Sharpe a senior academic at the Glasgow School of Art, holding several academic posts, including Professor of Environmental Architecture, Head of Architectural Technology, Senior Researcher at the MSA, Reader in Environmental Architecture and Director of the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU). The latter is a position he took over in 2008. Since that time, MEARU has undergone a transformation in activity, profile and capacity and is an acknowledged centre of excellence in its field and is one of the most successful research centres at the GSA. MEARU now has an internationally recognised profile with a very unique identity, bridging the gap between science-based research, architectural design, and building users. It has established expertise that goes beyond energy use to include design, health and wellbeing. In the period since he became the Director the unit has conducted over £1.8m of research projects, with another £1.2m worth of projects in development. Funding has been received from a wide range of Research Council, Industry and Government sources including the EPSRC, AHRC, SFC, TSB, EU, UK and Scottish Government, Glasgow Housing Association, Local Authorities, Housing Associations and Architects.

Professional Activities
2018 – present Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) working group The Effects of Indoor Air on Children's Health Across the Lifecourse
2018 – present Member of the British Standards Institute (BSi) retrofit working group, Air Tightness and Ventilation
2017 – present Topic Expert, NICE Public Health Advisory Committee on Indoor Air Quality
2016 – present Member UK Centre for moisture in Buildings, chair Ventilation sub-group
2014 – present Chair NHBC Scotland Technical Committee
2017 – present NHBC Construction Quality Expert Panel
2014 – 2017 NHBC Standards Group
2013 – 2015 Invited reviewer Institute for Sustainability
2012 – present Visiting Professor, Guangzhou University
2015 – present Construction Scotland Innovation Centre Technical Advisory Group, Design and Performance Theme
2011 – present Innovate UK Building Performance Evaluator
2011 - 2012 European Association for Architectural Education Research Committee
2006 - present Member AHRC Peer Review College
2009 – 2013 Academic Co-Director Mainstreaming Innovation
2007 – 2009 Common Academic Framework working group
2002 - present Convener and panel member Masters validation panels
1999 - 2016 Academic Council, Glasgow School of Art
1998 - present GSA Research Committee
1999 - present Convenor, Research Committee, Mackintosh School or Architecture
.

Research Interests
• Director Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit
• Environmental Design – low energy, sustainability, passive and active energy techniques, solar strategies, building integrated wind energy, studio integration and pedagogy
• Socially sustainable design – participatory design methods, user participation, housing and community building.

Recent Projects and Research
* Research Council: £2.3m; + Government Funding: £2.2m; # Knowledge exchange: £313k

• PI Ability of decentralised mechanical ventilation to act as ‘whole-house’ ventilation systems in new-build dwellings;. Building Standards Directorate, Scottish Government, £30k +
• PI Influence of ventilation design on the prevalence of anti-microbial bacteria in homes. AHRC AH/R00207X/1. £250k *
• PI Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Cartwright Pickard Architects, To develop innovative tools for applying building information modelling (BIM) and building performance evaluation (BPE) for application within the build to rent market. £221k +
• PI Gannochy Trust for BPE project investigating health and ventilation design in a new-build housing scheme for the Gannochy Trust in Perth, Gannochy Trust and Construction Scotland Innovation Centre. £36k #
• PI Greendykes - Alternative ventilation strategies for flats, part funded from EDC and Construction Scotland Innovation Centre £27 k#
• Organising and Scientific Committee of Passive and Low Energy Architecture international conference Edinburgh, Forum Leader, Building Performance Evaluation
PI Health effects of modern airtight construction AHRC AH/N006607/1 £52k *
• CI Fabric Integrated Thermal Storage in Low Carbon Dwellings (FITS-LCD) EP/N021479/1, EPSRC £1.22m *
• PI Knowledge Transfer Partnership, John Gilbert Architects, Building Performance Evaluation of existing dwellings £168k + A rated.
PI Designing and monitoring energy performance in house designs, Dualchas £15k #
PI Sam Foster Architects : Building Performance Evaluation £5k #
• PI, Research project – To investigate occupier influence on indoor air quality in dwellings, Building Standards Directorate, Scottish Government, £40k +
• PI Building Performance Evaluation study, Glasgow House follow-on projects, Wheatley Group £10k #
• CI, Building Performance Evaluation Scoping Study, Verco Ltd., £3.5k #
• Organiser and chair conference ‘Building Performance Evaluation – Why and How?’, Glasgow Feb 2013-02-06
• PI meta-study of MVHR systems in new housing, funded by the Technology Strategy Board £50k +
• Conference Organiser and Chair, ‘Building Tight, Ventilating Right?’ Air Quality in Housing 2nd February 2012
• PI Dormont Park Passivhaus Building Performance Evaluation for Dormont Estate funded by the Technology Strategy Board £63k +
• Academic Partner, SFC Innovation Voucher - Dormont Estate Passivhaus Zero Carbon Assessment £5k #
• PI Murray Place Performance Evaluation for Hanover Scotland Housing Association funded by the Technology Strategy Board £62k +
• PI Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Cartwright Pickard Architects, Building Performance Evaluation 2012 £130k +
• PI Highland Expo Phase 2 Building Performance Evaluation, for Architecture and Design Scotland/Scottish Government, funded by Technology Strategy Board £150k 2011 +
• PI The Glasgow House Phase 1 Building Performance Evaluation, for Glasgow Housing Association funded by Technology Strategy Board £47k 2011 +
• PI Bloom Court Building Performance Evaluation, Energy Conscious Design, funded by Technology Strategy Board £27k 2011 +
• CI Ti-Na-Cladich Building Performance Evaluation, Fyne Initiatives funded by Technology Strategy Board Building £55k 2011 +
• PI Sunshine, Health and Wellbeing in Housing. AHRC/SFC Knowledge Exchange Programme – competition: A call for proposals on health, the environment and the arts and humanities - A healthier Scotland £52k 2010 *
• Expert Evaluator, Technology Strategy Board, Building Performance Evaluation programme £8m, 4 year programme, 42k p.a. +
• PI, PassivTen: Developing options for refurbishment of tenement properties in Glasgow's East End to Passivhaus standard £18k 2011 #
• Book Contract – in progress, Building Integrated Renewable Energy: Technical and Aesthetic Performance of Renewable Energy Systems on Buildings, Springer Verlag London Ltd
• PI, A research project to develop guidance for occupiers on how to live in a low carbon home – Scottish Government Building Standard Directorate £10k 2011 +
• Journal Paper Reviews: Journal Peer Review: Indoor and Built Environment; Building Research and Information; Science of the Total Environment; Energies — Open Access Journal of Energy Research, Engineering and Policy; Energy and Buildings; Building Services Engineering Research and Technology; Sustainability; Environmental Research Letters; Journal of Energy and Power; Ain Shams Engineering Journal; Building and Environment; Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development ; Journal of Building Pathology and Refurbishment; Intelligent Buildings International; Remote Sensing.
• Expert Reviewer on a Research Grant submitted to the cross-council Lifelong Health and Wellbeing - Phase 3 call Medical Research Council 2010, Carnegie Trust 2015.
• Book review: Fundamental Building Technology (2nd edition), Spon Press 2010
• Book review: Lessons from the Workshop: A Designer’s Primer of Materials and Making, Routledge 2010
• PI The Glasgow House Post Occupancy Evaluation – PoE and analysis of low energy public housing £5k 2010 #
• Academic Director CICStart online LUPS/ERDF/2008/2/1/0237 (£959k) 2009 – 2012 +
• PI 9-11 Gilmour's close - comparing theoretical performance of a suite of sustainable installations in the building against their actual performance £5k 2011 #
• PI Glasgow Housing Association design advice on the Glasgow House £22k 2010 #
• PI Development of Post Occupancy Evaluation for evaluation of innovative low carbon social housing projects, CICStart feasibility Study £5k 2010 #
• PI Enkelt Simple Living CICStart feasibility Study £5k 2010 #
• CI and research developer EPSRC funded project “Environmental assessment of domestic laundering” £522k 2009 – 2011 EP/G00028X/1 *
• PI CROSSFLEX. Building Integrated Wind Turbine concept development, in conjunction with Proven Engineering Ltd, funded by SMART (Scottish Executive 70k) 2009 #
• PI Wyndford energy Efficiency Project. Feasibility Study into energy efficient upgrading of 1800 dwellings on the Wyndford Estate, for CUBE Housing Association. 35k 2009 #
• PI Sheeps Wool Feasibility Study. Successful KTTBE funding award for a feasibility study into the use of blown sheep’s wool as an insulation material, for Alan Polkinghorne Associates. 5k 2008 #
• CI on successful AHRC funding application “Scoping study as the basis for more detailed research into wider social participation in the architectural design process” 80k 2008 *
• Successful KTTBE funding award for a feasibility study into the energy use of wind turbines on a multi-storey housing block in Clydebank 5k 2007 #
• Member organising committee for Eurosun 2006, Glasgow, international solar conference (venue Glasgow Caledonian University) via the SSEG (Scottish Solar Energy Group), SES, UK (Solar Energy Society) and ISES-Europe (International Solar Energy Society).
• PI Dundasvale Court environmental Assessment, Examination of constructional problems for high-rise flats for Glasgow Housing Association 2006 £15k
• Newberry Tower Wind Turbine. Project to install and monitor wind turbine on campus building, funded by Scottish Power Green Energy Trust, Glasgow City Council. £25k
• BTS Phase 1. Low level monitoring programme of community heating system in rehabilitated tenement building for Govan Housing Association, funded by the Lighthouse.
• SAP SURVEY FOR COMMUNITIES SCOTLAND, Low level monitoring program that aims to validate theoretical SAP calculations against performance data.
• Building Integrated Wind Turbines – studies into feasibility of building integrated wind energy funded by BRECSU and GCC
• SAP+ funded research into the development of the Standard Assessment Procedure energy model
• Glazed roof preheat spaces – an investigation into their contribution to energy efficiency. A project to evaluate the use of glazed roofs as pre-heat spaces in domestic construction. Funded by Energy Action Scotland, Project built by Dumbritton Housing Association
• An evaluation of CAD as a method for enabling user participation in housing design. Research Funded by Scottish Homes to investigate the current use of participation in design and the potential of CAD to act as a participatory method.
• Scottish BREDEM. In conjunction with the BRE and funded by right to warmth, a project to develop a spreadsheet version of the BREDEM and SAP methodology.
• T84 Feasibility Study GCC. Commissioned by Glasgow City Council to undertake feasibility study and EU Thermie submission for solar thermal upgrading of T84 housing blocks in Glasgow
• Priesthill Housing. Consultancy to Glasgow City Council Property Services for new-build housing – advice on energy efficient improvements and participatory development of proposals.
• Building Health in Glasgow. Exhibition Commissioned by The Department of Public Health, Glasgow University