30 Years of MEARU

30 Years of MEARU – Improving Energy, Comfort and Health in Housing
13^th – 31^st January 2024
Reid Ground Floor Corridor 

Since being established in 1993, the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU) at the Glasgow School of Art has been involved in a wealth of innovative national and international research and consultancy projects that help understand the causes and effects of fuel poverty and poor indoor environment quality. Collaborating with housing providers, architects and industry, MEARU’s cutting-edge work has expanded the conversation about building performance evaluation, leading to changes to the building regulations for new housing in Scotland. MEARU disseminates the findings of their research far and wide, across both academia and the construction industry, to help improve building quality and to encourage further research that helps to achieve this.

30 Years of MEARU – Improving Energy, Comfort and Health in Housing gives a snapshot of three exciting decades of high-impact research, from MEARU’s first project in Easthall, Glasgow, to their most recent in Nairobi, Kenya. The exhibition gives an opportunity to look back at the social and political context leading to MEARU’s establishment, reflect upon some of the research work MEARU has undertaken and look forward at the new policies being implemented to improve the thermal and environmental quality of homes.

About MEARU
MEARU is based within the Mackintosh School of Architecture and undertakes strategic and applied research into a wide range of aspects of sustainable environmental design, responding to a growing commitment to user-centred, low energy, eco-sensitive architecture in the context of increasing global concerns. MEARU has in-house, expertise in architecture, building services engineering and practice-based research. Our portfolio of expertise to includes building performance evaluation; health and wellbeing in buildings; indoor air quality; energy efficient refurbishment; low and zero carbon new build; control systems and energy efficiency; ventilation of homes, including MVHR; passive solar design; building integrated renewables; and integrated thermal storage in buildings.