John Connaughton

Email:
j.connaughton@reading.ac.uk
Phone:
+44 (0) 118 378 8202
Job title:
Professor of Sustainable Systems in the Built Environment

Responsibilities:

Professor of Sustainable Construction

Office

132

Building location

Chancellor’s Building

Areas of interest

John’s research interests span a number of areas, including:

Improving interdisciplinary collaboration in the construction process, including the development of new forms of project insurance that support more collaborative working in project teams
The changing nature of the construction professions, including the growth, diversification and performance of construction professional services firms
Energy use in buildings
Embodied carbon assessment in buildings, including life cycle assessment

Postgraduate supervision

Mary Kaaria: The influence of changing work practices on office design
Nicholas Smales: Trust emergence and evolution in strategic partnering arrangements with a local authority client
Kashif Aziz: The contested nature of professionalism in the built environment – performative narratives and anecdotal stories
Kingford Mkandawire: Managing the interfaces between offsite and on-site construction
Mary Pothitou: Small power use and working practices in office buildings
Mir Talpur: An investigation into collaboration in building design with a focus on the processes for achieving BREEAM ratings
Michael Medas: Resource efficiency in building services
Stephen Richardson: Embodied carbon assessment and decision making under uncertainty
Ankit Singh: Corporate Social Responsibility in construction firms operating in the UK

Teaching

Convenorship:

CEM228 – Construction Economics (MSc)
CEM230 – Design Management (MSc)

Contributing to:

CEM10/18/19B – Dissertation Supervision (MSc)
CEM220 – Urban Sustainability (MSc)
REMF51 – Understanding construction procurement and project delivery (MSc)
CE3CCD – Dissertation Supervision (UG)

Research centres and groups

Research projects

DEMAND: Dynamics of Energy, Mobility and Demand http://www.demand.ac.uk/
Delivering more for less under the IPI (Integrated Project Insurance) model https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/delivering-more-for-less-under-the-ipi-model-trialling-ipi-on-a-l

Background

Professor John Connaughton has over 40 years' experience in the construction sector. Prior to joining the University in 2012 he was a Partner in Davis Langdon, one of the world’s largest construction cost and project management businesses where he worked for over 27 years. In the area of sustainable construction John has particular expertise in material resource efficiency, life-cycle carbon reduction and energy use in buildings. He also has interests in collaboration in design and construction, construction procurement and the management of the design process. John was Chair of the Executive Board of the UK Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) from 2014 to 2021.

Academic qualifications

Honorary PhD, 2005, Dublin Institute of Technology
PhD, 1993, University of Greenwich
BSc (Hons) Surveying, 1979, Trinity College, Dublin
Diploma in Construction Economics, 1979, Bolton St College of Technology, Dublin (now the Technological University of Ireland)