Gavin has a BA in Linguistics from York University and an MSc in Architecture: Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies from the University of East London, in association with the Centre for Alternative Technology. He joined the Univeristy of Oxford at ECI in 2004 after working for 10 years on energy efficiency and building-integrated renewable energy projects in the voluntary and public sectors. He has reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions in his own 1908 home by 60% through major refurbishment.
He is interested in finding solutions for a more sustainable built environment and takes a broad ‘socio-technical systems’ approach to investigating how technology and behaviour evolve and affect each other, with the ultimate goal of proposing positive change by understanding better the workings of complex systems.
Most of his research focus has been on existing housing in the context of climate change mitigation – investigating how 2050 climate change targets might be met through the markets for property (sales and rentals) and repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI). This involves economic transactions, flows of information at many different levels, and challenges for many existing institutions.