My career is founded on a degree in Civil Engineering from Nottingham University (1977) and a PhD in geotechnical engineering (1981). After a brief period lecturing at Loughborough University, in 1984 I took a post-doctoral position at De Montfort University (DMU) (then Leicester Polytechnic) to develop methods of validating dynamic thermal models of buildings, a post that set the direction of my future career.  

In 1986 I became a lecture at DMU teaching environmental design in the School of Architecture and progressed to Reader then, in 1996, Professor. Grant funding from the Department of Energy and the BRE supported my research on the development and validation of thermal models of buildings. Through the International Energy Agency, I co-ordinated the world’s largest empirical validation exercise of dynamic thermal models of buildings. Validation of daylighting and CFD models was explored with PhD students, Mardaljevic and Cook respectively, both of whom are now world-leading researchers. Validation is now firmly established in international guidelines and standards.

Between 2000 and 2008 I was the Director of the Institute of Energy and Sustainability at DMU, a financially autonomous centre sustained by research and development work, post-graduate teaching and consultancy. Our expertise in energy, CFD and daylight modelling secured consultancy work from architects and engineers to support the design of 20 large, low-energy, naturally ventilated, public sector buildings. Many of these won engineering and architectural awards. Research on building energy and environment models gradually declined as the models migrated from research centres to mainstream professional practice.

Following a sabbatical at Cambridge University in 2008/09, I moved, with others from DMU, to take up a chair in the, now called, School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering at Loughborough University. Research concerns about the sustainability of urban areas and the needs to understanding the actual energy demands of buildings took centre stage; a research thread made possible by the advent of small, low-cost sensors and the internet of things. Large-scale field trials, in hospitals and homes, has provided a picture of the factors influencing energy demand, and the success, or otherwise, of refurbishment strategies and heating controls for reducing this demand. Unexpectedly, the work also revealed the serious problem of overheating in UK homes.

Since 2009, I have been the Director of the London-Loughborough Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Energy Demand and more recently the CDT in Energy Resilience and the Built Environment. The Centres will train over 150 PhD students who will be the future leaders in the struggle to create a safe, secure, clean and socially equitable energy system for the built environment.

Professional affiliations

• Chartered Engineer (CEng)
• Member of the Energy Institute (MEI)
• European Engineer (Eur Eng)
• Member of the Institute of Learning and Teaching
• Fellow of the Institution of Building Services Engineers (FCIBSE)

 Awards

Personal awards

• Personal Leverhulme Research Award, 2008.
• Visiting Fellow then Life Fellow: Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, 2008.
• DSc, Building Simulation, Low Energy Design and Sustainable Urban Environments, University of Nottingham, 2012.

Research awards

• Department for Energy and Climate Change: How Trends in Appliances Affects Domestic CO₂Emissions: a Review of Home and Garden Appliances. First prize for Consultancy, Loughborough University Enterprise Awards in 2010.
• CIBSE Carter Bronze Medal, best application paper in BSERT journal 2016.

External Activities

Consultancy and Professional Practice

Design and development of the ventilation and control systems for the following naturally ventilated buildings. The work was undertaken as part of a team with colleagues and professional architects and engineers.

• Queens Building: Natural ventilation strategy and evaluation for lecture theatre, De Montfort University (Green Building of the Year 1995, RIBA Award 1995, HJ Dyos Prize 1994) [with Peake, Short and Partners]
• Torrent Pharmaceuticals: Evaporative cooling strategy, Ahmedabad, India (Award for Excellent in Architecture 2002) [with Ford Assoc.]
• Ruskin Archive: Passive thermal control strategy evaluation [for MacCormack, Jamieson, Prichard]
• Australia Stadium Sydney Olympics 1996: Natural ventilation strategy proposal and evaluation, solar control and comfort [with Lobb Partnership for Multiplex Australia]
• Coventry University Library: Natural ventilation strategy evaluation (Overall winner of the IMBM Awards 2001; ICE Midland Award for Outstanding Environmental Achievement 2001; Brick Awards 2000, Best Public Building; SCONUL Library Design Award 2002) [with Short and Assoc.]
• Merchant Taylors Hall: Improved ventilation under aesthetic constraints [with Short and Assoc.] 
• Cellular Operations HQ, Swindon: Thermal comfort and mechanical ventilation system design [for Curona Design] 
• De Montfort University: Polhill Campus Library Resources Centre [with Short and Assoc.] 
• Millennium Park Visitors Centre, Leicester: Sustainable building and renewable energy systems design [for Oadby and Wigston Borough Council]
• Lichfield Civic Theatre: Natural ventilation design and evaluation (M4I Sustainability Demonstration Project 2004; CIBSE Project of the Year 2004) [with Short and Assoc.]
• Magee College: Natural ventilation of Learning Resource Centre [for BDP Consulting] 
• Thames Valley U.: Library natural ventilation and daylight strategy [with Short and Assoc.]
• Judson College, Chicago, Illinois: Library and design faculty, environmental control strategy (Earth Stewardship Grant, US Federal Government, $7.5m; Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation $200k grant; and the Kresge Foundation $600k) [with Short and Assoc.]
• Harper Adams University: Natural ventilation of Learning Resources Centre [for Fabre Maunsell]
• Leicester City West Primary Health Care Trust: Braunstone Health and Social Care Centre (Sustainable Development of the Year Award, Leicestershire 2005)[with Short and Assoc.]
• University College London: Innovative ventilation for new School of Slavonic & East European Studies (RIBA Regional Award 2006; Building to the Limits Exhibition, Science Museum, London 2006; Brick Awards Best Public Building 2006; CIBSE Environmental Initiative of the Year Award 2006; Gold Medal – RIBA President’s Award for Outstanding Professional Practice-located Research, 2006, sub. by Short & Assoc, incs. Judson College research) [with Short & Assoc.] 
• De Montfort University: Campus centre building and theatres, Bedford [with Short and Assoc.]
• Science and Technology Museum Project of Green Buildings: Hangzhou, China, for Chinese Energy Conservation Investment Corp. (CECIC). 
• Watford Hospital Public Sector Comparator [with Short and Assoc.]
• Papworth Hospital, Architectural Design Competition team [with Skanska]

Peer Review of Research

• Member of the UK Research Excellence Framework 2014, Sub-panel C16 - Architecture, Built Environment and Planning (2011 - 14).
• Deputy Convenor for the Hong Kong Research Assessment Exercise 2020, Built Environment Panel (2017 -).
• EPSRC (formerly SERC) Review College.
• Hong Kong University Grants Committee (1993 -). 
• National Science and Eng. Research Council, Canada (2014).
• The Leverhulme Trust (2018).

Journal Review

• Editorial Board, Buildings and Cities (2019 - ).
• Building Services Engineering Research and Technology (1986 -); 
• Editorial Board, Energy & Buildings (1989 -); 
• Energy & Environment (1989 -); 
• Engineering Construction & Architecture Management (1995); 
• Solar Energy (2003 - 2010); 
• Building Research and Information (2006 - 2018);
• Environment and Planning B (2006); 
• Journal of Building Performance Simulation (2009 -); 
• Science of the Total Environment (2016); 
• Engineering Sustainability (2016); 
• Public Health (2017).

 Government, Institutions and Charity Advisory Groups 

• Dept. of Energy, Test Cell Advisory Group (1991); 
• Dept of Energy, Methodology Steering Committee (1991); 
• BRECSU, LT Method Review Committee (1993); 
• CIBSE Working Group J, A2 Guide (2001); 
• CREST Advisory Board, Loughborough University, (2003-09); 
• Edinburgh Research Partnership (ERP), Joint Research Initiative (JRI) in Engineering and Mathematics, for Edinburgh U. (2005-10); 
• ODPM, ‘Sustainability impact study of additional housing’, report review (2006)
• CIBSE Weather Data Task Force (2007-09); 
• Elm Tree Mews Housing Field Trials, Adv. Panel, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2008-10); 
• English Housing Survey and Modelling, Advisory Panel, Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd, for DECC, (2010); 
• Energy Demand Reduction Prog. Review, Adv. Panel, OFGEM, for AECOM (2010); 
• Standard Assessment Procedure Scientific Integrity Group, BRE, then Robust Details, 2016 -
• MHCLG, Overheating of Dwellings, Advisory Panel (2017-18).

Research Funding Organisations

• EPSRC, Energy Kernal System Review Committee (SERC) (1989); 
• EPSRC, UK-China Link (2008); Challenging Engineering (2008); 
• EPSRC, Doctoral Training Centres, Outline Submission Panel (2009); 
• EPSRC, Energy Efficiency and the Digital Economy Advisory Group (2009); 
• EdF/EPSRC People Energy and Buildings (2010).
• EPSRC, Process, Environment and Sustainability, Engineering Strategic Advisory Team.
• NERC, UK Energy Research Centre, Renewal Panel (2009).
• ETI, Micro-Distributed Energy call, Selection Panel (2009); Optimising Thermal Efficiency of Existing Housing, Advisory Panel (2011-12); 
• ETI Smart systems and heat, Consultant selection panel (2015).

Key collaborators

My research and enterprise activities are conducted with a range of academic and stakeholder partners, including:

• Numerous UK Universities including: UCL, Cambridge University, Universities in the Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland centre, Leeds Becket University, Swansea University, Bath University, Nottingham University, Cardiff University, Imperial College.
• Various government departments most notably the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
• A range of commercial companies, including the Building Research Establishment, Energy de France, Secure, Honeywell, Siemens and Simble.