Mohammad Saffari

Dr. Mohammad Saffari is an assistant professor at Dublin City University, specializing in smart and energy-efficient buildings and energy systems technologies. His research centres on sustainable buildings and renewable energy, with a particular emphasis on employing simulation and optimization methods. These techniques are utilized to evaluate the energy-saving capabilities of sustainable buildings and energy systems. Specifically, Dr. Saffari investigates the potential of thermal energy storage (TES) materials and renewable systems to enhance energy efficiency and sustainability.

He brings extensive experience in multidisciplinary research on building and renewable energy, gained through collaborations with companies, research centres and universities across Spain, Germany, Australia, and Ireland.

Currently, Dr. Saffari leads the research and work package for the HYSTORE Horizon Europe Project (https://www.hystore-project.eu/ ), involving 18 EU partners. This project aims to develop and validate novel thermal energy storage concepts, integrating advanced HVAC technologies based on phase change materials (PCMs) for cooling and heating performance improvement. Dr. Saffari also collaborates on the SEAI-funded project, "GEONORM." This multidisciplinary project, led by Irish academics and industry stakeholders, focuses on unlocking geothermal energy's potential to create innovative and sustainable energy systems with high renewable energy shares in Ireland. Within GEONORM, Dr. Saffari's research involves: Modelling and optimizing multi-carrier energy systems: This entails integrating building physics simulations to create efficient models, alongside data analytics and AI techniques to analyse energy and climate data from management platforms.

Before joining Dublin City University, Dr. Saffari held significant roles in prominent research institutions. He served as a senior researcher and engineer in the Energy Systems Integration Partnership Programme (ESIPP) at the University College Dublin (UCD) Energy Institute. Additionally, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher and early-stage researcher at the GREiA Research Group in Spain. Dr. Saffari also contributed as a guest research fellow at the Barbara Hardy Institute at the University of South Australia in 2017.

Furthermore, Dr. Saffari has made significant contributions as a researcher in several high impact European projects, such as the INPATH-TES H2020 project (http://www.inpathtes.eu/)) and the INNOSTORAGE project (http://www.innostorage.eu/). These projects aimed to advance Thermal Energy Storage (TES) applications utilizing phase change materials in buildings, constructions, and energy systems, promoting smarter heating and cooling systems that improved thermal comfort and energy efficiency in buildings. Dr. Saffari played a vital role as a building simulation and optimization expert, developing sustainable construction integrated with TES technologies.