Overview
Chenfei is a Research Associate at the CLCEB (Centre for Low Carbon Built Environment). She is working on a research project exploring the decarbonisation of social housing assets in Wales. Chenfei works closely with the Welsh social housing sector to advance understanding of the challenges of decarbonising social housing and promote the deployment of appropriate and efficient sustainable strategies that support safe, warm, and affordable homes for residents.
Chenfei holds a PhD in Sustainable Architecture from the University of Liverpool, where her research focused on Passivhaus EnerPHit retrofit strategies with life cycle energy, carbon and cost evaluations. Her MSc in Sustainable Environmental Design in Architecture developed her expertise in building physics, environmental simulation, and low-carbon solutions. She was trained in architectural design during her undergraduate studies in China, where she developed a strong foundation in creative design principles, winning the prestigious Best Commercial Space Design award at the 2015 China Interior Design Competition.
Before joining the Welsh School of Architecture, Chenfei worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Oxford Brookes University, where she explored low-carbon transitions in large-scale residential buildings and developed an online energy planning tool to assess the suitability of heat pump deployments. At the University of Liverpool, she served as a research assistant on projects tackling the challenges of retrofitting hard-to-treat UK dwellings and Ghanaian heritage buildings. Additionally, she worked as a teaching assistant at the same university, delivering four semesters of teaching and tutoring to master’s students.
Publication
2025
- Liu, C. , Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. and Sharples, S. 2025. Life cycle carbon and cost assessments of the retrofit to Passivhaus EnerPHit standard of suburban residential buildings in Hunan, China. Energy and Buildings 332 115417. (10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.115417)
2024
- Gupta, R. , Liu, C. and Gregg, M. 2024. A new area-based mapping approach to examine the heat pump suitability and readiness of UK dwellings. Presented at: eceee 2024 Summer Study on energy efficiency: sustainable, safe & secure through demand reduction Lac d'Ailette, France 10-15 June 2024. eceee Summer Study proceedings 2024.
2023
- Liu, C. , Sharples, S. and Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. 2023. A review of building energy retrofit measures, passive design strategies and building regulation for the low carbon development of existing dwellings in the hot summer–cold winter region of China. Energies 16 (10) 4115. (10.3390/en16104115)
- Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. et al. 2023. Life cycle carbon assessment of decarbonising UK’s hard-to-treat homes: a comparative study of conventional retrofit vs EnerPHit, heat pump first vs fabric first and ecological vs petrochemical retrofit approaches. Energy and Buildings 296 113353. (10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113353)
2022
- Liu, C. , Sharples, S. and Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. 2022. Analysing the life cycle carbon performance of a Passivhaus-standard retrofitted suburban dwelling in Hunan, China. Presented at: 36th PLEA International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture Santiago de Chile 22-25 November 2022. Books of Proceedings PLEA International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture. Vol. 1., pp.600-605.
2021
- Liu, C. , Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. and Sharples, S. 2021. Evaluating the potential energy savings of retrofitting low-rise suburban dwellings towards the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard in a hot summer/cold winter region of China. Energy and Buildings 231 110555. (10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110555)
- Liu, C. , Sharples, S. and Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. 2021. Evaluating insulation, glazing and airtightness options for passivhaus enerphit retrofitting of a dwelling in China’s hot summer–cold winter climate region. Energies 14 (21) 6950. (10.3390/en14216950)
2020
- Liu, C. , Sharples, S. and Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. 2020. Analysing energy saving and overheating risk of retrofitting Chinese surban dwellings to the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard. Presented at: PLEA 2020: 35th International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture A Coruna, Spain 1-3 September 2020.
2019
- Liu, C. , Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. and Sharples, S. 2019. Analysing the benefits and challenges of retrofitting rural dwellings in Hunan, China to the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard. Presented at: Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2019 Wales: Policy to Practice Cardiff, Wales 24–25 September 2019. Vol. 329.IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science Vol. 012008. IOP Publishing(10.1088/1755-1315/329/1/012008)
Articles
- Liu, C. , Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. and Sharples, S. 2021. Evaluating the potential energy savings of retrofitting low-rise suburban dwellings towards the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard in a hot summer/cold winter region of China. Energy and Buildings 231 110555. (10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110555)
- Liu, C. , Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. and Sharples, S. 2025. Life cycle carbon and cost assessments of the retrofit to Passivhaus EnerPHit standard of suburban residential buildings in Hunan, China. Energy and Buildings 332 115417. (10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.115417)
- Liu, C. , Sharples, S. and Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. 2023. A review of building energy retrofit measures, passive design strategies and building regulation for the low carbon development of existing dwellings in the hot summer–cold winter region of China. Energies 16 (10) 4115. (10.3390/en16104115)
- Liu, C. , Sharples, S. and Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. 2021. Evaluating insulation, glazing and airtightness options for passivhaus enerphit retrofitting of a dwelling in China’s hot summer–cold winter climate region. Energies 14 (21) 6950. (10.3390/en14216950)
- Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. et al. 2023. Life cycle carbon assessment of decarbonising UK’s hard-to-treat homes: a comparative study of conventional retrofit vs EnerPHit, heat pump first vs fabric first and ecological vs petrochemical retrofit approaches. Energy and Buildings 296 113353. (10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113353)
Conferences
- Gupta, R. , Liu, C. and Gregg, M. 2024. A new area-based mapping approach to examine the heat pump suitability and readiness of UK dwellings. Presented at: eceee 2024 Summer Study on energy efficiency: sustainable, safe & secure through demand reduction Lac d'Ailette, France 10-15 June 2024. eceee Summer Study proceedings 2024.
- Liu, C. , Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. and Sharples, S. 2019. Analysing the benefits and challenges of retrofitting rural dwellings in Hunan, China to the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard. Presented at: Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2019 Wales: Policy to Practice Cardiff, Wales 24–25 September 2019. Vol. 329.IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science Vol. 012008. IOP Publishing(10.1088/1755-1315/329/1/012008)
- Liu, C. , Sharples, S. and Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. 2022. Analysing the life cycle carbon performance of a Passivhaus-standard retrofitted suburban dwelling in Hunan, China. Presented at: 36th PLEA International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture Santiago de Chile 22-25 November 2022. Books of Proceedings PLEA International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture. Vol. 1., pp.600-605.
- Liu, C. , Sharples, S. and Mohammadpourkarbasi, H. 2020. Analysing energy saving and overheating risk of retrofitting Chinese surban dwellings to the Passivhaus EnerPHit standard. Presented at: PLEA 2020: 35th International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture A Coruna, Spain 1-3 September 2020.
Research
Chenfei’s research centres on advancing sustainable and low-carbon solutions in the built environment, with a focus on enhancing building performance, decarbonisation strategies, and promoting climate resilience and occupant well-being.
- Ultra-low energy/carbon buildings
- Building performance simulation
- Climate adaptive and resilient design
- Building materials and embodied carbon
- GIS-based large-scale decarbonisation resolution
- Life cycle carbon and cost assessment
- Retrofit process
- Thermal comfort evaluation