Brenda Boardman
Brenda Boardman MBE | |
---|---|
Born | 1943 (age 80–81) Fuel poverty policy |
Spouse | John Boardman |
Children | 2 |
Awards | MBE (1998); Melchett Medal (1998); BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Power list (2020) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | University of Sussex, St Hilda's College (University of Oxford) |
Thesis | Economic, Social and Technical Considerations for Fuel Poverty Policy |
Academic advisors | John Chesshire & Gordon MacKerron |
Brenda Boardman
Career
The overall focus of Boardman's research can be described as how to reduce demand for energy across the UK economy, and particularly the built environment, through using more energy-efficient homes and appliances.
After leaving school, Boardman travelled around the world for two and a half years. This experience had a profound effect on the subsequent course of her life.[3] She worked for the Society for Cooperative Dwellings between 1973 and 1976 which gave her experience of house building and its funding. She started an Open University degree in 1974 concentrating on sociology and technology and graduated with a first-class degree.[4] She was subsequently employed at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex. She started her doctoral research in 1983,[3] completing it in 1988 and thereafter worked as a consultant from home through her network of contacts until 1991. Her research brought together information from physics, building engineering, human physiology, economics and sociology for a novel broad view of fuel poverty. The major conclusion was that energy-inefficient housing stock was the fundamental reason for fuel poverty.[4]
In 1984, Boardman was the author of The Cost of Warmth, a discussion paper from the
Boardman was especially interested in fuel poverty and how energy is used in low-income homes.[7] She developed the first technical definition of fuel poverty during her doctoral research and it was presented in 1991 in her book Fuel Poverty: From Cold Homes to Affordable Warmth.[2][4] It involved the ratio of energy cost to household income to achieve a satisfactory household heating regime, which she termed 'affordable warmth'. This equation was used by the UK government to inform policy for over 20 years until revised by the Hills Review[8] for use in England, although it continued to be used by governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for at least another decade.[9]
Boardman also discussed a link between global warming and fuel poverty in her book as a further reason for needing to have energy-efficient homes. Cold houses use energy inefficiently and thus cause unnecessary carbon dioxide emissions.[4] This link continued to be another theme in her work.[10]
Boardman has worked at the
In parallel with her academic career, Boardman has led campaigns related to fuel poverty. From 1987 to 1991 she chaired the National Right to Fuel Campaign, having been a member since 1984.[4]
She was a trustee of the Chesshire–Lehmann fund that between 2010 and 2016 supported research or evaluation into the relationship between fuel poverty and energy efficiency.[13]
Boardman is a visiting professor at the University of Exeter.[7] In 2021, she was the guest in an episode of The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4.[3]
Publications
Books, reports, scientific articles and pamphlets that Boardman has authored or co-authored include:
- Brenda Boardman (2010) Fixing Fuel Poverty: Challenges and solutions. ISBN 9781844077441
- Brenda Boardman (1991) Fuel Poverty: From Cold Homes to Affordable Warmth. Belhaven Press, 267 pp
- Robert C. Armstrong, Catherine Wolfram, Krijn P. de Jong, Robert Gross, Nathan S. Lewis, Brenda Boardman, Arthur J. Ragauskas, Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez, George Crabtree & M. V. Ramana (2016). The frontiers of energy. Nature Energy, 1:15020
- G. Milne & B. Boardman (2000). Making cold homes warmer: the effect of energy efficiency improvements in low-income homes. Energy Policy, 28:411–424
Awards
- In 1998, she was awarded an MBE for her work on energy efficiency.[4]
- In 1998, Boardman was awarded the Melchett Medal by the Energy Institute for outstanding contributions to the science of fuel and energy.[4]
- In November 2020 she was included in the BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Power list 2020.[12]
Personal life
Boardman was not able to go to university immediately after she left school because of a misunderstanding about the date of one A-level examination, resulting in her not taking it. Instead, she took a secretarial course. This enabled her to work while she travelled around the world in the 1960s.[3] She married John Boardman and they had two children. They lived in Lewes from the mid-1970s but the family moved to Oxford in 1991 once she was employed at University of Oxford.[4]
References
- ^ Boardman, Brenda (1991). Ten years cold: lessons from a decade of fuel poverty: a summary of the research report / produced by Dr. Brenda Boardman (Report). Wellcome Collection. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-1852931391.
- ^ a b c d "The Life Scientific, Brenda Boardman on making our homes energy efficient". BBC Radio 4. UK: BBC. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ .
- ^ Jones, Mike (6 March 1986). "Investing for warmth". New Scientist: 63.
- ^ "Cost Of Warmth Index". House of Lords Hansard. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ a b c "Dr Brenda Boardman". Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ Hills, John. "Final report of the Fuel Poverty Review". UK Government. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ "A new definition of fuel poverty in Scotland: review of recent evidence". Scottish Government. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- S2CID 113555241.
- ^ "Brenda Boardman". EU Energy Poverty Observatory. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ a b "Woman's Hour Power List 2020: The List". BBC Radio 4. UK: BBC. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ "Chesshire Lehmann Fund". Chesshire Lehmann Fund. Retrieved 21 November 2020.