REFIT: Personalised Retrofit Decision Support Tools for UK Homes using Smart Home Technology

Thermal efficiency retrofit options, appliance upgrades and on-site renewables represent a significant opportunity to deliver energy demand reductions to UK homes. The potential to reduce thermal heat losses through insulation and airtightness (in particular in pre-1980s housing), upgrade the household appliance stock (using the latest energy saving models) and integrated on-site renewables and microgeneration (developing a 'prosumer' culture and reducing energy bills) still remains largely unrealised. There are a number of challenges in providing advice for retrofit solutions to consumers which will promote behaviour change and influence purchasing decisions. Currently consumer information is based on standardised methodologies for nominal house types and the resulting predictions of energy savings have minimal resemblance to reality where the thermal efficiency of the dwelling, efficiency of heating system and appliances, occupancy, user behaviour and preferences will have a significant impact on the effectiveness and uptake of retrofit measures. One solution is to provide consumers with personalised, accurate and trustworthy predictions of energy saving measures which are calibrated and tailored to their dwelling and living patterns, presented in a format to engage and promote action.

This proposal will facilitate a widespread uptake of retrofit measures in UK homes by implementing a holistic approach to providing consumers with personalised, tailored retrofit advice delivered using methods to maximise consumer engagement. Smart Home technology provides a unique opportunity to use real-time measurements, advanced data analytics, digital signal processing and communications techniques, novel visualisation, semantic web and cloud computing technologies to generate advice at different levels of abstraction for informed and justified decision making. The Smart Home concept is currently gaining significant momentum and new developments in open systems, simple use and installation features (ie plug and play), mobile access (ie Smart Phones) and connectivity have brought the concept to the attention of energy companies, ICT companies and appliance manufacturers. The IBM vision of a Smart(er) Home gives three characteristics: 1) Instrumented (sensors and automation of household activities); 2) Interconnected (communication between devices and wider networks - allowing remote access and control of devices); and 3) Intelligent ('the ability to make decisions based on data, leading to better outcomes'). Smart Homes provide consumers with more control over their homes and energy systems and, importantly, how their energy demand and costs can be reduced through interventions.

This proposal brings together a multi-disciplinary team of building, ICT, energy, design and user experts to develop a personalised decision support platform for building envelope retrofits, heating system and appliance replacement purchases, and on-site renewables integration. This will deliver a step-change in the provision and accuracy of retrofit advice to UK householders leading to a low-energy and low-carbon future housing stock. The outcomes will be of benefit to: energy, ICT, embedded systems and telecommunication companies developing technology and business models for Smart Home services; consumers to lower their energy bills and improve the safety, security and comfort of their homes; building component, boiler and appliance manufacturers developing the next generation of low-energy products; and policy makers for new insights into innovative approaches to meeting the security, affordability and carbon reduction aspirations of the UK energy system.

The large-scale retrofitting of the UK building stock has the potential to impact on the three aspects of the nation's 'energy trilemma': 1) a reduction in carbon emissions arising from energy supply, as the building stock energy demand is reduced; 2) improved security of supply, as reduced energy demand results in less imports of energy supplies required; 3) improved affordability for consumers, as less energy is needed to fulfil comfort and user requirements. The work and findings of the REFIT project, by advancing the purchase and take-up of retrofit options across the stock, will therefore have substantial benefits for many stakeholders within UK society and the UK economy. Societal benefits occur once retrofit measures have been purchased and installed, through mitigation of climate change effects and improved energy security due to the energy demand reductions. Economic benefits arise at the installation stage through job creation for skilled installers for retrofit measures. The increased purchasing of retrofit materials and technologies will have economic benefits for manufacturers and retailers, with a steep demand anticipated for products including insulation, boilers, heating controls, low-energy appliances and on-site microgeneration. Large-scale retrofitting of the building stock will also provide tangible benefits to householders and consumers. Energy bills will be reduced with potential to decrease the number of households in fuel poverty in the UK. In addition, by improving building fabric and heat loss characteristics, homes will become warmer in winter improving thermal comfort levels, in particular for the more vulnerable households in society.

The initial beneficiaries of the research will be the REFIT project partners. REFIT has engaged the support of ICT companies (IBM, Thales), Smart Technology providers (Sentec, Green Energy Options, RWE Power), equipment manufacturers (National instruments), building research and consultancy organisations (BSRIA, Adapt, the National Refurbishment Centre) and industry network organisations (COMIT, FIATECH). Impacts with external stakeholders will be maximised through the COMIT and FIATECH members (including UK and US construction companies, ICT companies and leading universities) and through REFIT project conferences. In particular a high profile REFIT Colloquium will be held in London in the third year of the project to disseminate the immediate findings and identify new routes to achieving academic, commercial and policy impacts.

The REFIT project will develop and trial a new approach to the generation and provision of retrofit advice to householders, specifically by using Smart Home technology both as the enabler to generate personalised, tailored retrofit information and as the means to disseminate this information to householders. Dissemination will be integrated across the project activities and will actively promote impact across several sectors. The beneficiaries include: academic and research organisations developing and evaluating Smart Homes and Smart Technology applications; energy companies seeking novel energy services and customer retention; appliance manufacturers through new performance diagnostic services to promote appliance upgrades; ICT companies developing novel business opportunities through software and hardware applications for new services; policy makers through the evaluation of Smart Homes as an energy demand reduction mechanism to achieve legislative targets; and consumers through access to better information on which to base purchasing decisions and operational strategies for making substantial saving to energy bills.