Dr Birgit Painter is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD), De Montfort University, with particular interests in air quality, building performance monitoring and visual comfort.

Following the award of the degree of Diplom-Ingenieur in Environmental Technology from Fachhochschule Lübeck (Germany), Dr Painter first joined the IESD as a research student. Her PhD project, which she completed in 2004, concerned personal exposure to particulate matter, focusing on the short-term variability of ultrafine particle concentrations in vehicles, and the resulting driver exposure.

Since becoming a Research Fellow at the Institute in 2004, Birgit has been involved in indoor comfort and air quality research, particularly in relation to naturally ventilated buildings. Her work also includes thermal and visual comfort issues. Birgit is currently working on a monitoring study in the Queens Building, De Montfort University, which looks at the thermal performance of a naturally ventilated lecture theatre. Further work will focus on more detailed monitoring of the Queens Building, including visual comfort in daylit spaces, and performance analysis of other low-energy buildings.

Birgit has experience in various areas of environmental monitoring, particularly regarding the design and execution of long-term data collection campaigns. Her expertise also includes the development of specialised data analysis programs for handling large data sets.