DSC | School of Property, Construction and Project Management
Email: priyadarsini.rajagopalan@rmit.edu.au
Phone: +61 39925 2293
Campus: Melbourne City
DSC | School of Property, Construction and Project Management
Email: priyadarsini.rajagopalan@rmit.edu.au
Phone: +61 39925 2293
Campus: Melbourne City
Priya strives to achieve an enriching nexus between research and teaching by transferring the knowledge to the students. With a very strong research background in practical and theoretical underpinnings of sustainable built environments, Priya is able to provide students with current knowledge and advanced tools in this area.
Priya's research interests span from sustainable building design, energy benchmarking and labelling, urban heat island, building performance simulation, indoor air quality, lighting and acoustics to citizen science in urban microclimate monitoring, mitigation and adaptation. As an internationally recognized expert in the field of building energy and indoor environmental performance and urban climatology, she has secured larges competitive grants, led multidisciplinary teams and developed new knowledge and innovative methods for climate change mitigation and adaptation which are adopted by the industry, communities and governments.
Priya teaches in the Master of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Building Programme which involves a unique blend of courses that focus on key principles and practice of designing and delivering environmentally sustainable buildings, infrastructure and developments, where she challenges and helps students to build skills in energy efficient and sustainable building design for navigating the complex and rapidly changing built environment.
President, Architectural Science Association
Technical Committee Member- Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS)
Member, American Society for Heating, Refrigeration and Air conditioning (ASHRAE)
Member, International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA)
Priya’s research demonstrates track record of high-impact, industry-led, applied research in the fields of indoor environmental quality, climate science and energy efficiency. Her expertise lies at the interface between indoor air quality, building design and climate science. She has established cross disciplinary partnerships with government and not-for-profit organizations. The outcomes from her research have directly informed the building industry through the development of performance indicators, guidelines and assessment tools for complex building typologies. She has developed cost-effective methods of collecting high quality climate data at large spatial and temporal scales using citizen science approach. Such data enable policy makers to predict future health and energy needs and plan urban built environment and open spaces.
She has also developed performance-based energy benchmarking and labelling system for many building typologies. The benchmark standards and guidelines developed for aquatic centres are adopted by the Aquatics and Recreation Victoria and used by architects, engineers and council sustainability managers to set energy efficiency targets in the design and construction of new buildings and operation of existing buildings. This has assisted local governments to manage energy consumption and system design through better informed day to day management of operations, as well as guiding environmental performance during the design of new or refurbished infrastructure.
Building energy efficiency, Indoor environmental quality, Urban heat island, Citizen science, Indoor air quality, Lighting, Acoustics, Building performance simulation
Publications
Grants
Awards
Architectural Science Review, 65:1, 1-13
Rajagopalan, P. Andamon, M.M. Woo, J. (2022)
Solar Energy, 231, 158-174
Rajagopalan, P. Alawode, A. (2022)
Climate, 9, 2
Rajagopalan, P. Goodman, N. (2021)
Funding: Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning: Climate Change Innovation Grants 2017
2018 - 2020
Funding - Department of Industry, Innovation and Science - Citizen Science Grants
2017 - 2021
Recipients: Priyadarsani Rajagopalan
Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.
Acknowledgement of Country
RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.