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Dr Sanober Khattak

Job: Lecturer (Energy Engineering)

Faculty: Computing, Engineering and Media

School/department: School of Engineering and Sustainable Development

Address: »ÆÉ«²Ö¿â, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: N/A

E: sanober.khattak@dmu.ac.uk

Social Media:

 

Personal profile

I am a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Energy and Sustainable Development, with extensive experience in thermal comfort, Building Services, energy modelling, low carbon HVAC, indoor air quality and environmental systems. Over £1.4M in research grants secured, 22+ peer-reviewed publications, and strong expertise in supervising PhD students and leading interdisciplinary projects in the buildings industry and energy systems

Research group affiliations

  • Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), »ÆÉ«²Ö¿â

Publications and outputs

1.  Hatfield, O., Coley, D., Khattak, S., Arya, S.S., Elangovan, R. and Natarajan, S. (2025) ‘Generating global high-resolution current and future weather timeseries, and the implications for India’, Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Manuscript ID BSE-C-24-288.

2.  El-Azzeh, S., Wright, A., Khattak, S.H., Salem, M., and Al-Ajmi, F. (2025). 'Thermal comfort and adaptation in air-conditioned buildings in hot climate in the state of Kuwait', Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering (CSEE 2025), Barcelona, Spain, April 13 - 15.

3.  Khattak, S.H., Sharma, S., and Yang, S. (2025). 'Performance evaluation of Phase Change Materials for cooling Photovoltaics and enhancing efficiency in the Global South', Proceedings of the Zero Carbon Built Environment (ZCBE) Conference, pp. 1-12.

4.  Summ, T., Oyinlola, M., Khattak, S.H., Ehrenwirth, M., Trinkl, C., and Zörner, W. (2025). 'Towards maximum cost-effectiveness: multi-objective design optimisation of insulating glass flat-plate collectors', Applied Thermal Engineering, Elsevier, 258, pp. 124594. (Q1, IF: 6.1)

5.  Khattak, S.H., and Co-authors. (2024). 'Geospatial analysis as a tool for effective energy planning', Proceedings of the 4th IBPSA-Scotland Conference, uSIM2024, Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, 25 November.

6.  Summ, T., Oyinlola, M., Khattak, S.H., Trinkl, C., and Zörner, W. (2024). 'Statistical analysis of solar thermal collectors in the Solar Keymark Database', Sustainable Technology Assessments, Elsevier, 61, pp. 103581. (Q1, IF: 7.4)

7. Chung, W.J., Khattak, S.H., Cecinati, F., Jeong, S.G., Kershaw, T., Allen, S., Park, C.S., Coley, D., and Natarajan, S. (2023). 'Resistive and capacitive technology recipes for peak cooling load reductions in the global south', Journal of Building Engineering, Elsevier, 67, pp. 105900-101592. (Q1, IF: 6.4)

8. Khattak, S.H., Badenes, B., Urchueguia, J., and Sanner, B. (2023). 'Thermodynamic Performance Analysis of High Thermal Conductivity Materials in Borehole Heat Exchangers in the European Climate', Buildings, MDPI, 13, pp. 2276. (Q1, IF: 3.8)

9. Elhabodi, T.S., Yang, S., Parker, J., Khattak, S.H., He, B.J., and Attia, S. (2023). 'A review on BIPV-induced temperature effects on urban heat islands', Urban Climate, Elsevier, 50, pp. 101592. (Q1, IF: 6.4)

10. El-Azzeh, S., Wright, A., Khattak, S.H., Salem, M., and Al-Ajmi, F. (2023). 'An investigation into gender and clothing’s effect on indoor thermal comfort in hot-desert climate: A case study in Kuwait', ASHRAE Transactions, 129(1), pp. 800-805.

11. Khattak, S.H., Wright, A., and Natarajan, S. (2022). Flexible future comfort. In Routledge Handbook of Resilient Thermal Comfort (pp. 398-416). Routledge.

12. Hepple, R., Yang, S., Khattak, S.H., Qian, Z., and Prasad, D. (2022). 'Comparative Analysis of CIBSE Admittance and ASHRAE Radiant Time Series Cooling Load Models', Civil Engineering Journal, MDPI, 3, pp. 468-479. (Q3, IF: 2.0)

13. Saif, J., Wright, A., Khattak, S.H., and Elfadi, K. (2021). 'Keeping cool in the desert: Using wind catchers for improved thermal comfort and indoor air quality at half the energy', Buildings, MDPI, 11, pp. 100. (Q1, IF: 3.8)

14. Khattak, S.H., Natarajan, S., and Chung, W.J. (2020). 'Out with the power outages: Peak load reduction in the developing world', Proceedings of the 11th Windsor Conference, 16 April, pp. 904-922.

15. Khattak, S.H., and Greenough, R. (2018). 'Resource accounting in factories and the energy-water nexus', The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Springer London, 95, pp. 71-81. (Q1, IF: 3.4)

16. Khattak, S.H., Greenough, R., Sardeshpande, V., and Brown, N. (2018). 'Exergy analysis of a four pan jaggery making process', Energy Reports, Elsevier, 4, pp. 470-477. (Q2, IF: 5.2)

17. Khattak, S.H., Oates, M., and Greenough, R. (2018). 'Towards improved energy and resource management in manufacturing', Energies, MDPI, 11, pp. 1006. (Q2, IF: 3.2)

18. Khattak, S.H., Greenough, R., Korolija, I., and Brown, N. (2016). 'An exergy based approach to resource accounting for factories', Journal of Cleaner Production, Elsevier, 121, pp. 99-108. (Q1, IF: 11.1)

19. Khattak, S.H., Greenough, R., and Sardeshpande, V. (2014). 'Resource efficient manufacturing: can reduced energy efficiency lead to improved sustainability?', ECEEE Industrial Summer Study Proceedings, pp. 163-167.

20. Khattak, S.H., Greenough, R., Korolija, I., and Brown, N. (2014). 'Analysing the use of waste factory heat through exergy analysis', ECEEE Industrial Summer Study Proceedings, pp. 179-189.

21. Brown, N., Greenough, R., Vikhorev, K., and Khattak, S.H. (2013). 'Precursors to using energy data as a manufacturing process variable', Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing, pp. 1-10.

22. Khattak, S.H., Greenough, R., and Brown, N. (2012). 'Suitability of exergy analysis for industrial energy efficiency, manufacturing and energy management', ECEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry Proceedings, pp. 237-243.

Key research outputs

1.  Hatfield, O., Coley, D., Khattak, S., Arya, S.S., Elangovan, R. and Natarajan, S. (2025) ‘Generating global high-resolution current and future weather timeseries, and the implications for India’, Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Manuscript ID BSE-C-24-288.

 

2.  Khattak, S.H., Sharma, S., and Yang, S. (2025). 'Performance evaluation of Phase Change Materials for cooling Photovoltaics and enhancing efficiency in the Global South', Proceedings of the Zero Carbon Built Environment (ZCBE) Conference, pp. 1-12.

3.  Summ, T., Oyinlola, M., Khattak, S.H., Ehrenwirth, M., Trinkl, C., and Zörner, W. (2025). 'Towards maximum cost-effectiveness: multi-objective design optimisation of insulating glass flat-plate collectors', Applied Thermal Engineering, Elsevier, 258, pp. 124594. (Q1, IF: 6.1)

 

4.  Summ, T., Oyinlola, M., Khattak, S.H., Trinkl, C., and Zörner, W. (2024). 'Statistical analysis of solar thermal collectors in the Solar Keymark Database', Sustainable Technology Assessments, Elsevier, 61, pp. 103581. (Q1, IF: 7.4)

5. Chung, W.J., Khattak, S.H., Cecinati, F., Jeong, S.G., Kershaw, T., Allen, S., Park, C.S., Coley, D., and Natarajan, S. (2023). 'Resistive and capacitive technology recipes for peak cooling load reductions in the global south', Journal of Building Engineering, Elsevier, 67, pp. 105900-101592. (Q1, IF: 6.4)

6. Khattak, S.H., Badenes, B., Urchueguia, J., and Sanner, B. (2023). 'Thermodynamic Performance Analysis of High Thermal Conductivity Materials in Borehole Heat Exchangers in the European Climate', Buildings, MDPI, 13, pp. 2276. (Q1, IF: 3.8)

Research interests/expertise

  • Peak energy demand reduction in hot climates

  • Urban Scale Energy Modelling (UBEM)
  • Thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality (IEQ)

  • Building performance simulation (EnergyPlus, IESVE, Python)

  • Resource efficiency in buildings and industry (Exergy, LCA)

  • Behavioural impacts on building energy usage

  • Smart integration of GSHP, solar thermal, and PV-T systems

Areas of teaching

  • Building Performance Modelling

  • Sustainable Building Design

  • Energy Systems and Thermodynamics

  • Digital Modelling: EnergyPlus, DesignBuilder, CFD, IESVE, Python, MATLAB

  • Environmental Assessment and Control Systems

Qualifications

PhD

Courses taught

Built Environment Advanced Modelling

Building Performance Modelling

Resource Efficient Design and Manufacture

Python Programming Basics

Building Services 

Building Physics

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Honours and awards

PhD full scholarship award on the EU FP-7 Project KAP 

Membership of professional associations and societies

  • Higher Education Academy (HEA – Fellow)

Projects

  • ZED-i (EPSRC UK) – Zero Peak Demand Buildings

  • QCTS (QNRF) – Thermal Comfort Standard for Qatar

  • GEOCOND (H2020 EU) – Ground Source Heat Pump innovation

  • KTP with Advanced Infrastructure – Urban-scale energy modelling

  • Howle Farm Project – Interseasonal energy storage

Current research students

My current PhD students are working on:

1. Passivhaus performance in a warming climate

2. Earth based materials for sustainable and improved school buildings in Africa

3. Thermal comfort in Green Buildings.

4. Thermal comfort in large event spaces in hot humid climatic conditions. 

5. Visual comfort in office buildings. 

6. Solar thermal collectors optimisation  

Externally funded research grants information

  • QCTS, Qatar National Research Fund, $600k, Co-PI, 2020–2024

  • GEOCOND, H2020, EU, PI for »ÆÉ«²Ö¿â, 2016–2019

  • Innovate UK KTPs, £610k total, PI & Co-I, 2021–2024

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