The Active Building Centre Research Programme (ABC RP)

Lead Research Organisation: Swansea University
Department Name: College of Engineering

Abstract

The ABC is one of the two hubs funded through the Transforming Construction (TC) Industrial Challenge. ABC aims to revolutionise the way the UK designs, manufactures, constructs and operates buildings.

The TC challenge was principally focused on meeting the targets set in the Construction 2025 strategy, namely to:
reduce whole-life costs by 33%; reduce whole-life emissions by 50%; slash time from conception to completion by 50%; boost productivity by 15% close the gap with the average for the economy

The ABC must first focus upon ensuring that the industry can meet the objectives of the TC Challenge listed above; whilst also working towards the wider and more long term targets faced by the industry. To achieve the government's target for net-zero by 2050 will require significant changes in how we design new buildings, how new technologies are developed and adopted, how buildings and community assets interact as part of the wider energy network, and how we approach retrofit of the existing building stock.

The ABC RP is responsible for carrying out the early stage research to support the activities of the ABC RTO, with the combined mission to enable transformative change and innovation within the construction industry, and to progress a long-term pathway that ensures that the built environment is an integral part of the wider energy infrastructure.

The ABC RP brings together a consortium of leading Academics, across 10 university partnerships. Combining expertise from both the built environment and energy sectors, including: architecture and design, low and zero carbon technologies, analytics and modelling, social science and human interaction, and business modelling.

Typically buildings are simply consumers of energy, they can optimise their energy usage within the constraints of the building envelope, however they do not respond to, or interact with the wider energy network. As we progress towards zero carbon there will be increasing integration of renewable generation technologies within buildings, and electrification of heating through the use of heat pumps or direct electric heating. Combining this with the electrification of transport, and the increasing use of electric vehicles, has the potential to put significant additional strain on the existing infrastructure, unless we adapt how we design and control buildings in-use.

By managing building loads in response to the needs of the grid, through transactive energy approaches such as demand response, or through the use of distributed generation and storage, buildings can provide benefits at a community or wider scale. For example by reducing demand or exporting to the grid at times of peak demand; providing ancillary services to the grid such as voltage and frequency response, and providing increased reliability and resilience through distribution of energy assets.

To achieve a truly seamless integration of buildings within the wider energy infrastructure and enable a transactive market between buildings and the grid, which functions effectively and delivers benefits to all stakeholders whilst maintaining grid stability, presents a number of technological and legislative challenges. The ABC RP aims to tackle these and to address the following key challenges:

1) Demonstrate the benefits of ABs across building and community scales.
2) Demonstrate implementation of compact thermal storage solutions to enable effective multi-vector energy optimisation at building, community and national level.
3) Demonstrate the use of advanced controls and optimisation processes for end-use energy reduction and optimisation of energy generation and storage (electricity and heat) to meet building demand and respond to wider grid requirements.
4) Understand and define the role Active Buildings can take as energy agents at national infrastructure scale.
5) Apply [1] through [4] to the retrofit challenge.

Organisations

People

ORCID iD

Ahsan Khan (Principal Investigator)
Jianzhong Wu (Co-Investigator)
Yulong Ding (Co-Investigator)
Danielle Densley Tingley (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2477-7629
Rabah Boukhanouf (Co-Investigator)
John Clark (Co-Investigator)
Lucelia Rodrigues (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0038-6578
Nilay Shah (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8906-6844
Sara Walker (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2653-7792
Johann Sienz (Co-Investigator)
John Walls (Co-Investigator)
Damian Giaouris (Co-Investigator)
Tadj Oreszczyn (Co-Investigator)
Nick Jenkins (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3082-6260
Gareth Stratton (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5618-0803
Stephen Allen (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0148-6466
Kevin Lomas (Co-Investigator)
Karen Henwood (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4631-5468
Philip Charles Eames (Co-Investigator)
Eric Kerrigan (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3967-1544
Nicholas Pidgeon (Co-Investigator)
Joshua Sykes (Co-Investigator)
Richard Green (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8671-8966
Ian Walker (Co-Investigator)
Sarah Hillcoat-Nalletamby (Co-Investigator)
Charles Morisset (Co-Investigator)
Matt Jones (Co-Investigator)
Daniel Coca (Co-Investigator)
Goran Strbac (Co-Investigator)
David Allinson (Co-Investigator) orcid http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6161-0636
Ian Wilson (Co-Investigator)
Charles Musselwhite (Co-Investigator)
Aad Van Moorsel (Co-Investigator)
David Coley (Co-Investigator)
Martin Mayfield (Co-Investigator)
Charalampos Patsios (Co-Investigator)
Mark Gillott (Co-Investigator)

Publications

10 25 50

publication icon
Arnaboldi L (2020) Modelling Load-Changing Attacks in Cyber-Physical Systems in Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science

publication icon
Atam E (2021) Optimal Partitioning of Multithermal Zone Buildings for Decentralized Control in IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems

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Berjawi A (2021) An evaluation framework for future integrated energy systems: A whole energy systems approach in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

 
Title The role of the 3DStock building stock model 
Description A short animation was commissioned by UCL to explain the role of the 3DStock building stock model to policy makers and the wider public in the context of the climate emergency 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2020 
Impact N/A 
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppi0ssQPC3I&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=UCLEnergyInstitute
 
Description In summary, 12 months into the award, the key findings with reference to the Strategic Objectives (SO's) are as follows:

Important new research resources identified, and particularly noteworthy new research networks/collaborations/partnerships established in pursuit of "Critical Mass of Demonstrator Buildings (SO1)": Appointed to evaluate capital investment and uplift incentivisation fund for innovative housing of circa £125m. This has the potential to provide beneficiaries such as academia, industry and government, access to evidence of low/zero carbon technology implementation and in-use building performance through sub-metering across a wide range of technologies via multiple supply chain and implementation models. Significant new research questions, across engineering and social science are emerging due to this activity.

Significant new knowledge generated by fulfilling "Smart and Connected Buildings (SO2)": in delivering this objective, an open-source Internet of Things (IoT) based messaging infrastructure was developed in collaboration with industry. The programme has begun implementation of the messaging infrastructure to collect data from buildings across the critical mass (SO1) and retrofit objectives (SO5). In conjunction with the messaging infrastructure, a naming convention and monitoring specification has been made available for industry partners to implement, with the eventual aim being a consistent and structured real-time database of building performance and technology performance data. It is projected that the programme will achieve circa 2,000 homes generating detailed and structured time-series data.

Buildings as Energy Agents (SO3): ongoing research and development activity leading to real-world trials of energy agent hybrid heating systems for hard-to-treat existing homes in 2021.

Aggregation of Active Buildings at National Scale (SO4): ongoing research and development activity due to be reported in next round.

SO5 - Adapt Active Building Technology Portfolio to Tackle Existing Stock: 3DStock model of Sheffield City Region providing insight to stakeholders and enabling mapping of 6th Carbon budget and EPC measures.
Exploitation Route Open source and available on github for software, tools and toolkits.

Publications vary from open access to academic journals.
Sectors Construction

Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software)

Energy

URL http://abc-rp.com
 
Description Findings and ongoing research stemming from ABC-RP activity has led to significant benefits and support to devolved government and third sector organisations. Whilst it is too early to quantify the economic and societal impact, it is clear that our work will provide significant recommendations to Welsh Government on low/zero carbon implementation and adoption by residents and occupants. The adoption of naming conventions and standardisation of performance evaluation will allow a community of 30+ third sector organisations to share and learn from their housing stock and better understand their decarbonisation/net zero journey based on evidence based and analytical approaches. Our continued focus in this area will enable 30+ third sector organisations adopt digital tools to better plan and validate their net zero organisational ambitions. Our outputs will enable a devolved government to adopt, for the first time, real-time performance validation of over £100m of public funding into low zero carbon technologies. This knowledge and evidence will be critical in derisking future fiscal stimulus to accelerate the UKs transition to a low/zero carbon economy.
First Year Of Impact 2020
Sector Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Energy,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Government, Democracy and Justice
Impact Types Societal

Economic

Policy & public services

 
Description Contribution from Dr Sara Walker to Ryder Architecture policy document for the Scottish Government on Net Zero Homes
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
 
Description Dominic Humphrey provided input to Green Finance Institute Information Requirements Framework
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
URL https://www.greenfinanceinstitute.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/GFI-BUILDING-RENOVATION-PLANS-1.p...
 
Description Green Finance Institute- UK framework for Building Renovation Plans
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to new or Improved professional practice
URL https://www.greenfinanceinstitute.co.uk/news-and-insights/green-finance-institute-launches-uk-framew...
 
Description Mark Gillott- Filming commissioned by the Cabinet Office at Trent Basin for COP26 Climate Leaders Campaign
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPWKkM-Co2A
 
Description Mark Gillott- Trent Basin featured as one of ten global projects in DeZeen
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://www.dezeen.com/2021/09/14/ten-global-projects-low-energy-architecture-jared-green/;
 
Description Nick Pidgeon- Low Carbon Energy & Environment Research Network Wales Report
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Citation in systematic reviews
URL https://gov.wales/wales-research-performance-uk-and-global-comparators
 
Description Speaker at Education Estates Conference (online)
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
 
Description Trent Basin Community Energy Project and Research featured in UK100/Siemens report 'Accelerating the rate of investment in local energy projects'.
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
 
Description University Estates through Infrastructure Committee membership
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
 
Description A durable and scalable anti-soiling coating for solar modules
Amount £493,262 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/W010763/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2022 
End 09/2025
 
Description Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition
Amount £880,000 (GBP)
Organisation Department of Transport 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2021 
End 08/2022
 
Description Demonstration of Energy Efficiency Potential (DEEP)
Amount £2,700,000 (GBP)
Organisation Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start  
 
Description EPSRC Impact Accelerator Account
Amount £10,000 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2021 
End 04/2021
 
Description FLEXIS Extension (Social Sciences)
Amount £817,559 (GBP)
Organisation Government of Wales 
Department Welsh European Funding Office
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2021 
 
Description Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC)
Amount £19,903,412 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/V027050/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2021 
End 03/2024
 
Description Network headroom, engineering upgrades and public acceptance (NEUPA): Connecting engineering for heat system change to consumers and citizens
Amount £1,232,009 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T023031/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2020 
End 06/2024
 
Description Technical Evaluation of SMETER technologies
Amount £899,000 (GBP)
Organisation Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start  
 
Title Active Building Model 
Description Walter Bassage (University of Sheffield) is in the final stages of development of an active building model that we can conduct real time testing on networks and applications. In addition we hope to open up this application to capture the flag events as a part of outreach. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact N/A 
 
Title Code to carry out optimal power flow (OPF) modelling of a microgrid representative of an active building 
Description Dr Matthew Woolf is working on code as part of Work Package 10 to carry out optimal power flow (OPF) modelling of a microgrid representative of an active building. This utilises an optimisation tool already used by others in the CAP group. It models multiple voltages and non-critical loads, energy storage and PV modelled over a 24 hour period. The aim is to explore the benefits of prioritising critical loads in the event of a rare outage event. In this way we can see how active buildings may add to the resilience of the local energy system. The basic tool consists of Pyomo (Python-based, open-source optimisation modelling language http://www.pyomo.org/) using the open source non-linear optimisation software library Ipopt (https://github.com/coin-or/Ipopt). 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact N/A 
 
Title Developed semi-automated energy reports for Trent Basin residents using Power BI software. 
Description Mark Gillott and team at Nottingham University have developed semi-automated energy reports for Trent Basin residents using Power BI software. This tool helps residents understand their energy relevant interaction patterns with their properties and provides them with a means to alter their behaviours. Simultaneously, this tool is used by the research team to assess the state of the testbed and disseminate research findings in a visually appealing manner. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact See above 
 
Title Digital model replicating the Trent Basin development's physical environment. 
Description The University of Nottingham team, in collaboration with Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), has built a digital model replicating the Trent Basin development's physical environment. The platform was experimentally launched in 2018 and updated in 2020 to display real-time and simulated data from the community energy scheme. The platform is a public user-friendly visually interactive tool, available to all residents and general public. Though this platform users can learn and interact with the community energy data. The digital twin platform can be accessed through this link: http://uk.ies-icl.com/UoNTrentBasin The platform disseminates the results of the Trent Basin energy scheme to residents and wider audience, while help raise awareness of the energy produced, stored and consumed at the community energy. This can help the residents to make more informed decisions to optimise the operation of the scheme and it has a great potential to impact on the energy consumption of the residents. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact N/A 
URL http://uk.ies-icl.com/UoNTrentBasin
 
Title Electrified Water and Space-heating Profile (EWASP) generator. 
Description Electrified Water and Space-heating Profile (EWASP) generator. Generates residential electricity profiles for residences of user defined size, age, and type, and with various heating system control strategies. Outputs have been used to study the impact of heating control strategies on distribution networks. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Outputs have been used to study the impact of heating control strategies on distribution networks. 
 
Title Test rig to characterize lab-scale prototype modular PCM storage systems. 
Description Mohamed Fadl designed, constructed test rig to characterize lab-scale prototype modular PCM storage systems. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2019 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact N/A 
 
Title The University of Nottingham team, in collaboration with Integrated Environmental Solutions digital model replicating the Trent Basin development's physical environment. 
Description The University of Nottingham team, in collaboration with Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), has built a digital model replicating the Trent Basin development's physical environment. The platform was experimentally launched in 2018 and updated in 2020 to display real-time and simulated data from the community energy scheme. The platform is a public user-friendly visually interactive tool, available to all residents and general public. Though this platform users can learn and interact with the community energy data. The digital twin platform can be accessed through this link: http://uk.ies-icl.com/UoNTrentBasin The platform disseminate the results of the Trent Basin energy scheme to residents and wider audience, while help raise awareness of the energy produced, stored and consumed at the community energy. This can help the residents to make more informed decisions to optimise the operation of the scheme and it has a great potential to impact on the energy consumption of the residents. Data collection from Trent Basin participating properties and community assets such as the battery, solar panels, and on-site weather station has been used to produce personalised monthly energy reports of 26 participating households. The purpose of these energy reports is to inform participants about the Trent Basin community energy scheme, raise awareness of householders' energy consumption and help householders discover potential opportunities for saving energy. Energy reports have been developed using Power Bi Software. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact N/A 
URL http://uk.ies-icl.com/UoNTrentBasin
 
Title modular framework for data capture, labelling, projection and feature extraction. 
Description Development of modular framework for data capture, labelling, projection and feature extraction. Existing in the form of processes, software and trained models, contributing to providing a scalable solution to autonomous extraction of building features 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact n/a 
 
Title 3DStock Sheffield 
Description UCL have built a research database (3DStock Sheffield) which provides premises level data on physical and occupancy characteristics for the whole of the Sheffield local authority area. This database can be used to model net zero pathways for buildings in Sheffield. 
Type Of Material Data analysis technique 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact N/A 
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/energy/news/2020/may/3dstock-national-digital-twin-decarbonising-uks-...
 
Title Dataset for "Indoor environment quality and work performance in 'green' office buildings in the Middle East" 
Description This data was collected from 13 office buildings in Amman Jordan. It covers five green 'LEED' buildings and eight conventional buildings. The dataset includes the following: 1. Objective data of four thermal conditions indicators (air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity and air speed) and an indoor air quality indicator: carbon dioxide concentration level. 2. Subjective data include the post-occupancy evaluation (POE) and absenteeism and presenteeism data. 3. Thermal comfort indicators included thermal sensation votes, thermal preference vote, and predictive mean vote. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://researchdata.bath.ac.uk/id/eprint/863
 
Title Dataset for "Novel super-reduced, pedagogical model for scoping net zero buildings'' 
Description ZEBRA is a model for scoping net zero buildings (energy and/or carbon). It focuses on a first-principles, transparent approach to building physics and sustainability. The tool is meant to be used at very early design stage, to influence fundamental design decisions. Its scope is operational energy use (life cycle stage B6, EN 15978:2011) and upfront embodied carbon (life cycle stages A1-A5), although the commentary targets whole-life carbon. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Ongoing 
URL https://researchdata.bath.ac.uk/1062/
 
Title Dataset for "Towards Active Buildings: rating grid-servicing buildings" 
Description Dataset for the journal paper "Towards Active Buildings: rating grid-servicing buildings", which describes the simulations for the 20 case study buildings. The simulation inputs describe the intended characteristics as part of the early design stage process, and the outputs the performance metrics under the rating system introduced in the journal paper, called the ABCode1. Such outputs rate the relative merits of each case study in terms of embodied carbon, energy requirements, energy generation and energy flexibility. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact TBC 
URL https://researchdata.bath.ac.uk/766/
 
Title Dataset for "Towards Active Buildings: rating grid-servicing buildings" 
Description Dataset for the journal paper "Towards Active Buildings: rating grid-servicing buildings", which describes the simulations for the 20 case study buildings. The simulation inputs describe the intended characteristics as part of the early design stage process, and the outputs the performance metrics under the rating system introduced in the journal paper, called the ABCode1. Such outputs rate the relative merits of each case study in terms of embodied carbon, energy requirements, energy generation and energy flexibility. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://researchdata.bath.ac.uk/id/eprint/766
 
Title Metadata record for the manuscript: Mapping resource effectiveness across urban systems 
Description Summary This metadata record provides details of the data supporting the claims of the related manuscript: "Mapping resource effectiveness across urban systems". The related study identified the hotspots of imports in cities to redirect resources to where they are most needed, based on the system overall resource effectiveness to maximise the use of all resources available. It also developed a novel taxonomy of resource-use behaviour based on the clustering patterns of resource utilisation and conversion across inter-connected urban systems. Data access Seven datasets were generated and are shared openly as part of this figshare record. All datasets are named according to the terminology used in the related article. The datasets are as follows: - Comtrade_data_UK (supporting a method in the Supplementary Information) - Effectiveness_results.txt (supporting Figs 3, 5, 6) - Efficiency_fua.txt (supporting Fig 7) - Exergy_conversion.xlsx (supporting a method in the Supplementary Information) - Export by sector.csv (supporting Fig 4) - Import by sector.csv (supporting Fig 4, 5, 6) - ONS_data_UK.xlsx (supporting Fig 4, 5, 6) Corresponding author Ling Min Tan, Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sir Frederick Mappin Building, Sheffield, S1 3JD, United Kingdom. Email: lingmin.tan@sheffield.ac.uk 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Metadata_record_for_the_manuscript_Mapping_reso...
 
Title Microsoft Azure database 
Description Mark Gillott (University of Nottingham) has created a Microsoft Azure database for monitored data from Trent Basin Community energy scheme. Includes - detailed energy, weather and environmental data from homes and community energy system. 
Type Of Material Data handling & control 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact N/A 
 
Title Modelling framework and database of models 
Description The modelling framework enables physics-based building models to be quickly developed and imported to a Matlab-based platform with a set of tools for control system design and building simulation. 
Type Of Material Data analysis technique 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Edward O'Dwyer has created a modelling framework and database of models. The modelling framework enables physics-based building models to be quickly developed and imported to a Matlab-based platform with a set of tools for control system design and building simulation.. 
URL https://github.com/abc-rp/WP5-Predictive-Control
 
Title Training dataset 
Description Training dataset containing set of images of building facades from drive-by and corresponding manually annoated labels. Used to train deep models for building automated labelling tools of building facades. 
Type Of Material Data analysis technique 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact n.a 
 
Title Uncertainty Model-MP 
Description Meltem Peker and ABC colleagues have developed a mathematical programming model that accounts uncertainty related to customer's behaviour. It is an adjustable robust optimization model which is one of the state-of-art techniques used to handle uncertainty. This model is generally used when there is no probability distribution for the uncertain parameters. The team will provide the full model and solution technique so that it can be reproducible by researchers. 
Type Of Material Computer model/algorithm 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Ongoing 
 
Description ABC - DfE collaboration on DfE genzero programme. 
Organisation Department for Education
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution ABC - DfE collaboration on DfE genzero programme. Waterside primary school DfE Pathfinder project progress
Collaborator Contribution ABC - DfE collaboration on DfE genzero programme. Waterside primary school DfE Pathfinder project progress
Impact Progression of ABC collab on GenZero programme. Development of pathfinder specification
Start Year 2020
 
Description Aberdeenshire Council - introductions and potential collaborations 
Organisation Aberdeenshire Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Review of where we can support the LA. And potential for collaboration
Collaborator Contribution Review of where we can support the LA. And potential for collaboration
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Anglesey Council - ORP discussions 
Organisation Anglesey Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Automated residential retrofit assessment with Barnsley metropolitan council 
Organisation Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Automated residential retrofit assessment with Barnsley metropolitan council
Collaborator Contribution n/a
Impact n/a
Start Year 2020
 
Description Autonomous Manufacturing Lab - Explore cross-over and collaboration with the UCL robotics lab 
Organisation University College London
Department Autonomous Manufacturing Lab
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Explore cross-over and collaboration with the UCL robotics lab who were funded as part of TC Research Leaders fund
Collaborator Contribution Explore cross-over and collaboration with the UCL robotics lab who were funded as part of TC Research Leaders fund
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description BEIS - Discuss ABC-RP support for BEIS funded programmes and SHDF 
Organisation Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Discuss ABC-RP support for BEIS funded programmes and SHDF
Collaborator Contribution Discuss ABC-RP support for BEIS funded programmes and SHDF
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Blaenau Gwent - ORP discussions 
Organisation Blaenau Gwent Local Authority
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Discussed a few ongoing projects that BG are running and where we can support
Collaborator Contribution Discussed a few ongoing projects that BG are running and where we can support
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Bre - Great House Farm occupant engagement 
Organisation BRE Trust
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Discuss Great House Farm occupant engagement
Collaborator Contribution Discuss Great House Farm occupant engagement. Occupant engagement is already underway so not suitable for a WP9 case site
Impact n/a
Start Year 2020
 
Description Bron Afon Community Housing - ORP discussions 
Organisation Bron Afon Community Housing
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Cadwyn Housing Association - ORP disucssions 
Organisation Cadwyn Housing Association
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Cambridge Centre for Housing & Planning Research - discussion for older people and smart home tech. 
Organisation University of Cambridge
Department Cambridge Centre for Housing & Planning Research
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution discussion for older people and smart home tech
Collaborator Contribution discussion for older people and smart home tech
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Cardiff City Housing - ORP Discussions 
Organisation Cardiff Council
Department Cardiff City Housing
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Cardiff Metropolitan University - Discuss ORP 
Organisation Cardiff Metropolitan University
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Discuss occupant research for Pathfinder ORP
Collaborator Contribution Discuss occupant research for Pathfinder ORP
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Carmarthenshire Council - ORP discussions 
Organisation Carmarthenshire County Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Cartrefi Conwy Cyfyngedig - ORP discusisons 
Organisation Cartrefi Conwy Cyfyngedig
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP Discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Coastal Housing - discussion for WP9 case sites 
Organisation Coastal Housing Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Discuss WP9 case sites
Collaborator Contribution Discuss WP9 case sites
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Collaboration with UWE on data around historic properties in London from the 3DStock London model 
Organisation University of the West of England
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Collaboration with UWE on data around historic properties in London from the 3DStock London model
Collaborator Contribution n.a
Impact n.a
Start Year 2020
 
Description Construction Scotland Innovation Centre - discussion of Data and exemplar projects in Scotland. 
Organisation Construction Scotland Innovation Centre
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Data and exemplar projects in Scotland.
Collaborator Contribution Data and exemplar projects in Scotland.
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description DeSah.nl - synergies between ABC RP and DeSah.nl 
Organisation DeSaH BV
Country Netherlands 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Discuss potential synergies between the two organisations for a Green Deal bid. DeSah design and install innovative waste water solutions and are interested in potential to apply this in a retrofit context.
Collaborator Contribution Discuss potential synergies between the two organisations for a Green Deal bid. DeSah design and install innovative waste water solutions and are interested in potential to apply this in a retrofit context.
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Denbigshire Council - ORP discussions occupant engagement 
Organisation Denbighshire County Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Discuss occupant engagement. Work with ABC-RP with community engagement strategies & social research
Collaborator Contribution Discuss occupant engagement. Work with ABC-RP with community engagement strategies & social research
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Digital Catapult - Introduction to ABC activities and identify opportunities to collaborate 
Organisation Digital Catapult
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Introduction to ABC activities and identify opportunities to collaborate
Collaborator Contribution Introduction to ABC activities and identify opportunities to collaborate
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Energy implications of Covid-19 
Organisation Nottingham City Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Mark Gillott has had meetings with Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Homes to collaborate on a joint-paper discussing the energy implications of Covid-19 on the City of Nottingham and its population. Using data and resources associated with ABC project - November 2020
Collaborator Contribution N/a
Impact N/A
Start Year 2021
 
Description Energy implications of Covid-19 
Organisation Nottingham City Homes
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Mark Gillott has had meetings with Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Homes to collaborate on a joint-paper discussing the energy implications of Covid-19 on the City of Nottingham and its population. Using data and resources associated with ABC project - November 2020
Collaborator Contribution N/a
Impact N/A
Start Year 2021
 
Description Family Housing Association (Wales) - ORP discussions 
Organisation Family Housing Association (Wales)
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description First Choice Housing - ORP discussions 
Organisation First Choice Housing Association Ltd
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Greater Manchester Combined Authority - discussion net zero SME incubationsupport 
Organisation Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Net zero SME incubation support and digital roll-out
Collaborator Contribution Net zero SME incubation support and digital roll-out
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Hafod Housing Association Limited - ORP discussions 
Organisation Hafod Housing Association Limited
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description IHP and OPR discussions - WG 
Organisation Government of Wales
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Alignment with ABC-RP activity and WG needs and priority areas. Agreed Head of Terms between ABC-RP and WG
Collaborator Contribution Alignment with ABC-RP activity and WG needs and priority areas. Agreed Head of Terms between ABC-RP and WG
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Knowledge share on Corby project 
Organisation Carbon Free Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Call to introduce ABC / Carbon Free Group. Presentation of Electric Corby Scheme. Potential dataset acquisition for RP WP's
Collaborator Contribution Call to introduce ABC / Carbon Free Group. Presentation of Electric Corby Scheme. Potential dataset acquisition for RP WP's
Impact Knowledge share on Corby project. Proposed transfer for project dataset to ABC RP
Start Year 2020
 
Description Le Porge Mairine - green deal discussions 
Organisation Porge Town Hall
Country France 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Green deal discussions
Collaborator Contribution Green deal discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Manchester Metropolitan University - discussions zero carbon / behaviour change 
Organisation Manchester Metropolitan University
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution discussions zero carbon / behaviour change
Collaborator Contribution discussions zero carbon / behaviour change
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Melin Homes - ORP discussions 
Organisation Melin Homes
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Merthyr Valley Homes Limited - ORP discussions 
Organisation Merthyr Valley Homes Limited
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description MiPU - green deal opportunities 
Organisation MIPU
Country Italy 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Discuss Green Deal opportunities
Collaborator Contribution Discuss Green Deal opportunities
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Newydd Housing Association Limited - ORP discussions 
Organisation Newydd Housing Association
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Learned Society 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Ofgem 
Organisation Ofgem Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Ofgem's Network Price Controls (RIIO-2) stakeholder call
Collaborator Contribution Ofgem's Network Price Controls (RIIO-2) stakeholder call
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Ongoing collaboration with Pobl Group & Pobl Living 
Organisation Pobl Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Ongoing collaboration with Pobl Group & Pobl Living (2017/18 - present) regarding two Pobl housing developments that Nick Pidgeon and the workpackage 9 teams have selected as research case sites.
Collaborator Contribution Data collection has commenced at data collection at case site 1 (Parc Eirin)
Impact Ongoing
Start Year 2018
 
Description Ongoing collaboration with Sero Energy 
Organisation Sero Technologies Limited
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Ongoing collaboration with Sero Energy (2019 - present) regarding two Sero housing developments that Nick Pidgeon and the workpackage 9 team have selected as research case sites.
Collaborator Contribution Data collection has commenced at case site 1 & 4 (Parc Eirin & Parc Hadau).
Impact Ongoing
Start Year 2019
 
Description Ongoing partnership with Sheffield University since February 2020 on white papers and data sharing via workshop. 
Organisation University of Sheffield
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution Ongoing partnership with Sheffield University for WP17 since February 2020 on white papers and data sharing via workshop.
Collaborator Contribution n/a
Impact n/a
Start Year 2020
 
Description Pobl - discussion on WP9 case sites 
Organisation Pobl Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Discussion on case sites, Parc Eirin and Active Neath Homes
Collaborator Contribution Discussion on case sites, Parc Eirin and Active Neath Homes
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Powys County Council - ORP discussions 
Organisation Powys Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Rhondda Housing Association - ORP discussions 
Organisation Rhondda Housing Association
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Scottish Housing Association Federation - IoT platform adoption 
Organisation Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Explore opportunities for adoption of IoT platform and accessibility of data
Collaborator Contribution Explore opportunities for adoption of IoT platform and accessibility of data
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Sero - Collaboration framework and discussion 
Organisation Sero
Country Norway 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Collaboration framework and discussions Agreement to enter into NDA
Collaborator Contribution Collaboration framework and discussions Agreement to enter into NDA
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description SoftInway - design software 
Organisation SoftInWay Inc
Country United States 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Discussion around the design software AxStream (https://www.softinway.com/software)
Collaborator Contribution Discussion around the design software AxStream (https://www.softinway.com/software)
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description Tai Calon Community Housing - ORP discussions 
Organisation Tai Calon Community Housing
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Tai Tarian - ORP discussions 
Organisation Tai Tarian
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description Taitarian - occupant engagement 
Organisation Tai Tarian
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution ORP Discuss occupant engagement. Work with ABC-RP with community engagement strategies & social research
Collaborator Contribution ORP Discuss occupant engagement. Work with ABC-RP with community engagement strategies & social research
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Description To discuss using Bryn Bagl as a WP9 case site 
Organisation Wales & West Housing Association
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution To discuss using Bryn Bagl as a WP9 case site
Collaborator Contribution To discuss using Bryn Bagl as a WP9 case site
Impact To discuss using Bryn Bagl as a WP9 case site
Start Year 2020
 
Description Vale of Glamorgan Council - ORP discussions 
Organisation Vale of Glamorgan Council
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution ORP discussions
Collaborator Contribution ORP discussions
Impact na
Start Year 2021
 
Description WP9 case site discussion 
Organisation United Welsh
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Learned Society 
PI Contribution To discuss using Ty Silures as a WP9 case site
Collaborator Contribution Ty Silures can be used as a WP9 case site
Impact Ty Silures can be used as a WP9 case site
Start Year 2020
 
Description introduce Mid Group and ABC 
Organisation Mid Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution introduce Mid Group and ABC. Potential to align ABC school design specification development with industry MMC partner looking at same problem space.
Collaborator Contribution introduce Mid Group and ABC
Impact na
Start Year 2020
 
Title Code to carry out optimal power flow (OPF) modelling of a microgrid 
Description Dr Matthew Woolf is working on code to carry out optimal power flow (OPF) modelling of a microgrid. The aim is to explore the benefits of prioritising critical loads in the event of a rare outage event. In this way we can see how active buildings may add to the resilience of the local energy system. Please see the entry for 'Research Tools and Methods.' The basic tool consists of Pyomo (Python-based, open-source optimisation modelling language http://www.pyomo.org/) using the open source non-linear optimisation software library Ipopt (https://github.com/coin-or/Ipopt). 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2020 
Impact N/A 
 
Title Economic model predictive formulations 
Description The research activity has focused on the development of economic model predictive formulations minimising energy cost and emissions in active residential buildings. Different case studies have been analysed handling building elements that have the potential to provide significant improvements in terms of energy efficiency and reduction of costs and emissions. Economic Model Predictive Control (EMPC) methods have excellent potential for achieving the desired objectives since they enable straightforward integration of physical building constraints and maximum performance assessments to provide continual optimisation of the building management processes. A first case study presented an approach to simultaneous optimisation of design and operation of a residential building taking into account external weather conditions, as well as varying energy prices. The case study showcased the potential of the co-design framework in enhancing flexibility, self-sufficiency and achieving cost-effectiveness of the system. The presented co-design framework enables straightforward integration of the constraints related to the thermal comfort of the occupants, as well as the inclusion of cyclic constraints to take into account the seasonal storage. Batteries, PV panels and seasonal thermochemical storage, coupled with thermal solar, show benefits in increasing seasonal, intermittent renewable hosting capability. In the second case study, a short-horizon MPC formulation handling phenomena happening on multiple time scales through the determination of appropriate terminal condition has been investigated. The results show that omitting the long term dynamics cause significant degradation of the performance. In the last case studies, the analysis has focused on the integration of electric vehicles and demand-side response schemes in the building. Both cases have shown an increase in system flexibility and adaptability to support the wider energy system. The technical details are available in the submitted deliverables. Predictive control implementations https://github.com/active-building-centre/WP5-Predictive-Control using ICLOCS2 https://github.com/ImperialCollegeLondon/ICLOCS" 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2020 
Impact N/A 
 
Title Stock model dashboard 
Description Enables variety of stakeholders to access the research output (3DStock model for Sheffield) without needing to write code or queries. The software is similar to Tableau in that it allows stakeholders to search and filter data and produce custom reports with charts and maps powered from the database. The dashboard can be put online for demonstration but isn't permanently on demand due to cost of the cloud computer, funding to support this is in discussion. 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2020 
Impact N/a 
 
Description ABC City Scale Workshop - July 2019 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact ABC City Scale Workshop, Sheffield
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description BBC R4 The Bottom Line interview 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Interview for BBC R4 The Bottom Line "Net Zero in the House"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000s9s9
 
Description BEIS on 3DStock models and digital twins for retrofit 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The team at UCL attended a seminar to BEIS on 3DStock models and digital twins for retrofit on 15th July 2020.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description CBI/BEIS virtual roundtable 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 9th November 2020, Dr Sara Walker took part in a CBI/BEIS virtual roundtable on Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy. Included in the roundtable were representatives of from academia, industry and government.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description CREDS-Decarbonising Heat in the UK 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 6/7/21, Kate O'Sullivan attended the CREDS workshop on 'Decarbonising Heat in the UK: An Energy System Architecture Perspective'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Cardiff University Researcher Showcase Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Kate O'Sullivan attended and presented at the Cardiff University Researcher Showcase Conference (6th Dec) 'Towards a better future: Addressing critical challenges'"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Colloquium on the Biographies of Artifacts and Practices-Kate O'Sullivan 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 5/7/21, Kate O'Sullivan attended a Colloquium on the Biographies of Artifacts and Practices, talk by Sampsa Hyysalo (TU Berlin): Citizen Activities in Energy Transition: User Innovation, new Communities and the Shaping of Sustainable Future
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Continuing Professional Development delivered to Square One Law, 1/6/23 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact CPD lunchtime talk on renewable energy and energy transition to law firm
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description DEePRED Event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 7/7/21, Kate O'Sullivan attended DEePRED. Distributional Effects of Time of Use Tariffs event.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Demonstration network of indoor IoT sensors installed at the Digital Media Centre, Barnsley 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Steve Jubb (University of Sheffield) provided a demonstration network of indoor IoT sensors installed at the Digital Media Centre (DMC01) in Barnsley. Indoor gateway/sensor network to be installed early 2021. These activities funded by a variety of Pitch-In mini-projects
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Demonstration of 3DStock model to Energiesprong 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The team at UCL provided a demonstration of 3DStock model to Energiesprong on 18th March 2020
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://energiesprong.org/
 
Description Drop in sessions for Trent Basin participants on personalised energy reports 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact Drop-in session has been booked to each of the Trent Basin participating residents to discuss about their personalised energy reports (see research tools and methods for more detail). The objective is to create an opportunity in which each resident can discuss in private their energy consumption, raise awareness about main energy expenditures and discover potential opportunities for saving energy
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Education Estates Conference (online) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Project work presented at Education Estates Conference (online), October 2020, Presentation Title: Digital Twins and their role in the Creation and Management of Zero-Carbon Higher Education Estates, University of Nottingham and IES.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Edward O'Dwyer-NMPC 2021 conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Acceptance of special session at NMPC 2021 conference
• Acceptance of paper "Predictive control co-design for enhancing flexibility in residential housing with battery degradation" at NMPC 2021
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Elli Nikolaidou-GW4 Climate Alliance Event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Elli Nikolaidou WP team presented their work in the context of the 'Our response to the Climate Emergency' event, following the successful selection of their submitted proposals. The event was organised by the GW4 Climate Alliance and held online in October 2021.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Elli Nikolaidou-Learned Society of Wales Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Elli Nikolaidou attended a roundatable discussion in the context of 'The Climate Emergency and Social Inequality' research conference. This was organised by The Learned Society of Wales and held online in November 2021
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Energy reports and useage meetings 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact Held 1-2-1 meetings (on 09/12/2020) with residents to discuss their energy reports and usage. Identified significant savings, including a left-on towel rail which used between 110 and 150 kWh in three consecutive months.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Engagement with local DNO - Western Power Distribution 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Engagement with local DNO - Western Power Distribution. Contacted their innovation team in several 1-2-1 meetings, including at the 2-day virtual Energy Networks Innovation Conference (8th & 9th December 2020), to get project buy-in and discuss technical details.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Focus group discussions with experienced design practitioners 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Focus group discussions with experienced design practitioners (Online):
Twelve online focus group discussions were conducted in two rounds (September and November 2020), with each group comprising two or three participants (thirty in total) and the moderator/ facilitator (Elli Nikolaidou). The selection of participants was based on relevance (architects, engineers, sustainability consultants etc.) and experience/ seniority. As part of the discussions, participants expressed their thoughts about the future of the built environment and brought to the fore issues that concern them, such as the need to adopt a whole-life perspective when designing (new) buildings and the importance of verifying their performance in use. Participants also engaged with our Active Building Code (i.e. the new building design code we have been developing at the University of Bath) and provided their feedback on it, this helping us identify any relevant challenges and opportunities and ultimately ensure the real-world applicability of the code.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Green New Deal Fund Board Meeting, 5/6/23 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact External Advisor to Board, on investment decisions
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Healthy Living in Low Carbon Homes-Advisory and Expert Board 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Panel established to share experiences and expertise on topics relating to low/zero carbon technologies in a housing setting. The team engaged members of the public and professionals in our research activities via two groups.
Expert panel x6 (lay people)
Advisory Board x 7 ( professionals)
The team have held multiple panel meetings throughout 2020 and continually engage with both groups and wider stakeholders including RSLs
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description ITV Interview- Dr Sara Walker 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Dr Sara Walker was interviewed by ITV news to provide her response to the release of the UK Government Hydrogen Strategy
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=7ec82cf6-b674-49f9-a9e9-15d15e53f3d5
 
Description ITV News - North East & Cumbria: Renewable energy tariffs 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact On the 11th November 2020, Dr Sara Walker was interviewed for an ITV News television programme for the North East & Cumbria. The content of the piece was renewable energy tariffs.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Int. Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE'21) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact In October 2021, Dr R. M. Czekster presented "Aging and Rejuvenation Models of Load Changing Attacks in Micro-Grids" at the Workshop of Software Aging and Rejuvenation (WoSAR'21) through the workshop proceedings of the Int. Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE'21).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description International Symposium-The 'new localism' in the energy transition 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Kate O'Sullivan attended and presented at international symposium The 'new localism' in the energy transition: methodological explorations, engagements, imaginaries (15th Oct) - Presentation title: "The new localism" in low carbon heat/energy policy: characterizing and responding to it
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Joachim Geske- IAEE first international online conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Joachim Geske presented on 'the value of energy efficiency in residential buildings - a matter of heterogeneity, at the IAEE first international online Conference 09.06.2021
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://iaee2021online.org/
 
Description John Walls- IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference, Philadelphia, USA 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact John Walls submitted papers to the 49th IEEE Photovoltaics Specialist Conference, Philadelphia, USA:

1) Comparing Fluorinated and Non-Fluorinated Anti-Soiling Coatings for Solar Panel Cover Glass Luke O. Jones, Adam M. Law, Gary Critchlow, and John M. Walls

2) Testing the Abrasion Resistance of Porous SiO2 Anti-reflection Coatings for Solar Cover Glass Adam M Law, Farwah Bukhari, Luke O Jones, Ali Abbas, and John Michael Walls

3) ETFE and its role in the fabrication of lightweight c-Si solar modules F.Lisco, F.Bukhari, L.Jones, A.Law, J.M Walls, C.Ballif
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://ieee-pvsc.org/PVSC49/
 
Description Learned Society of Wales Early Career Research Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Kate O'Sullivan attended and participated in a roundtable discussion at the Learned Society of Wales Early Career Research Conference (26th Nov) 'The Climate Emergency and Social Injustice: Responses from Researchers in Wales'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Mark Gillott- 25th International Passive House Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Mark Gillott attended 25th International Passive House Conference, Wuppertal & Online, 10-12 & 14-15 September 2021 and the International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings (SEB-21), Online, 16-17 September 2021
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Mark Gillott- Smart Local Energy KTN event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Mark Gillott attended the Smart Local Energy KTN event, Online, 19-22 July 2021
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Mark Gillott-COP26 related blog 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact COP26 related blog: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vision/cop26-creating-net-zero-energy-communities, which will also be featured in a COP26 related exhibition stand in Nottingham city centre
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vision/cop26-creating-net-zero-energy-communities
 
Description Mark Gillott-Poster for The Active Communities Revolution 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Poster. TUBELO, R., GILLOTT, M., RODRIGUES, L., SHIPMAN, R., NAGHIYEV, E. BRADSHAW-SMITH, C., EBBS, N. (2021). The Active Communities Revolution. In: Climate Exp0 (online): Advancing a resilient, zero-carbon world. United Kingdom, 17-21 May 2021.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.digitalevents.uk/climateexp0
 
Description Mark Gillott-Sino-UK Joint Symposium on Post Covid-19 Pandemic 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Sino-UK Joint Symposium on Post Covid-19 Pandemic: A Reconsideration for the Built Environment (online), 27-29 August 2021, Speaker, Presentation Title: Living post COVID-19 pandemic: Re-thinking spaces and energy use in housing. Tongji University & University of Nottingham
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.sujs2021.co.uk/
 
Description Mark Gillott-Transforming Construction Blog 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Transforming Construction Blog: WELLS, J and NAGHIYEV, E. (14 June 2021). Behind the Meter Billing at Trent Basin. Available at: https://tc-catalogue.strongerstories.org/stories/behind-the-meter-billing-at-trent-basin/
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://tc-catalogue.strongerstories.org/stories/behind-the-meter-billing-at-trent-basin
 
Description Monash Seminar-Looking at Buildings as Virtual Power Plants 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact On the 26th May 2020, Dr Sara Walker delivered an online talk through the Monash Energy Institute to students at Monash University on Buildings as Virtual Power Plants. The talk included discussion of the potential for a building to offer flexibility to the local electricity network by reducing import from, or export to, the network at the point of connection.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.monash.edu/energy-institute/news-events/past-events/events/2020/webinar-looking-at-build...
 
Description NEA Warm Homes Week 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Third sector organisations
Results and Impact In September 2021, Kate O'Sullivan attended a number of events in support of NEA Warm Homes Week.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description National Grid ESO Event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 12/7/21, Kate O'Sullivan attended the National Grid ESO. Future Energy Scenarios 2021 event.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Net Zero North East England indicators working group, 2/6/23 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Provided expert input to indicators working group for Net Zero North East England, indicators approved and adopted by North of Tyne Combined Authority.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description NetZero Live - Buildings & Transport session 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 11th November 2020, Dr Sara Walker was a panelist at a NetZero Live Conference 2020 Buildings & Transport roundtable session. The discussion points included Net-zero carbon buildings and transport policy, developing the green office of the future and EVs.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://netzerolive.com/agenda/day-2/
 
Description Network Modelling Workshops 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Meltem Peker (RA on ABC) organized a series of workshops in October/November related to methods used on network modelling. In each of them, there were around 10 attendees that consisted of lecturers and researchers that use/know/want to learn the method. They improved knowledge and learned the state-of-the art techniques while applying it.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Newcastle University Blog Piece 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Dr Sara Walker wrote a blog for the new research focused Newcastle University blog webpage(from.ncl.ac.uk) on 'The energy sector and UK recovery in the wake of the COVID pandemic'. This included the different solutions for the energy sector when undergoing the rapid transformation required to meet national targets for net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://from.ncl.ac.uk/the-energy-sector-and-uk-recovery-in-the-wake-of-the-covid-pandemic
 
Description Newcastle WP5 Team- The 12th International Renewable Engineering Conference (IREC) 2021 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The 12th International Renewable Engineering Conference (IREC) 2021 has been attended and the following paper has been presented: "Nikkhah S, Allahham A, Royapoor M, Bialek JW, Giaouris D. A Community-Based Building-to-Building Strategy for Multi-Objective Energy Management of Residential Microgrids."
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Nick Pidgeon- AsSIST-UK online conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Third sector organisations
Results and Impact Nick Pidgeon and WP team presented a paper at AsSIST-UK online conference, 09/09/21.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Ofgem Behavioural Insights Seminar 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr Sara Walker delivered invited talk on the 13th May 2020 at an Ofgem Behavioural Insights Seminar on Building as power plants and the support buildings can offer networks.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Prof David Coley attendance at International Conference on Evolving Cities 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Prof David Coley took part in a session on the ife cycle assessment of a deconstructable building at the International Conference on Evolving Cities, Southampton, UK, September 22-24.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://evolvingcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ICEC2021MarketingLeaflet.pdf
 
Description ReWiRE event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact On 13/7/21, Kate O'Sullivan attended ReWiRE. Issues at the cutting edge of the energy transition: Climate Change Committee's Progress Report to Parliament 2021.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Risk Group Seminar- Kate O'Sullivan 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact On 1/7/21, Kate O'Sullivan attended and took part in a Risk Group Seminar- Phil Macnaghten: The Making of Responsible Innovation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Saman Nikkah-PowerTech Conference 2021 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Newcastle PhD student Saman Nikkhah attended PowerTech conference 2021 and presented the paper "Developing a robust real-time model for energy management of microgrids''
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.powertech2021.com/images/site/Program_Powertech_completo.pdf
 
Description Seminar to Cambridge combined local authority on 3DStock models for planning and energy team 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact The team at UCL hosted a seminar to Cambridge combined local authority on 3DStock models for planning and energy team.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Seminar to Westminster local authority planning, estates and net zero teams 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact The team at UCL hosted a seminar to Westminster local authority planning, estates and net zero teams.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description St Andrew's Event- Applications & tools for co-simulating the Smart Grid and dependability concerns 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact 1. Short talk (mini 1h-workshop) on a Computer Science discipline called Critical Systems at St Andrews University (Scotland), entitled "Applications & tools for co-simulating the Smart Grid and dependability concerns"
Number of stakeholders: about 20 students
Date: November 11th, 2020
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Symposium of Building and Cities (Energy, Emerging Technologies and Gender in Homes) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Kate O'Sullivan attended, presented at and was a paper discussant at symposium for a special issue of the journal 'Buildings and Cities' (Nov 3-9). Paper due for development and submission in March "3.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description TBRA Zoom meetings 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 4x TBRA Zoom meetings (03/11/2020, 18/11/2020, 01/12/2020, 16/12/2020) with approx. 20 Trent Basin residents attending each one. These engagement sessions helped recruit participants for the Behind-The-Meter project. At the point of writing, 15 residents have volunteered themselves for the Behind-The-Meter project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description TPAS - caron week presentabtion 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact Laura Holt presented at TPAS carbon week
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description TU Delft conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Kate O'Sullivan attended and presented at the TU Delft conference 'Social innovation: next steps in the energy transition'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description The City in 2040: Rethinking the City Centre 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact In July and September 2021, Kate O'Sullivan attended The City in 2040: Rethinking the City Centre - a series of three events being run jointly by the School of Geography and Planning and the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University, exploring how urban places might have changed by 2040
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description The Conversation- 'The Roundtable-Building a Sustainable Future' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact In October 2021, Dr Sara Walker took part in 'The Conversation- 'The Roundtable-Building a Sustainable Future'. The event was to discuss the North East's pivotal role in transforming the UK into a global clean energy leader. Dr Walker raised a variety of issues such as the fact that the North East as a location, is ideal in terms of the mix of energy solutions that can be investigated.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://netimesmagazine.co.uk/magazine/editorial/the-round-table-building-a-sustainable-future/
 
Description Training workshop on use of 3DStock London model for GLA Energy teams 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact UCL have undertaken a wide range of engagement activities as part of ABC with central and local government and potential commercial providers of retrofit solutions. The team at UCL attended a training workshop on 4th Feb 2020 on the use of 3DStock London model for GLA Energy teams.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum policy conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact On the 9th June 2020, Dr Sara Walker was an invited speaker at the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum policy conference. The conference topic was on 'Developing smart electricity networks in the UK - innovation, policy and regulation, and decarbonising the grid'. An information pack of the content was also distributed to participants, delegates and a wider group of UK, national and local government officials and other interested parties.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020