Building surveying students at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) are helping to tackle a real-world retrofit challenge through a long-running partnership led by lecturer Chris Keast, giving them practical experience of the sustainability skills increasingly in demand across the construction industry.
Keast, principal lecturer and programme manager in NTU’s School of Architecture, Design and Built Environment and CIOB Trustee, has overseen a collaboration with the Mining Remediation Authority – the public body responsible for managing the legacy of Britain’s historic coal mining, including protecting people, property and the environment from mining-related hazards.
Over the past year, undergraduate and postgraduate building surveying students have used the authority’s headquarters in Mansfield as a live case study, exploring how the office building could be retrofitted to improve its environmental performance.
After visiting the site and meeting representatives from the authority, students developed proposals to reduce the building’s carbon emissions, improve energy efficiency and support its long-term sustainability. Their recommendations were then presented to a panel from the organisation.
Keast said the project gives students valuable exposure to the challenges they will face in practice while helping to address a growing skills gap in the built environment.
“This collaborative project has given students a unique opportunity to engage directly with the sustainability agenda at a critical moment where there is a significant skills shortage across the surveying and construction sectors,” he said.
“Final year students were able to apply their academic learning to real-world challenges, focusing on sustainable technologies, and the practicalities of regional and national environmental priorities. This initiative shows how universities and industry can work together to prepare the next generation of professionals and strengthen students’ readiness for employment.”
The collaboration has now been running for four years, giving successive cohorts of students the opportunity to work on live projects with industry partners.
Claire Streather, facilities coordinator at the Mining Remediation Authority, said the organisation values the fresh perspective students bring.
“We were delighted to continue our partnership with Nottingham Trent University for another year and support students with a live project to work on,” she said.
“It’s always great to hear fresh ideas from the students to help make our building more sustainable for the future. We’re already discussing some of the ideas that have been put forward by the students this year.”
The project reflects the construction sector’s growing emphasis on retrofit and low-carbon building performance, while giving future surveyors experience of balancing sustainability ambitions with the practical constraints of existing buildings.
