Researcher

Dr Gloria Pignatta

I am a civil engineer with a Ph.D. in energy engineering interested in the relationship between extreme weather events and the built environment. My research focuses on improving the thermal-energy performance of buildings and cities.

I design advanced technologies and passive strategies to improve building energy efficiency, ranging from materials science through to the behaviour change of people. This work is vital to reduce energy consumption and contribute to a sustainable future.

My research touches on the global problem of climate adaptation and mitigation, but also social challenges, such as energy equality and how energy poverty impacts vulnerable people. I also investigate urban heat island countermeasures and solutions to improve pedestrians’ thermal comfort.

Drawing on my varied background, I bring knowledge that includes building physics, to the energy debate. I want to help society by contributing to, and educating people on, smart ways to transform and improve cities and their liveability.

My Expertise

Building Energy Efficiency, Energy poverty, Climate Change and Urban Heat Island adaptation and mitigation, Extreme climatic events, Sustainable Buildings and Cities, Indoor/Outdoor thermal comfort, Net Zero Energy Buildings and Settlement, Optical property optimization for buildings' envelope and urban surfaces materials, Cool materials, Radiative cooling, Smart monitoring, Decision-Making Theories, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Keywords

cooling

building energy management

urban heat island

life cycle assessment

microclimate

challenges and mitigation strategies

phase change material

thermal comfort

climate change

energy policy

urban and built environment research

construction & building technology

Field of Research (FoR)

Architectural Science and Technology (incl. Acoustics, Lighting, Structure and Ecologically Sustainable Design)

Built Environment and Design

Urban Analysis and Development

Environmental Monitoring

Landscape Planning

Building

Architecture and Urban Environment not elsewhere c

Other Architecture, Urban Environment and Building

Climate Change Processes

Architectural Heritage and Conservation

Renewable Power and Energy Systems Engineering (excl. Solar Cells)

Biography

Scientia Fellow Dr. Gloria PIGNATTA is International Development Coordinator and a Lecturer at the Faculty of Built Environment (FBE), UNSW Sydney, focusing on building energy efficiency and related research topics. Since 2018, she is one of the members of the High Performance Architecture Research Cluster at FBE UNSW. She is a Civil Engineer with a Ph.D. in Energy Engineering from the University of Perugia, Italy. In 2017, she was...view more

Scientia Fellow Dr. Gloria PIGNATTA is International Development Coordinator and a Lecturer at the Faculty of Built Environment (FBE), UNSW Sydney, focusing on building energy efficiency and related research topics. Since 2018, she is one of the members of the High Performance Architecture Research Cluster at FBE UNSW. She is a Civil Engineer with a Ph.D. in Energy Engineering from the University of Perugia, Italy. In 2017, she was Postdoctoral Associate at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), in Singapore. In 2016, she was Postdoctoral Fellow at the Inter-University Research Center on Pollution and Environment “Mauro Felli" (CIRIAF), University of Perugia, Italy.

My Grants

Scheme: Discovery Projects 2020
Funding agency: Australian Research Council (ARC)
Grant name: Scalable daytime radiative cooling for buildings and the built environment
UNSW Grant number: N/A
Start date: 2020
Funder reference number: N/A

Scheme: INTERNATIONAL GRANT
Funding agency: EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Grant name: ERASMUS+ International Credit Mobility 2019-2022
UNSW Grant number: N/A
Start date: August 2019
Funder reference number: N/A

Scheme: N/A
Funding agency: Faculty of Built Environment
Grant name: ARC Development and Support Grant
UNSW Grant number: N/A
Start date: 15 August 2019
Funder reference number: N/A

Scheme: RESEARCH GRANTS
Funding agency: CRC FOR LOW CARBON LIVING LIMITED
Grant name: Rapid review - best practice techniques for urban cooling in Australia climate zones
UNSW Grant number: RG191660
Start date: 1 April 2019
Funder reference number: SP0020p6

Scheme: INTERNATIONAL CONTRACT
Funding agency: HCL CONSULTANTS LTD
Grant name: Technical assistance for minimum energy performance standards for buildings in the Indian ocean commission (ioc) member states
UNSW Grant number: RG190841
Start date: 11 January 2019
Funder reference number: 4907

Scheme: CONTRACT RESEARCH
Funding agency: NT DEPARTMENT OF TRADE, BUSINESS AND INNOVATION
Grant name: Darwin supervision, experiment and evaluation of the cooling performance of the shading and greenery mitigation structure and energy saving potential
UNSW Grant number: RG190681
Start date: 1 January 2019
Funder reference number: 18-1700

Scheme: RESEARCH GRANTS
Funding agency: CRC FOR LOW CARBON LIVING LIMITED
Grant name: preliminary design of a smart climatic road in Phillip str Parramatta
UNSW Grant number: RG183306
Start date: 1 November 2018
Funder reference number: SP0012U2

Scheme: LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACT
Funding agency: CITY OF PARRAMATTA COUNCIL
Grant name: preliminary design of a smart climatic road in Phillip st Parramatta
UNSW Grant number: RG182620
Start date: 21 October 2018

Scheme: RESEARCH GRANTS
Funding agency: CRC FOR LOW CARBON LIVING LIMITED
Grant name: cpd-managing urban heat
UNSW Grant number: RG182141
Start date: 8 August 2018
Funder reference number: SP0023P2

My Qualifications

PhD (University of Perugia - CIRIAF), P.Eng., M.Eng. (University of Perugia), B.Eng. (University of Perugia)

My Awards

- IC2UHI2016 Award: Award to Italy at the 4th International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Island in Singapore. In recognition of continuously conducting research and outreach in urban heat island related topics, “Outstanding UHI Group of Researchers Award”.

- IC2UHI2014 Award: Best paper award at the 3rd International Conference on Countermeasures to Urban Heat Island in Venice, Italy, for the paper “Experimental analysis and optimization of polyurethane waterproof liquid membrane for cool roof application” by A.L. Pisello, V.L. Castaldo, G. Pignatta, F. Cotana. Prize for the “Unique experimental approach for the UHI
countermeasures”.

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

building energy management

building life cycle

building vulnerability

buildings

commercial buildings

clean energy future legislation

challenges and mitigation strategies

strategies and decision-making

thermal comfort

universal thermal comfort index

cooling

heating

cloud monitoring

Areas of supervision

Sustainable Buildings, Advanced materials and technologies for the building envelope, Building energy efficiency, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Urban Heat Island, Indoor/outdoor thermal comfort, Thermal-energy performance in buildings, Energy Poverty, Optimization of optical properties of building envelope material, cool materials, green infrastructures, Radiative cooling materials, Life Cycle Assessment.

Currently supervising

Please include the following documents when contacting me for supervision request:

Research proposal
CV
List of Publications
Transcripts
English test result for international applicants

Currently supervising the following research projects:

Best practice techniques for urban cooling in Australian climate zones
Technologies Impact on Sustainable Buildings
Precinct Information Modelling for Integrative Energy Planning
Energy Poverty in NSW. Characteristics, Impact, and Solutions
Low cost, sustainable facade retrofitting solutions for improved thermal performance of poorly insulated social housing in Australia

ANNUNCEMENT for Scholarship opportunity:

The Turnbull Foundation Women in Built Environment Scholarship helps talented women in the built environment industry accelerate their career and leadership capabilities. Thanks to The Turnbull Foundation’s generous gift, the successful recipients’ research can help create resilient, liveable, sustainable and healthy cities. The scholarship supports the recipient in undertaking a PhD in the Faculty of Built Environment, as well as the Women in Leadership Program at UNSW’s Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) during the tenure of their degree.

The scholarship is now open to both domestic and international applicants (honours class 1 for international applicants to get the tuition fee scholarship from UNSW).

If you are a female applicant with a good track of records and you are interested in the Scholarship, please contact me.

Further details, including the application process, are available here: https://www.be.unsw.edu.au/turnbull-foundation-women-built-environment-scholarship.