Deo Prasad

Distinguished Professor (Scientia) Deo Prasad AO FTSE is now an international authority and recognised as a national leader in the field of sustainable buildings and cities and among the leading advocates for sustainability in Australia, with his contributions having been widely acknowledged at all levels of government and professions in Australia. Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1991, he has been a highly influential, driving force for sustainable design in both academia and professional practise and in 2006 he received the Royal Australian Institute of Architect’s National Education Award for contribution to ‘sustainability education, research and design’. In 2004 he received the NSW State Government’s individual GreenGlobe Award for ‘leadership and commitment to the supply of renewable energy’ He has also won the Federal Government’s national award for ‘outstanding contribution to energy related research’. He is a regular contributor to debate in this area in local and international media.

Deo is the Chief Investigator and CEO of the Co-operative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living (CRCLCL: www.lowcarbonlivingcrc.com.au). This is the largest ever industry-government-professions-research collaboration spin-off in Australia (built environment sector) and is leading to transformative impacts – enabling Australian industry and professions to compete globally in a low carbon future. He is also one of the Ambassadors for Sydney (Business Events, NSW Govt) with special focus on promoting Sydney as a destination for high end environmental-scientific events. In 2014 he was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award for contributions in the field of sustainability by the UNSW.

On Australia Day 2014 Deo was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Australia by the Governor General of Australia for services to sustainability and renewable energy through his research and for extensive international community work. This is the highest accolade given in Australia. Most recently, he was elected as a learned Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2014.

Deo has been an outstanding teacher and researcher during his 28 years at University of New South Wales, Sydney Faculty of the Built Environment. Deo has published in excess of 280 key publications on the subject (including six books, about 30 chapters in books, numerous key journal papers and refereed conference papers – among the highest in the country in architecture) and is a regular keynote invited speaker at conferences globally, in this field. Deo also developed and led the first Master in Sustainable Built Environments Program at UNSW since 1998 – first such program in the southern hemisphere). Deo headed the leading research group SOLARCH for 15 years producing among the early notable projects and publications in sustainability 1995 to 2010. He then created the national research and innovation hub – the CRC for Low Carbon Living which brought together five universities, CSIRO and around 45 industry and government bodies to conduct end user driven research where the measure of success is its impacts. Deo has supervised more than 100 masters students and more than 30 higher degree doctoral students – his students’ work places have varied from the ‘White House’ energy initiative in USA to the Energy Directorate in the European Union to many professors and other professionals in around 25 countries. Deo has been a member of many Boards and government committees as summarised overleaf.

Professor Prasad’s contributions to the advancement of sustainability of the built environment have been so extensive that it is difficult to summarise in one page. In summary, over a period of more than 28 years Professor Deo Prasad has made truly world-class contributions to the advancement of sustainability of the built environment. As such, he would be an exceptional candidate for such an award.