Professor Simon Rees

Profile

Simon Rees is Professor of Building Energy Systems at the University of Leeds in the School of Civil Engineering where he has a research focus on geothermal energy systems and leads teaching in the building physics subject area of the Architecture and Architectural Engineering programmes.

He joined the school in 2015 from the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development at De Montfort University. Following the Award of a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from Loughborough University in 1987 Simon Rees joined the consulting engineering firm Ove Arup and Partners as a Mechanical Building Services Engineer. In 1994 he began research into Displacement Ventilation and Chilled Ceiling systems at Loughborough University resulting in the award of a PhD in 1998. He has since spent more than five years as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Oklahoma State University in the USA. In this capacity he undertook research into ground source (geothermal) heat pump systems and numerical simulation of thermal systems.

Research interests

Simon Rees's research interests are in the fields of building physics and geothermal energy systems. These interests can be summarised as sustainable buidling design, energy simulation and dynamic thermal modelling methods, room heat transfer, thermal networks and geothermal systems. The most significant theme of his work has been geothermal heating and cooling systems. He is a member of the cross-faculty Geosolutions research group. Current work includes a campus Living Lab project developing an innovative geothermal energy solution  and projects examining geothermal energy storage and grid interactions.

Recent work has included modelling of ground-coupled heat exchange systems such as advanced borehole heat exchanger technologies, foundation heat exchanger elements (energy piles and activated walls), tunnels and waste water networks. Work on advanced ground heat exchange modelling has been etended into modelling of heat network systems and their interaction with the environment and both short and long-term dynamic behavior.

Other research activities include performance analysis of large ground source heat pump systems, analysis of urban wind energy potentials, application of geothermal energy to management of winter surface conditions in infrastructure systems, urban-scale solar irradiation mapping and application of Dynamic Thermal Network approaches to modelling of thermal networks and ground thermal energy storage. Much of his work relies on expertise in numerical modelling of conduction heat transfer problems and computational fluid dynamics.

Interdisciplinary research in building design that takes a socio-technical perspective has been undertaken in collaboration with the Leeds University Business School and a wide range of stakeholder organisations in an ESRC funded project Adapting Offices for the Future of Work . He also has interests in the history and philosophy of technology and the metaphysics of material objects with application to design and the principles of the circular economy.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. Civil and Building Engineering - Loughborough University (1998)
• B. Tech. Mechanical Engineering - Loughborough University (1987).

Professional memberships

• Member of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
• Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)

Student education

His primary teaching responsibilities are to lead the Building Engineering Physics element of the Architecture and  Architectural Engineering programmes. This includes teaching of building simulation methods in taught classes, workshops and design studio settings. He also teaches energy and sustainability topics in the Civil Engineering programme. 

Research groups and institutes

• Energy Leeds
• Cities, Infrastructure and Energy

Current postgraduate researchers

• Josh Turner
• Aakash Gupta