Speakers at Net Zero Day North

George Ablett, Head of Sustainability

Equans

Having worked across the public and private sectors for the last 20 years in a sustainable energy and decarbonisation field, George brings a wealth of experience at all levels of the energy sector. He has been at the forefront of the challenges and practical realities of successfully implementing decarbonisation programmes across large property portfolios, as a client, project manager, and champion.

His current role at Tier 1 contractor Equans allows him to work in partnership with organisations to create, fund and deliver prioritised decarbonisation pathways. 

James Johnson, Head of Regional Programme

North West Net Zero Hub

James oversees the delivery of the North West Net Zero Hub programme on behalf of the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero and the NW Net Zero Hub Management Board .

James has over a decade of experience supporting local government organisations to act on energy system decarbonisation and the climate emergency. He has a strong understanding of national net zero policy.

James is a specialist in energy in the built environment with a Masters in Building Services Engineering and Sustainable Energy. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and Member of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). 

Professor Will Swan, Director of the Queen Elizabeth Award winning Energy House Laboratories (EHL)

University of Salford

Will has led the energy and buildings research at Energy House Laboratories (EHL) at the University of Salford for more than 10 years.

The labs include the award-winning Salford Energy House, a whole Victorian house in a climate-controlled chamber, the Smart Meters Smart Homes Lab and the £16m Energy House 2.0 research facility, which is currently working with Barratt, Bellway, and Saint Gobain on developing demonstrators for the new Future Homes Standard as part of a major multi-disciplinary UKRI project (£3.2m).

He has held a number of national and regional policy roles related to energy and buildings.

He is widely published in the fields of retrofit and building performance. He is also Director of Sustainability for the University of Salford.

Katie Clemence-Jackson, CEO of the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard.

Katie leads the delivery and adoption of the UK's first cross-industry standard for net zero carbon buildings.

She works with industry, government and professional bodies to drive consistent, measurable and verifiable approaches to decarbonising the built environment.

Pete Thompson is an Associate Director at Arup

with extensive experience delivering complex, multidisciplinary projects across the built environment.

He specialises in sustainable building design, decarbonisation and building performance, helping clients translate ambitious net zero goals into practical, deliverable engineering solutions across a wide range of sectors.

Dr Mei Ren, Partner, Buro Happold

Dr Mei Ren is a Partner at Buro Happold with over 25 years’ experience in sustainability, low-carbon design and climate resilience.

A Chartered Engineer and CIBSE Fellow, she is co-author of Navigating an Evolving Sustainable Built Environment: Delivering Net Zero Carbon and Climate Resilience, published in 2026, bringing together sustainability policy and practical delivery.

Dan Griffiths, Greater Manchester Combined Authority

Dan Griffiths is Head of Low Carbon at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, leading work to accelerate the region’s transition to net zero.

Working across local government, industry and academia, he helps drive practical decarbonisation, investment and innovation across energy, buildings and retrofit, supporting Greater Manchester’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2038.