UCL IEDE will collaborate with Tsinghua University on the The ‘Total Performance’ of Low Carbon Buildings in China and the UK ('TOP') project. The TOP project team will begin by examining the contrasting context within which buildings have been designed and constructed and within which they are used and operated internationally. The project will address the policies and regulatory regimes that relate to energy/Indoor Environmental Quality, but also the assessment techniques used and the ways that buildings are utilised. The proposed work is tremendously challenging and exciting. If successful it will lead the way in understanding and improving the total performance of low carbon buildings and help to develop relevant effective policies and regulations in the transition towards future Low Carbon Cities. Funded under the EPSRC Low Carbon Cities programme, the projects will encourage collaboration between leading UK and Chinese academics, combining research to reduce the carbon emissions of existing technologies.