ProfSara Wilkinson

Professor Sara Wilkinson
Professor Sara Wilkinson is a chartered building surveyor and Australia’s first female Professor of Property. Her transdisciplinary research program sits at the intersection of sustainability, urban development and transformation, with a focus on green cities and preparing our urban environments for the challenges of climate change. She has a growing interest in the use of new technologies to deliver sustainable building outcomes.

Sara works with academic and industry partners in engineering, science, health and business to deliver building adaptation, sustainability and resilience, and green infrastructure projects. Her research has been funded by the ARC OEH NSW, RICS, ARENA, HIA, Kamprad Family Foundation, City of Melbourne and City of Sydney. Recent work includes a project with Swedish developer Skanksa and funded by the Kamprad Family Foundation that uses virtual reality to assess customers’ willingness to pay for green infrastructure in a residential housing development. Another project funded by the City of Sydney developed a prototype wallbot to inspect and monitor green walls on high-rise buildings. An updated version of the bot, developed in partnership with the UTS Centre for Autonomous Systems, will have maintenance functions such as pruning, weeding and replacing plants, paving the way for increased opportunities for smart green wall installations in urban areas. Her ARC Linkage project with UTS FEIT and Science evaluates performance of hempcrete wall panels and green walls.

In a career spanning over 30 years, Sara has produced more than 385 research outputs, including 9 books, 29 book chapters, 59 refereed journal and 105 refereed conference papers, and 8 keynote presentations, among others. Her 2016 Best Practice Guidance Note on Green Roofs and Walls was launched by the NSW Minister for Planning, and she has previously presented her research in collaboration with the Deep Green Biotech Hub to the NSW Deputy Premier. She is the Director of ZEMCH (Zero Energy Mass Custom Housing), Australia and the Australian Hub Leader for the Carbon Leadership Forum. Sara has been a RICS External Examiner for built environment degrees in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and India.

She is an Property Research Trustee and a trustee for the Australian Property Institute’s research and education committees, a member of the RICS Oceania Education Standards Board, and a member and secretary of the PRRES Board. She was a national reviewer for Part J (Energy Efficiency) of the Building Code of Australia in 2019. Sara is the Regional Editor for International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, a member of the editorial board for Building Research & Information, and an editorial board member for the Journal of Sustainable Real Estate, among others. She is on the TEQSA Experts database for property education and is a former member of the technical advisory groups for the Climateworks Deep Decarbonisation Futures: Innovation Scenarios for Net Zero Emissions and the Climateworks and Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council’s Building Code Energy Performance Trajectory Project.