The average temperature
of the city of Melbourne, now it's about
three to five degrees higher
than the suburbs in Melbourne.
There are a lot of older buildings,
exhaust heat air
and are pumping emissions into the street.
Through retrofitting, we can make
the building much more energy efficient.
My name is Shuo Chen.
I came from China.
I am studying a PhD
in civil engineering
at RMIT University.
I really love Melbourne
because Melbourne is
a historical city.
They have a lot of historical buildings.
My research is aimed to improve
the performance of existing buildings,
to make them much more green.
All those things can be achieved
by replacing the heating,
ventilation, air condition systems,
so we call HVAC retrofit.
It is very important to provide
people with comfortable temperature
and the proper air ventilation.
If the airflow is bad,
people might easily get sick.
As a part of my PhD,
I interview people
involved in HVAC retrofit,
like clients, designers, constructions.
Those really experienced can help me
to better understand the problems
happen with HVAC retrofit.
I wish people can learn more
about the green building retrofit
through my research.
RMIT is a very good location.
It's in the centre of Melbourne,
so the transportation's
very easy to get here.
My supervisors,
they are very knowledgeable.
They know about green building
and about the sustainability
and give me a lot of help
for my PhD.
I like to walk with my husband
in the botanical gardens
because we can relax ourselves
and enjoy the fresh air
from the nature.
You can have very good balance
between your work
and your family life.
I think pregnancy and study,
they can go together.
I was also thinking about starting
my research career,
and a PhD just three to four years.
But to finish PhD,
I don't think it's the end.
I think it's the beginning
to starting your research career.
