart buildings, smart cities)
• Buildings and Performance
• Transport and Movement
• Sustainability Education: Education and training for a changing world
• Managing and leading Sustainability
• Innovation, Change and Sustainability
• Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Development

RISE Awards & RISE Awards for Schools

The RISE Awards are once again back this year. These highly regarded awards seek to recognise, celebrate and showcase exemplar case studies from the Built Environment sharing emerging best practice in Research, Innovation, Sustainability and Enterprise for new and innovative products, technologies, processes, projects and schemes. Our awards bringing together academic, industry, third sector and community groups in a unique celebration of all those who are helping to change the way we build and live in the future.

For the first time, the Leeds Sustainability Institute, together with nmcn plc and their Positive Impact Plan, took a step forward to engage the younger generation in creating solutions for a sustainable future. The RISE Awards for School competition encourages secondary school students to make their voices heard while being inspired by professionals from the built environment.

Expert Seminar – Building Performance Evaluation

Building physics has developed at a pace to meet the challenge of reliably monitoring and evaluating the performance of buildings.  Against this progress, we ask our experts where the state of the art lies in commissioning new buildings, as wells as accurately assessing aging buildings that need to be transformed into a net zero built environment and infrastructure.

As part of this year’s International SEEDS Conference, we are pleased to host an Expert Seminar on Building Performance Evaluation with the kind support of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Building Performance Network (BPN). The focus of the event is to gather expert views of those leading research in the area, intending to capture a ‘state of the art perspective’ on the research and the challenges of conducting evaluations on how buildings perform regarding energy use, occupant comfort or the operational life. Join this event to learn from leading experts, which will cover some of the following topics:

• Building Performance Assessment 
• In-use measurement and monitoring of buildings – the ability to accurately describe the energy efficiency of the fabric and services and energy behaviour of the occupant
• In-use commissioning, diagnostics, building compliance and fault detection
• Building performance tests, applications, reliability, accuracy and validity
• Smart meters and applied environmental technologies
• Energy Performance Directive, Energy Performance Certificates and Energy Display Certificates
• Assessing the building stock: common build typologies, large domestic buildings, multi-occupancy and multi-storey buildings