Andrew Pollard

Building Physicist

For Andrew Pollard, building physics and human behaviour are part of the same puzzle.

Andrew is a physicist in the building performance team at BRANZ, working to understand how people use energy in their homes and what this means for comfort and health.

Over nearly 30 years at BRANZ, Andrew has learned that physics is only half his job. He started out focused on the technical side of energy use, but over time came to realise how central people are to the energy picture. "You can design a high-performing home, but how people choose to operate it – how they heat, ventilate, and live in it – dramatically affects its performance."

This gap – between what the science says and what the public does – is central to Andrew's work. Through projects like Household Energy End-use Project Two (HEEP 2), the follow-up project to the original study, Andrew and the team are building the most detailed profile of energy use in New Zealand homes since the early 2000s – measuring indoor temperatures, humidity, CO₂ levels, and ventilation. This work is already highlighting where common practice gets it wrong. For instance, most people think the best response to a cold, damp house is to ventilate it. But as Andrew points out, "Ventilating cold air is hard work. Heat the home first, then ventilate once it's warm."

For Andrew, knowing what needs to change is one thing – communicating it is another. Common guidance like "just open a window" may not work in damp climates like Auckland. Yet tailored, detailed messages don't always solve the problem either. As Andrew puts it, "The danger is that we overload people with science or bamboozle them with facts, where really you need to understand what the behaviours are. It becomes a behavioural change process."

Andrew's other work includes improving performance through better insulation, energy-efficient design, and heating systems, including the wider use of heat pumps. His next project takes on water heating – which accounts for roughly a third of household energy use – looking at how to deliver hot water more efficiently and at lower cost.

Qualifications

• MSc (Hons), Physics, Massey University
• BSc (Hons), Physics, University of Canterbury

Awards

2022 Poster of the Year, Water New Zealand