'Thinking Inside the Box': A Mixed Reality Development Platform for co-creating energy efficient retail spaces

In the UK retail outlets are the biggest emitters of CO2 within the commercial property sector. Many retail business are striving to reduce their carbon footprints, with many having ambitious targets for carbon neutrality over the next few years. This feasibility study aims to identify new ways to dramtically reduce end use energy demand within the retail sector. The novelty of the proposed work lies both in its scope and the technologies that it will develop. Rather than attributing energy use and human comfort directly to spatial design, building services, energy controls, company energy policy or human behaviour, this research will explore the intersection of all of these influences within a 'mixed reality' retail environment. This would take the form of an interactive 'gaming' model as a portable 'box' with a tangible user interface deployed in store. It would allow users to 'visualise' energy use and its consequences as part of a broader energy engagement strategy. The box would comprise a scale model of a physical store layout and a set of coded intervention cards that would allow participants to interact with the physical model on the table as well as in the virtual model - the blend between physical and virtual interactions establishes a mixed reality design platform (MRDP). Real time data from existing store sensors can feed directly into the virtual model to inform and respond to scenario testing as users interact with the model. Store staff and customers would be able to engage with the model proactively or passively via a mix of physical, virtual and display modules. This serious gaming environment will provide a stimulating and interactive way of sharing ideas and co-creating new solutions. Most importantly, the MRDP transforms what is normally an intangible numerical database (numbers collected by performance sensors) into an interactive and immersive experience to allow for continual testing and refinement with the opportunity of users co-creating novel approaches to reducing energy use while maintaining a positive shopping experience. The learning that accrues through this serious gaming activity would inform future strategies for reducing energy demand whilst simultaneously attending to other performance criteria (e.g. internal air quality, thermal comfort and the customer experience). The mobility and placement of the MRDP allows the retail floor or back of house area to become a platform for learning and drives a more open relationship with stakeholders. Our principal research partner is Tesco PLC, the UK's largest retailer with revenue of over £55 Billion. Tesco have an ambitious commitment to become a zero carbon business by 2050, and as part of this they aim to reduce carbon emissions in store by 50% over the next 4 years. This research would support their objectives by developing an exciting method of accelerating their progress towards their corporate goal and will help position the organisation at the vanguard of current technology and thinking in the energy demand reduction space.

As research which is both highly topical and engaging to both commercial end users (i.e. store managers and employees) and the general public, the project affords excellent opportunities to identify the ways of impact multiple user and interest communities. The main impact will be for the retail sector as a whole who will use the findings of this study to develop more energy efficient retail spaces. The feasibility of the concept will be demonstrated through our principal research partner, Tesco PLC, the UK's largest retailer. They will use the findings of this study to inform their decision making in relation to the efficiency of their 3,243 stores and in influencing their c.500,000 employees, interventions that even on their own could have a profound effect on reducing the total UK retail energy bill. Three leading architectural practices also help to maximise the impact of this work (AHR Architects, Child Graddon Lewis, and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios). Each of these practices is committed to energy and carbon efficient design, and all specialise in the design of energy efficient retail spaces. They will implement the insights gained through this work by feeding them directly into their designs and advice given to customers across the sector. The work programme will also examine the applicability of the approach developed to other non-domestic environments (e.g. public buildings, educational buildings, offices and other commercial spaces).

A range of indirect users will also benefit from the research such as other designers, retailers and the various users of retail outlets. In order to engage those involved with the design and operation of retail space the findings will be shared with the Retail Energy Efficiency Taskforce (a Government-Industry body with a remit to overcome the barriers to energy efficiency and to share good practice across the sector) and the British Retail Consortium (the leading trade association for the retail sector) in the form of briefing notes and best practice guidance. Design insights will also be translated into guidance notes and shared with the RIBA's national and regional networks and in particular their Client Services group. Interaction with the general public will be at the forefront of this project, both in the conduct of the research itself (i.e. through the sandpit events) and in terms of more widely publicising the approach and the insights that it generates.