Digital Characterisation of the Building Stock

The Building Stock Lab (BSL) at UCL Energy Institute has been developing a new kind of 3D model of the UK building stock. The model's purpose is to assess energy use in buildings, and study the potential for energy and carbon mitigation measures. The techniques have been trialled successfully in London and several other cities.
This '3DStock' model is built by bringing together a number of publicly available datasets to produce a full spatial model which contains 3D representations of all domestic and non-domestic buildings with associated floor space, use type and other attributes. 3DStock has been used for statistical analysis of building energy use, assessment of renewable energy potentials and analysis of district energy systems.
A version of 3DStock is being developed to create the London Building Stock Model (LBSM) for the Greater London Authority to be used in climate change mitigation planning in Greater London. Data from 3DStock is passed to the SimStock modelling platform which automatically generates dynamic simulation models to predict the energy and environmental performance of the building stock and comparisons are made to actual energy meter data.
Further development of key aspects of these models is underway in association with Bentley Systems, the leading global provider of software solutions for the design, construction, and operations of buildings and infrastructure. One studentship, focusing on 'Simulating and Optimising the Performance of the Building Stock', has already been allocated. A second studentship is available to work alongside the first and in collaboration with the Building Stock Lab.
Studentship aims
Digital models of the building stock require increasing levels of detail to generate more accurate representations and produce performance predictions with higher levels of validity and utility. This PhD will focus on the application of a variety of techniques to process photography, LiDAR and other data sources to derive detailed building and built environment characteristics, materials and components to improve the veracity of current models.

The low carbon energy systems needed to achieve the Government's carbon 2050 reduction targets promise declining generation costs, but at the price of inflexibility and intermittency. The challenge is to contain costs and improve energy system security, by building in resilience. The opportunities include: more efficient energy conversion, networks and storage technologies; improved energy control and management systems; integration of energy performance into modern methods of construction; improved measurement, display and control systems; and new business models. This will bring pervasive economic benefits: the creation of new intellectual property and expertise; businesses with the ability to compete in the huge new markets for energy efficiency and resilience, both in the UK and overseas; healthier and more productive places to work and live; and a means to address social hardship and inequalities, such as fuel poverty, which affects the health and wellbeing of society's most vulnerable. Seizing these opportunities requires leaders with multi-disciplinary knowledge, skills and whole-system perspective to break down restrictive, sector-specific silos, and drive innovation. The ERBE CDT will train such leaders.

The short and medium term impacts of the ERBE CDT will arise during the training of these leaders and through their research outputs and collaborations. These will include, but are not be restricted to: new approaches to analysis; new insights derived from large datasets; new modelling methods and ways of using existing models; new experimental techniques; field and laboratory measurement techniques; improved socio-technical methods; new manufacturing methods, devices, primary data sets, and patents; and, together with our industrial stakeholders, the integration of research into the business innovation process.

The longer term impacts will be realised over the next 40 years as ERBE graduates take on influential roles in diverse organisations, including:
- national and local governmental organisations that are developing affordable and socially acceptable evidence-based energy policies;
- energy supply and services companies that are charged with delivering a clean reliable and economical system, through deployment of energy efficiency products and technologies within an evolving energy system architecture;
- technology companies that are developing new components for energy generation and storage, new heating, cooling and ventilation systems, and smart digital controls and communications technology;
- industries that are large consumers of fuel and power and need to reduce their energy demand and curb the emission of greenhouse gases and pollutants;
- consultancies that advise on the design of energy systems, non-domestic building design and urban masterplans;
- facilities managers, especially those in large organisations such as retail giants, the NHS, and education, that are charged with reducing energy demand and operating costs to meet legally binding and organisational targets;
- standards organisations responsible for regulating the energy and buildings sectors through the creation of design guides and regulatory tools;
- NGOs and charities responsible for promoting, enabling and effecting energy demand reduction schemes;
- health and social care providers, who need to assure thermal comfort and indoor air quality, especially as our population ages and we adopt more flexible healthcare models.

The realisation of these benefits requires people with specific skills and an understanding of the associated ethical, health & safety, regulatory, legal, and social diversity and inclusion issues. Most importantly, they must have the ability to look at problems from a new perspective, to conceive, and develop new ideas, be able to navigate the RD&D pathway, and have the ability to articulate their intentions and to convince others of their worth; the ERBE CDT will develop these capabilities.