Adria is an architect graduated from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya and holds an MSc in Environmental technology from Imperial College London. Adria has working experience in the building and energy sectors. Through his career he got involved in energy efficiency planning for local and national governments. He has also collaborated in two European projects analyzing barriers and triggers to energy efficiency uptake in residential buildings and measuring fuel poverty. He is currently studying at UCL as a member of ERBE CDT.

The adoption of heat pumps with smart heating controls is expected to play a critical role in the decarbonisation of heat in the UK. This technology can contribute to the electrification of space heating demand and adapt it to the variable generation of low-carbon electricity sources. The potential benefits of the technology and the difficulties that people encounter when operating it have been widely studied. However, its impact on the thermal comfort of occupants has been frequently overlooked.
Using concepts from Science and Technology Studies (STS), this research aims to compare the way how developers of the technology design thermal comfort and how users experience it, to try to reconcile the needs of households and the needs of the energy system. So far, the research has explored the problems that people encounter when using this technology through the experience of first-line support workers.