Robert Fleck

• Ph.D
• Post-Doc Research Scientist & Engineer at University of Technology Sydney

The capacity for indoor plants including green wall systems to remove specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is well documented in the literature; however under realistic settings, indoor occupants are exposed to a complex mixture of harmful compounds sourced from various emission sources. Gasoline vapour is one of the key sources of these emis...

Bio-based alternatives for existing construction materials can be used to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment. Hempcrete is one of these materials and is both an excellent hygric/thermal regulator and is carbon negative. However, this novel material is still incompletely researched, especially its fungal growth potential specifical...

Poor indoor air quality has become of particular concern within the built environment due to the time people spend indoors, and the associated health burden. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) off-gassing from synthetic materials, nitrogen dioxide and harmful outdoor VOCs such benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylene penetrate into the indoor envi...

In urban spaces, localised energy generation through rooftop solar has become increasingly popular, and green roofs are often used for a range of services such as thermal insulation. In recent years, the adoption of Bio-solar green roofs (BSGR) for both thermal insulation and increased solar energy outputs has increased. Here we present two buildin...

Green roofs are known for their ability to reduce ambient air pollution. While the accurate valuation of the air pollution removal services provided by green roofs is rapidly developing, much of this research is still in its infancy, with only a small number of in-situ studies that truly examine the impact of green roofs on city air quality. In thi...

This study describes the sister buildings Daramu house and International house in Barangaroo, Sydney (Australia's largest metropolitan city), with and without a green roof, respectively. Trace metal samples were collected from both roofs and analysed using ICP-MS to determine the bioretention potential of the green roof to remediate soluble and par...

Evolutionary theory predicts that organismal plasticity should evolve in environments that fluctuate regularly. However, in environments that fluctuate less predictably, plasticity may be constrained because environmental cues become less reliable for expressing the optimum phenotype. Here, we examine how the predictability of +5°C temperature fluc...

Despite the growing use of control measures, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) remains a significant pollutant source in indoor air in many areas of the world. Current control methods for reducing ETS exposure are inadequate to protect public health in environments where cigarettes are smoked. An alternative solution is botanical biofiltration whic...

Urban green spaces can provide habitat and resources for urban dwelling fauna. Suburban green spaces occur most commonly as parks and roadside vegetation, but as human populations grow and space in cities becomes increasingly limited, space-efficient green solutions like green roofs and walls in metropolitan areas are becoming increasingly common....

Urbanisation has led to a growing need for sustainable development leading to climate resilient cities. As the urban heat burden increases in severity, technologies to improve the thermal comfort of cities are increasingly required. Green roofs are one such technology that can provide increased building thermal performance. In this study, we invest...

Green roofs and the integration of greenery into building structures is a vital component in building resilient cities in a changing climate. However, there is currently a lack of research that confirms many of the well understood (but often anecdotal) benefits of green roofs, including hosting biodiversity, counteracting air pollution; reducing am...

Vertical greening systems, or living walls, are becoming increasingly used indoors for improving the sustainability of buildings, including for the mitigation of excess CO2 levels, derived from human respiration. However, light provision within indoor environments is often insufficient for the efficient functioning of many plant species, leading to...

Increasing urban populations and behaviour associated with urban lifestyles has led to an increase in awareness of indoor environmental quality, especially maintenance and control of indoor air quality (IAQ). Potted plants, and more recently green walls, within indoor spaces, have increased in popularity in recent decades, not only for their aesthe...

Currently no sustainable, economical and scalable systems have been developed for the direct removal of roadside air pollutants at their source. Here we present a simple and effective air filtering technology: botanical biofiltration, and the first field assessment of three different botanical biofilter designs for the filtration of traffic associa...

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is of growing public health concern which has prompted the use of plants to phytoremediate air pollution in interior spaces. Active green walls are emerging as a means of reducing indoor contaminants and have demonstrated efficacy comparable to conventional air filtering technologies. However, the use of active airflow thro...

The human population is spending more time in the indoor environment. This coupled with tightly sealed buildings, increased insulation, and reduced ventilation has resulted in indoor air pollution emerging as a global issue as evidence for it being a significant cause of morbidity and mortality increases. Currently, the main form of air filtration...