Professor David Allinson

BEng (Hons) MSc (Eng) PhD PGCAP FHEA

Pronouns: He/him
  • Professor of Building Physics
  • Building Energy Research Group (BERG) Lead

Research groups and centres

David Allinson

Research and expertise

My research addresses the challenge of transforming the performance of buildings for a healthy, sustainable, and zero-carbon future.

Summary

I combine measurement and modelling techniques to evaluate the energy, thermal, and moisture performance of buildings. My expertise includes: large scale field trails; test houses with synthetic occupants; the 天堂视频 Hygrothermal Test Facility; building diagnostics and post-occupancy evaluation; energy, temperature and indoor air quality monitoring; modelling, thermal and hygrothermal simulation, and the UK's Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP).

Current research activity

  • Development of Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) 11, BRE/BEIS
  • SMETER Business Process Design Project (SMETER BPD), AECOM/BEIS
  • Active Buildings Centre, EPSRC

Recently completed research projects

  • Technical Evaluation of SMETER Technologies (TEST) Project, BEIS
  • Active Buildings Centre, EPSRC
  • Methods and Metrics for Moisture Risk Assessment (MRA-SWI), EPSRC
  • DEFACTO - Digital Energy Feedback and Control Optimisation, EPSRC
  • SCENe- Sustainable Community Energy Networks, Innovate UK

Completed Doctoral Researchers

  • Dr Matt Li (2022) 
  • Dr Rami El Geneidy (2021) 
  • Dr Dan Wright (2021) 
  • Dr Kostas Chapasis (2021)
  • Dr Ben Roberts (2020)
  • Dr Roel Tersteeg (2020)
  • Dr Karl Sample (2020)
  • Dr Victoria Tink (2018) 
  • Dr Ali Badiei (2018) 
  • Dr Kate Simpson (2017) 
  • Dr Ashley Morton (2017) 
  • Dr Selin Yilmaz (2017) 
  • Dr Louis Fifield (2017) 
  • Dr Arash Beizaee (2016) 
  • Dr Richard Jack (2015) 
  • Dr Jonathan Morris (2013) .

Recent publications

  • Roberts, BM, Allinson, D, Lomas, K (2021) Evaluating methods for estimating whole house air infiltration rates in summer: implications for overheating and indoor air quality, International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, ISSN: 2398-4708. DOI: 10.1108/IJBPA-06-2021-0085.
  • Lomas, K, Allinson, D, Watson, S, Beizaee, A, Haines, V, Li, M (2021) Energy savings from domestic zonal heating controls: Robust evidence from a controlled field trial, Energy and Buildings, 254, 111572, ISSN: 0378-7788. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111572.
  • Lomas, K, Watson, S, Allinson, D, Fateh, A, Beaumont, A, Allen, J, Foster, H, Garrett, H (2021) Dwelling and household characteristics' influence on reported and measured summertime overheating: a glimpse of a mild climate in the 2050's, Building and Environment, 201, 107986, ISSN: 0360-1323. DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107986.
  • Badiei, A, Allinson, D, Lomas, K (2019) , Energy and Buildings, 203, 109431, ISSN: 0378-7788. DOI: .
  • Lomas, KJ, Beizaee, A, Allinson, D, Haines, VJ, Beckhelling, J, Loveday, DL, Porritt, SM, Mallaband, B, Morton, A (2019) , Energy and Buildings, 201, pp.90-117, ISSN: 0378-7788. DOI: .
  • Li, M, Allinson, D, Lomas, K (2019) , International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 38(1), pp.38-50, ISSN: 2398-4708. DOI: .
  • Roberts, BM, Allinson, D, Diamond, S, Abel, B, Das Bhaumik, C, Khatami, N, Lomas, K (2019) , Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, 40(4), pp.512-552, ISSN: 0143-6244. DOI: .
  • Tink, VJ, Porritt, S, Allinson, D, Loveday, D (2018) , Building and Environment, 141, pp.247-261, ISSN: 0360-1323. DOI: .
  • Fifield, L-J, Lomas, K, Giridharan, R, Allinson, D (2018) , Building and Environment, 141, pp.28-44, ISSN: 0360-1323. DOI: .
  • Li, M, Allinson, D, He, M (2018) , Energy and Buildings, ISSN: 0378-7788. DOI: .
  • Roberts, BM, Allinson, D, Lomas, K (2018) , Journal of Sustainable Design & Applied Research, 6(1), pp.29-38, ISSN: 2009-549X. DOI: .
  • Jack, R, Loveday, D, Allinson, D, Lomas, K (2017) , Building Research & Information, 46(4), pp.383-401, ISSN: 0961-3218. DOI: .
  • Yilmaz, S, Firth, S, Allinson, D (2017) , Journal of Building Performance Simulation, 10(5-6), pp.582-600, ISSN: 1940-1493. DOI: .
  • Allinson, D, Irvine, K, Edmondson, JL, Tiwary, A, Hill, G, Morris, J, Bell, MC, Davies, ZG, Firth, S, Fisher, J, Gaston, KJ, Leake, JR, McHugh, N, Namdeo, A, Rylatt, M, Lomas, K (2016) , Applied Energy, 164, pp.871-881, ISSN: 0306-2619. DOI: .
  • Lomas, KJ, Morris, J, Allinson, D, Harrison, J (2015) , Energy Efficiency, ISSN: 1570-646X. DOI: .
  • Beizaee, A, Allinson, D, Lomas, K, Foda, E, Loveday, D (2015) , Energy and Buildings, 92, pp.29-44, ISSN: 0378-7788. DOI: .
  • Taylor, SC, Firth, SK, Allinson, D, Quddus, M, Wang, C, Smith, P (2014) , GCB Bioenergy, ISSN: 1757-1693. DOI: .

Teaching

I contribute to learning and teaching activities across the School's programmes, including:

Undergraduate

  • Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer for Architectural Engineering Programme (Responsible Examiner)
  • Indoor Air module for Architectural Engineering Programme
  • Architectural Science and Advanced Technical Investigations for Architecture Programme
  • Supervision of dissertations on topics aligned to my research interests

Postgraduate

  • Socio-technical Perspectives: Theory and Methods for ERBE Programme (Responsible Examiner)
  • Supervision of dissertations on topics aligned to my research interests

Recently completed projects

  • Damp and Mould Risk Indicator, Build Test Solutions
  • Overheating analysis: UK National Energy Follow Up Study (BEIS), BRE

Career

I am a mechanical engineering graduate with long-standing expertise in experimental methods, having performed R&D and testing roles in the private sector, for the government and in academia (ICI, National Power, Health and Safety Laboratory, University of Nottingham).

Expertise in numerical modelling and simulation were developed during my subsequent PhD and PostDoc (Built Environment, University of Nottingham). Since joining 天堂视频, I have continued to combine measurement and modelling techniques to evaluate the performance of buildings, their systems and occupants. This has included evaluating the performance of buildings in large-scale field trials, developing the BERG's test houses with synthetic occupancy, designing the state-of-the-art Hygrothermal Test Facility in our laboratories, and using high quality data to assess the accuracy of models and to improve their predictions.

Professional affiliations

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Awards

  • 天堂视频 Teaching Innovation Award 2020
  • CIBSE Carter Bronze medal 2020, best paper in the CIBSE technical journal
  • ABCE School award 2019 (largest Enterprise Grant at 天堂视频)
  • 天堂视频, Built Environment Beacon, Research awards, Research Paper of the year 2018

External activities

  • PhD examination: University of Nottingham, University of Bath, UCL and Leeds Beckett University
  • External examiner: MSc Facade Engineering, University of Western England, Bristol
  • European Committee for Standardization Technical Committee: CEN/TC89 Working Group 13 “Thermal performance of buildings and building components”
  • British Standards Institution subcommittee B/540/2- Building Performance–moisture
  • Expert technical reviewer, including for CIBSE, DECC, BEIS, and all the major academic journals in my field

Key collaborators

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

  • The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
  • Building Research Establishment (BRE)
  • Halton Housing, Widness
  • Building Performance and Sustainability Research Unit, Leeds Beckett University
  • Physical Characterisation of Buildings group, University College London
  • Build Test Solutions