Recently, the Department of Architecture and Built Environment (ABE) has extended their collaboration with the UK’s Building Research Establishment (BRE). This was recognised in a major BRE event in Shanghai, on 20^th of November 2019. BRE is a world leading, multi-disciplinary, building science centre with a mission to improve buildings and infrastructure, through research and knowledge generation (https://www.bregroup.com/). In this recent event, ABE’s Head of Department received a partnership recognition award, which is the result of hard work from both teams at BRE and ABE.

“Our collaboration with BRE is now entering a new level”, says Dr Ali Cheshmehzangi, Head of Department of Architecture and Built Environment at UNNC. He expresses on the step-by-step progress of this collaboration over the years. He also adds on the growing partnership and the vision for the future:

“Since BRE’s first visit to the Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (CSET) in 2014, we developed several collaboration opportunities with our respected UK-based partner. Also since early summer 2018, we have initiated a new round of discussions with BRE that led into further collaborations as their recognised training partner. In our third phase in this enduring collaboration, we are introducing training opportunities in BIM and BREEAM-Communities, as well as BREEAM In-Use research for the CSET building’.

ABE is now a recognised partner on two streams of BIM and BREEAM. These are coordinated by Dr Kapogiannis and Dr Dawodu of ABE, respectively. We are very proud to lead on UK-China collaborations in every possible way. We aim to have positive impact and meaningful contribution to our communities, the built environment, and policies for sustainable development. “We share the same viewpoint with BRE on our sustainability and innovation agenda in ABE, and we strive to make our cities and buildings better places for all”, adds Dr Cheshmehzangi. A similar vision was also highlighted in the opening speech by BRE’s CEO, Ms Gillian Charlesworth, in the recent BRE Awards China event.

We now look forward to the next steps of BRE-UNNC collaborations at ABE. 
Proud to be a member, and eager to progress.

(Special thanks to BRE team for sharing their photos of the event with us)