Dr. Monica Mateo-Garcia is a Senior Lecturer in Built Environment at Birmingham City University. She teaches building design, production, sustainability, research and innovation in undergraduate and postgraduate courses across the School.
Monica is an Architect with over 15 years' professional and academic experience. She holds an MPhil and a PhD in Architecture and Sustainable Urban Planning from the University of Alicante, Spain. Monica co-founded the architectural practice MACAA Arquitectura in 2004, managing residential projects from inception to completion. In 2008, she moved from professional practice to academia, joining the University of Alicante as an Assistant Lecturer teaching modules in Construction and Energy Efficiency in Architecture. While working at the University of Alicante, she combined research and teaching with consultancy activities on Building Pathology and Energy Performance of Buildings.
Monica joined BCU in 2018. Prior to this, she worked as a Research Associate in Low Carbon Refurbishment at Coventry University, where she managed the demosite package of an EU FP7 project into low carbon refurbishment of public buildings.
Her research relates to zero carbon homes, low carbon refurbishment, non-destructive testing to assess energy performance of buildings, occupant energy behaviour and healthy indoor environments (thermal comfort and indoor air quality). She has taken part in various public funded projects as well as Industry-University projects, in which she has been principal investigator. Her research outputs have been published in leading scientific and construction sector journals and disseminated in national and international conferences.
Her philosophy is that the cheapest energy is the one that is not used in the first place. She believes in a holistic approach for reducing CO2 emissions, in which reducing our demand for energy has to come before offsetting emissions. This philosophy has driven her research career in the last ten years, improving the energy performance of new and existing buildings whilst providing healthy indoor environments for occupants. She thinks that putting occupants at the heart of any energy improvement is key for achieving comfortable indoor spaces while reducing energy usage.
- Low carbon retrofit
- Zero carbon homes
- Building energy performance
- Non-destructive testing
- Indoor environmental assessment (indoor air quality and thermal comfort)
- Health, comfort and wellbeing of building occupants
- Occupant energy behaviour
- Academic Professional Apprenticeship: Specialist Role in Teaching with PGCert (HE) and FHEA Status. Birmingham City University
- MArch, University of Alicante, Spain.
- MPhil in Architecture, city, Civil Engineering and construction, University of Alicante, Spain.
- Ph.D., Thesis entitled 'Influence of new materials and construction systems in the industrial development of light facades in Alicante. (1970-2000)'. University of Alicante, Spain.
- FHEA
- Committee Member of UK Indoor Environments Group (UKIEG)
- Chartered Architect - Professional Association of Architects of Valencian Community, Spain (COACV)
Monica currently teaches on the following courses:
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BSc (Hons) Building Surveying
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BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology
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BA (Hons) Design for Future Living.
Leading the following research projects:
- Low Carbon Living (funded by Keepmoat). Sep 2022 – Dec 2024 (28 months). £50,000.
- Future Homes Standard Demonstrator (funded by Midland Heart). Mar 2021 – Mar 2023 (24 months).
- Impact of different building standards on indoor air quality in homes (funded by Future Urban Ventilation Network – Flexible Fund. University of Leeds / NERC). Oct 2021 / Jan 2023 (15 months). £ 5,500.
- PhD scholarship “I am zero” (funded by Covatic). Sep 2021 – Aug 2024 (36 months). £ 60,000.
- PhD scholarship in Indoor Air Quality and Overheating (funded by CEBE REF2021 initiative for supporting academic staff with SRR with a PhD Studentship). Feb 2020 – Jan 2023 (36 months). £ 60,000.
- PhD scholarship in Indoor Air Quality and Overheating (funded by Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey, Redrow). Feb 2020 – Jan 2023 (36 months). £ 45,000.
Co-investigator in the following research projects:
- Ecrofit (funded by ERDF). Jul 2020 – Jun 2023 (36 months). £ 1,434,172.
Mentor in the following research projects:
- Understanding the impacts of limited fuel choices in Syrian refugee camps: a mixed-methods investigation into household energy practices and indoor air pollution (funded by CARA Syria Programme). Jul 2020 – Jul 2022 (24 months). £61,650.
Monica is currently supervising PhD students doing research into improvement of indoor environment and reduction of environmental emissions.
- Indoor air quality improvement and overheating prevention in new build residential developments in the UK (funded by the home builders Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and Barratts)
- I am zero (funded by Covatic). It aims to create a tool to reduce environmental emissions by nudging people through technology.
- Ahmed, A.; Mateo-Garcia, M.; Arewa, A.; Caratella, K. (2021) Integrated Performance Optimization of Higher Education Buildings Using Low-Energy Renovation Process and User Engagement. Energies, 14, 1475.
- Dixon, C. and Edwards, D.J. and Lai, J. and Mateo-Garcia, M. and Thwala, W.D. and Shelbourn, M. (2020) An investigation into the erroneous access and egress behaviours of building users and their impact upon building performance. Facilities. ISSN 0263-2772. Accepted: 18/03/2020
- Mohamed, Iman Farah and Edwards, D.J. and Mateo-Garcia, Monica and Costin, G. and Thwala, W.D. (2019) An investigation into the construction industry’s view on fire prevention in high-rise buildings post Grenfell. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation. ISSN 2398-4708, doi: 10.1108/IJBPA-05-2019-0048. Accepted: 07/10/2019
- Roberts, C. J., Edwards, David John, Hosseini, M. Reza, Mateo-Garcia, Monica and Owusu-Manu, De-Graft (2019). Post-occupancy evaluation: a review of literature. Engineering, construction and architectural management, doi: 10.1108/ECAM-09-2018-0390. Accepted: 20/03/2019
- Abdullahi Ahmed, Monica Mateo-Garcia, Danny McGough, Kassim Caratella and Zafer Ure (2018). Experimental evaluation of passive cooling using phase change materials (PCM) for reducing overheating in public building. E3S Web Conf., 32 01001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183201001
- Monica Mateo-Garcia, Abdullahi Ahmed & Danny Mcgough (2017). Non-invasive approaches for low-energy retrofit of buildings: implementation, monitoring and simulation in a living lab case study. WIT Transactions on The Built Environment, 171, 183 – 193. Doi: 10.2495/STR170161
- Abdullahi A., Mateo-Garcia, M.,McGough, D., Gaterell, M. (2017). Methodology for Evaluating Innovative Technologies for Low-Energy Retrofitting of Public Buildings. Energy Procedia, 112, 166-175. Doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.03.1078
- Abdullahi A., McGough, D., Mateo-Garcia, M. (2017). Testing innovative technologies for retrofitting: Coventry University as a living lab. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 4(3): 257-270. Doi: 10.9770/jesi.2017.4.3S(2)
- Ivorra, S.; García-Barba, J.; Mateo, M.; Pérez-Carramiñana, C.; Maciá, A. (2013). Partial collapse of a ventilated stone façade: Diagnosis and analysis of the anchorage system. Engineering Failure Analysis, 31: 290 – 301. Doi: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2013.01.045. ISSN: 1350-6307
- Mateo, M.; Pérez-Carramiñana, C.; Chinchón, S. (2013). Varieties of asbestos in buildings and risks associated with the work of deconstruction. Informes de la Construcción, 65 (531): 311-324. ISSN: 0020-0883
- Pérez, C.; Mateo, M.; Maciá, A. (2013). Application of seismic refraction tomography and microtremor analysis as geophysical prospecting techniques in geotechnical studies in building. Informes de la Construcción, 65 (530): 203-212. Doi: 10.3989/ic.11.112. ISSN: 0020-0883
- Mateo, M.; Pérez-Carramiñana, C. (2012). Future Finland house in the Mediterranean sea. RA. Revista de Arquitectura, (14): 61-70. ISSN: 1138-5596
Media requests where I have acted as an expert representing BCU and the School of Engineering and the Built Environment.
