Professor Mohamed Osmani

My research and collaborative interdisciplinary projects cover life cycle sustainable design and construction issues associated with:

• Sustainable design and construction innovation, best practice and change management. 
• Circular economy. 
• Material resource efficiency.
• Designing out waste and end-of-life waste recovery and optimisation.
• Low/zero energy building design, construction and retrofit.
• Impact of building information modelling, virtual prototyping, and blockchain on sustainable project performance.

Currently funded research projects

• The UKRI funded ‘Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-based Construction Materials (ICEC-MCM)’: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/circular-economy-centre-for-construction-minerals/ 
• The European Commission funded ‘Circular Economy of Building Materials (ICEBERG) project: https://iceberg-project.eu/one-of-our-main-achievements-to-date-is-the-production-of-recycled-gypsum-with-high-purity-levels-of-96-97-at-laboratory-scale/
• The European Commission funded ‘Activating Circular Services (C-SERVEES’ project: https://c-serveesproject.eu/index.php 
• EPSRC funded Circular Materials for Transportation (CIRCMATE-4-TM’ project: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/materials/smam/cents/
• HS2 funded ‘Applying Circular Economy Principles in Infrastructure Projects’ project.
• BRE Trust funded ‘Blockchains for Traceability Assurance’ project.

Current standards and impact activities

• ‘UKGBC System Enablers for a Circular Economy' (https://ukgbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Circular-Economy-System-Enablers-Report.pdf).
• The UK ‘Green Construction Board Routemap for Zero Avoidable Waste in Construction’ (https://www.constructionleadershipcouncil.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ZAW-Interactive-Routemap-FINAL.pdf).
• Standards: BS 8895 (Designing for material efficiency in building projects); ISO 59004 (Circular economy: Framework and principles for implementation); ISO 59010 (Circular economy: Guidelines on business models and value chains); and ISO 59020 Circular economy: Measuring circularity framework).
• The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)Anthropogenic Resources Working Group.

Please follow the link below for the full list, which includes my most recent publications.

Undergraduate

• Sustainable Building Design (20 credits)
• Undergraduate Research Dissertation (30 credits)

Postgraduate

Sustainable Design and Construction Programme Director

• Sustainable Design and Construction Theories, Principles and Assessment Tools (15 credits)
• Integrated Sustainable Design and Construction Project (15 credits)
• Low Carbon Materials for Construction (15 credits)  
• Sustainability in the Built Environment (15 credits) 
• MSc Research Dissertation (60 credits)

Leadership of Expert Groups 

• Panel Chair of BS 8895 Part 1 to 4: Code of Practice for Designing for Material Resource Efficiency in Building Projects. BS 8895 Parts 1, 2 and 3 were published in 2013, and 2019 respectively. Part 4 is in progress.
• Leader of ‘Construction and Demolition Task Group of the International Waste Working Group -IWWG (2012 - present).
• Leader of the European Commission COST Action CA15115 Working Group on ‘Resource Potential of Construction and Demolition Waste’ (2016 - 2020).
• Judging Panel Chair of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) yearly ‘Environment Excellent Awards’ for construction and demolition projects (2010 - present).
• Chairman of the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) Sustainability Advisory Panel. The Panel, which is composed of Sustainability and Environment Managers of the major UK construction companies and public organizations, provides a focus on cross-cutting sustainability issues facing the UK construction industry with a particular emphasis on environmental management, waste minimization and resource use (2008-2013).
• Leader of the European Commission COST Action CA15115 Working Group on ‘Resource Potential of Construction and Demolition Waste’.

Peer Reviewer for International Funding Programmes 

Europe

• The European Commission Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Funding Programme associated with ‘Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials’ (2015 - present).
• Member of EPSRC Peer Review College (2008-present).
• ‘Technology Foundation STW’ Dutch Funding Agency (2015 - present).
• The Dutch Research Council -NOW (2022- present)
• ‘Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)’ Portuguese Public Funding Agency (2014 - present).
• ‘Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek’  (FWO) Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium (2013 - present).
• ‘Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)’ Interdisciplinary Research Programmes (2020-present).
• Slovenian Research Agency -ARRS (2021-present).

North America

• ‘Fonds de Recherche du Québec’ (FRQ) Quebec Funding Agency, Canada (2014- present).

Asia

• Hong Kong ‘Environment and Conservation Fund’ - ECF (2015 - present). 
• Qatar National Research Fund - QNRF (2013 - present).

Africa

• South Africa’s National Research Foundation -NRF (2020-present).

Member of Expert Groups and Committees 

International expert groups

• Member of the ‘United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Expert Group on Anthropogenic Resources’. Its remit is the development of specifications and case studies for the application of the ‘United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC)’ to classify the recovery of secondary resources and the management of anthropogenic resources (2017-present). 
• Expert Member of the ‘European Commission Circular Economy Missions’, which consist of delegations of experts in circular economy, resource efficiency and waste management across Europe (2017-present).
• Member of the International Expert Advisory Panel for ‘BIM-3ACV’ led by University of Sevilla (2017 - 2021). 
• Core Member of the European Commission COST Action CA15115 Management Committee (2016-present).
• Partner of the ‘Advances in Cleaner Production Network (ACPN)’, which is an international transdisciplinary community for the exchange and dissemination of research results in cleaner production. The Network Official Journal is the ‘Journal of Cleaner Production’ - Impact Factor: 9.297 (2015 - present).
• Member of the International Waste Working Group (IWWG) Scientific Advisory Panel (2012 - present).

National expert groups 

• Member of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) Task Group on ‘System Enablers for a Circular Economy’.
• Member of the UK Government Green Construction Board Resources & Waste Task Group, which works closely with government to develop a routemap to achieve zero avoidable waste in the construction sector (Infrastructure and buildings).  This ambition was highlighted in the recently published government Resources and Waste Strategy for England and will be developed collaboratively between Industry, DEFRA and BEIS (2019-present).
• Member of the British Standards Institution (BSI) SCP/001/04 Committee on Sustainable Resource Management (2018-present).
• Member of the British Standards Institution (BSI) B/558/01 Panel on Circular Economy in the Construction Sector
• Panel Member of BS 8001:2017 Framework for Implementing Circular Economy Principles in Organizations (2015-2017).
• Founding Member of the Royal Academy of Engineering Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Design. Four UK universities (含羞草视频, Heriot-Watt, Sheffield and UCL) were selected by the Royal Academy of Engineering as Centres of Excellence with the remit to form a national network to demonstrate and exchange best practice in research and L&T for a more sustainable built environment (2013 – present).
• Board Member of the British Standards Institution (BSI) B/209 Executive Committee, which is responsible for planning, programming and the co-ordination of national codes of practice and standards for the design and construction of buildings (2013-present).
• Member of the British Standards Institution (BSI) Technical Committees: SDS/1 (Organizational Change in Sustainable Development) and SDS/3 (Sustainable Consumption and Production). Both Technical Committees are responsible for proposals, programming and coordination of codes of practice and standards in the field of ‘Sustainable Development’ and ‘Material Resource Efficiency’ respectively (2013 – 2019).
• Expert Member of the ‘Construction Waste Group of the UK Government Green Construction Board’, which was entrusted the responsibility to develop methodologies for assessing and monitoring the UK Strategy for Sustainable Construction landfill diversion targets (2009 - 2014).
• Core Member of Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) Programme Management Committee (2008 - present).
• Steering Committee Member of the Carbon Leaders Group (composed of industry sustainability managers) that aims to produce a series of briefings, each focussing on a particular aspect of the carbon agenda. These provide an independent and area, guiding organisations on the most appropriate course of action (2008 – 2016). 

Editorial Board Member 

• Associate Editor (Construction & Demolition Management) of Detritus Journal.
• Associate Editor (Waste Management) of Environmental Research and Technology.
• Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Green Technology.

Scientific Committee Member for International Conferences

• 19th Waste Management and Landfill Symposium, 9-13 October 2023, St Margherita Di Pula, Sardinia, Italy.
• 6th Symposium on Urban Mining and Circular Economy, 18-20 November 2022, Bergamo, Italy.
• Global Meet on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering (GMCSEE2022), 10-12 October 2022, Dubai.
• 18th International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium, 11-15 October 2021, St Margherita Di Pula, Sardinia, Italy.
• 5th Symposium on Urban Mining and Circular Economy, 18-20 November 2020, Bergamo, Italy.
• 17th Waste Management and Landfill Symposium, 30 September- 4 October 2019, St Margherita Di Pula, Sardinia, Italy.
• 2020 Sustainable Waste Management Conference, 16-17 September 2020, Glasgow, Scotland.
• 5th International Conference on Sustainable Design and Manufacturing, 24-26 June 2018, Gold Coast, Australia.
• 4th Symposium on Urban Mining and Circular Economy, 21-23 May 2018, Bergamo, Italy.
• 4th EurAsia Waste Management Symposium 2018, 2-4 May 2018, Istanbul.
• 4th International Congress on Construction and Building Research, 14-15 December 2017, Tenerife, Spain.
• 5th International Conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering, 8-9 May 2017, Singapore.
• 3rd Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society, 13-14 September 2017, Leeds.
• 4th International conference on Architecture and Civil Engineering, 25-26 April 2016, Singapore.
• 3rd International Conference on Sustainable Design and Manufacturing, 4- 6 April 2016, Greece.
• 3rd EurAsia Waste Management Symposium, 2-4 May 2016, Istanbul.
• 3rd Symposium on Urban Mining and Circular Economy, 23 -25 May 2016, Bergamo, Italy.
• 2nd Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society, 14-15 September 2016, Leeds.
• 2nd International Conference on Virtual and Augmented Reality, 8-9 January 2015, Singapore.
• International Conference on Sustainable Building & Infrastructure Engineering, 9-10 November 2015, Venice, Italy.
• International Conference on Sustainable Systems and Environment, 27-28 October 2014, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2nd Symposium on Urban Mining and Circular Economy, 19- 21 May 2014, Bergamo, Italy.
• 11th International Postgraduate Research Conference, 8-10 April 2013, Salford.
• International Conference on Sustainable Built Environment, 26-27 March 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam.
• 3rd International Conference and Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 18-20 May 2011.

I am known for my research and collaborative interdisciplinary projects on the circular economy, material resource efficiency, anthropogenic resource classification, designing out waste, construction and demolition waste recovery, and end-of-life asset and material optimisation. A concurrent stream of national and international work has developed new material resource efficiency and circularity approaches, strategies and standards.

I am currently leading five international expert groups. I have been invited to act as an Expert Peer Reviewer for 11 major international funding bodies in the UK, Europe, Asia, and North America.

I have authored over 180 publications and developed a significant portfolio of funded research, winning in excess of £8 million (over £40 million cumulative projects’ value). I currently hold grants from the European Commission, EPSRC and industry; and supervise a range of doctoral and postdoctoral projects covering circular economy; material resource efficiency; traceability; blockchain; designing out waste; end-of-life material optimization; and sustainable project performance improvement through innovation.

I am regularly invited to present keynote papers at both industrial and academia-focussed international events; delivered over 30 keynote speeches and presented my work in more than 40 countries across the world.

Professional Affiliations

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.