Professor Francesco Pomponi
Chair of Sustainability and Environment

Profile

Biography

Francesco joined York in September 2024 as part of the University's Building Industrial Engagement and Impact Initiative. He brings 20 years' experience in the construction sector, and a unique blend of expertise in engineering, sustainability and industry engagement.

Prior to joining York he held multiple appointments in industry, climate tech, and the non-profit sectors. He remains actively engaged within a wider, international network to cross bridges between academic rigour and societal and industrial relevance.

He remains a Visiting Professor at ENU (where he previously held the Chair of Sustainability Science and set-up and led the Resource Efficient Built Environment Laboratory), a Senior Associate at the University of Cambridge's Institute for Sustainability Leadership, a Honorary Professor at the University of Cape Town, and an Adjunct Professor at Universitè Laval (Canada) and Università di Pavia (Italy).  

Career

Academically, Francesco has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific outputs, cited widely across continents and disciplines. He has impacted policy and industry by co-authoring national methodologies, international standards and governmental roadmaps. Francesco secured multi-million research income to support the activity of his group. Funders include the EPSRC, the Royal Academy of Engineering, Innovate UK, the European Commission, and private foundations.

Departmental roles

At York, Francesco is Chair of Sustainability and Environment. He is also also School Lead for Knowledge Exchange.

Research

Overview

Professor Pomponi's expertise lies in sustainable and environmental design, life cycle assessment, embodied and whole life carbon, and the circular economy. His research spans across scales (from individual building materials to optimal configurations for the development of entire cities), and geographies (from the assessment of local building materials in Sub-Saharan Africa to the global supply-demand balance of timber for low carbon constructions across continents).

Francesco's research often has a quantitative element to enable effective decision-making in industry and society but he has equally engaged with theoretical contributions to the fields of circular economy and life cycle assessment.  

He has supervised PhD students from Australia to Canada, and conducted research from Cape Town to Scotland. His international profile is reflected in the inputs to, and outputs from, his research efforts.

Teaching

External activities

Overview

• Adjunct Professor - University of Pavia (Italy)
• Chief Scientific Advisor - Preoptima
• Carbon Math Advisor - Extantia Capital
• Honorary Professor - University of Cape Town (South Africa)
• Member of the Steering Committee (UK's Whole Life Carbon Network)
• Senior Associate - Cambridge CISL
• Visiting Professor - Edinburgh Napier University