Dr Rory Jones

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(0) 118 378 4716
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Associate Professor
Office
150Building location
Chancellor's buildingAreas of interest
My research addresses two principal areas: energy use in buildings and indoor environmental quality. At the core of this work is a deep interest in the dynamic relationship between people and the built environment, specifically, how occupants influence building performance through their interactions with building systems and architectural features, and how buildings, in turn, impact the comfort, health and productivity of their occupants.
A major focus of my current research is on understanding and advancing sustainable cooling solutions in both the UK and Africa, supported by two major research grants as Principal Investigator. Sustainable cooling is a critical global challenge. Rising global temperatures and urbanization are accelerating demand for air conditioning, increasing energy consumption and emissions, and putting climate goals and energy systems under strain.
More widely, my research addresses areas such as, energy demand side management (DSM), energy efficiency and flexibility, indoor air quality, overheating, retrofit of existing buildings, building performance simulation and low energy building design.
The ultimate aim of my research is to shape the design of future buildings that deliver exceptional indoor environments with significantly reduced energy consumption.
Research centres and groups
Research projects
- Residential Air-conditioning Demand Futures (RADFutures), RAP2025016 (Principal Investigator). EPSRC and ESRC via EDRC, 2025 – 2026. Project Value: £49,036
- Flexibility Certificates (FLEX-CERT), RAP2025001 (Co-Investigator). EPSRC and ESRC via EDRC, 2025. Project Value: £48,808
- A Socio-technical Study of Electricity Demand, Efficiency and Flexibility in the Urban Housing Sector of Burkina Faso, EP/Y000935/1 (Principal Investigator). EPSRC, 2024 – 2027. Project Value: £202,110
- Non-residential energy tariff analysis and research initiative (NER-TARI) (Co-Investigator). Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, 2023. Project Value: £46,204
- Sustainability Hub: Low Carbon Devon (Co-Investigator). European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), 2019 – 2023. Project Value: €3.3M
- Energy Game for Awareness of energy efficiency in social housing communities (EnerGAware) (Co-Investigator). European Union Horizon 2020, 2015 – 2018. Project Value: €2M
- Post Occupancy Evaluation of energy use, environmental parameters and occupant behaviour on the new build low energy Beechfield View housing estate in Torquay, UK (Co-Investigator). Sovereign Housing Association, 2013 – 2016. Project Value: £24,578
- Expert advice on the design of a hypothetical randomised control trial on smarter heating controls (Principal Investigator at UOP). Department of Energy and Climate Change, 2013 – 2014. Project Value: £11,940
- eViz: Energy Visualisation for Carbon Reduction (Post-Doctoral Research Fellow). EPSRC, 2012 – 2015
- 4M: Measurement, Modelling, Mapping and Management: An Evidence-based Methodology for Understanding and Shrinking the Urban Carbon Footprint (PhD Researcher). EPSRC, 2009 – 2014
- An investigation of the socio-economic, technical and appliance related factors affecting high electrical energy demand in UK homes (PhD Researcher). EPSRC, 2009 – 2014
Background
- Associate Professor. School of the Built Environment, University of Reading, UK (2023 – Present)
- Lecturer. School of the Built Environment, University of Reading, UK (2022 – 2023)
- Lecturer. Department of Built Environment, University of Plymouth, UK (2017 – 2022)
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. Department of Built Environment, University of Plymouth, UK (2012 – 2017)
- PhD Researcher. School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Building Energy Research Group, Loughborough University, UK (2009 – 2014)
Academic qualifications
- PhD, School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Building Energy Research Group, Loughborough University, UK, 2014
- PGCert in Academic Practice, University of Plymouth, UK, 2019
Professional bodies/affiliations
- Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Member of the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) Affiliate Region England
- Member of The UK Indoor Environments Group (UKIEG)
- Editorial Board Member of Intelligent Buildings International