Dr. Stephen Allen is a lecturer in net energy and carbon analysis, with academic and professional experience in this field since 2006.  His research integrates life cycle assessment into design, engineering and policy making.  This is essential for achieving net-zero carbon emissions and effectively tackling climate change.  Current collaborative projects include:

• €7m Circular Biobased Construction Industry
• £18m UK Energy Research Centre
• £9m Active Building Centre Research Programme
• Supervising PhD researchers working on LCA of buildings, development of sustainable construction materials, and phase chase materials.

Stephen’s PhD and post-doctoral research (2006-09) predicted the net energy and carbon performance of renewable energy systems.  In 2010-12 he was the Energy Adviser at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. He provided scientific advice to inform public policy, and speciliast input to select committee inquiries.  In 2012-18 he was a senior associate at Sustain Ltd (now Anthesis) and then director at Circular Ecology. He led projects for companies worth more than £10bn, helping them to measure and reduce their environmental footprint. Prior to 2006, Stephen worked as an engineer in remote parts of Canada and Mexico, designing and building equipment and accommodation for environmental field research.

His publications have been used by parliament, government and the Committee on Climate Change to inform policy, and by professional magazines to influence practice in industry.  He won the prestigious George Stephenson Prize from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (for best original paper), and a place on the USA’s International Visitor Leadership Programme on climate change and renewable energy.  He has featured on the BBC’s ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green’ and written a regular column on sustainability for a magazine.  He is conversationally fluent in Spanish.

Interested in supervising students studying:

• Low energy and low carbon design of buildings
• Sustainable building materials
• Sustainable energy technologies
• Thermodynamics and heat transfer
• Carbon footprinting
• Life cycle assessment