Jo Patterson is a Professorial Research Fellow at the Welsh School of Architecture (WSA), Cardiff University and has more than 25 years of experience in the development and delivery of fundamental and applied research projects in the area of sustainability in the built environment with a particular focus on energy. These projects have involved multidisciplinary groups from Wales, the UK and Europe including both academic industrial and government partners, with projects funded by through the EU, Government, UKRI and industry.

Jo is Director of Research at the WSA and is part of the Management Board of the recently established Cardiff University (CU) Net Zero Innovation Institute.
As Strategic Lead of the EPSRC Harmonised Impact Accelerator Account at CU Jo works with a team of experts from across CU to fund projects that bridge the gap between research and the world’s understanding of its outputs to generate genuine impact.

Jo has recently been selected as part of the UKRI Interdisciplinary Assessment College as part of the Chair Pool, working across the UKRI disciplines. She is CU representative and Deputy Chair of the Wales Innovation Network Net Zero Strategic Board.

With regards to research, Jo is currently Co-Director of the £4.6m AHRC funded Green Transitions Ecosystem ‘Transforming Housing and Homes for Future Generations’ which aims to create a new multi-partner, transdisciplinary, design ecosystem to transform housing for future generations using bio-based and non-extractive materials, together with renewable energy supply and storage.

This works builds directly onto the SPECIFIC 2 Low Carbon Built Environment (LCBE) project, a £3.5 million initiative at the Welsh School of Architecture (WSA) at Cardiff University. Replicable, affordable and appropriate whole house energy systems have been planned, designed and installed into a range of buildings across South Wales combining renewable energy supply, energy storage and energy demand reduction solutions. This followed Jo playing a key role in the development and delivery of the Low Carbon Research Institute supported by the Welsh Government/WEFO. Associated funding including monitoring and evaluation of the Homes As Power Stations programme that will run until 2028, with funding for £1m.

Between 2018-2023 Jo was a key part of the leadership team for the UKRI/Innovate UK funded EnergyREV consortium. 70+ interdisciplinary researchers from 22 Universities across the UK worked together to provide evidence on solutions to scale up smart local energy systems.