R&D INSIGHT
Online Platform to revolutionise energy efficiency in buildings
and wider urban areas. Cities use exceptionally large amounts of
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energy, giving them a leading role in the drive to reduce CO2 emissions. Around 40 % of the total EU final energy consumption is accounted for by buildings. The platform, designed for city planners,
industry and energy stakeholders, assesses and maps buildings’ energy behaviour. The platform has already succeeded in cutting energy use in several cities across Europe where it has been tested. In Ferrara, Italy, about €2 million was
saved in energy certification costs for 10000 buildings. Overall there were total
savings equal to around €450 per year in public buildings, such as schools.
New website hosts wealth of data on energy efficient
buildings The Digital Catapult — a centre created by Innovate UK to drive future economic growth in the digital economy — has created the Building Data Exchange to stimulate innovation and help constructors build more efficient properties. It contains a wealth of information on best practice and pitfalls in construction of modern, energy efficient homes, offices, shops and public buildings. The Building Data Exchange has been created to allow designers, developers and constructors to take advantage of information gathered over the last six years by Innovate UK’s £8 million Buildings Performance Evaluation programme. Two recent reports released by the innovation agency highlighted that more needs to be done to ensure modern, energy efficient properties are meeting their targets on energy use and efficiency. Simon Hart, Innovate UK programme leader for the built environment, said: “Homes and offices are not performing as they should do. They are consuming up to 10 times the energy they should, and there are a multitude of factors behind that. “The programme has amassed so much data that it’s difficult for constructors to process it.
www.projectsmagazine.eu.com
Novel online platform by the Sunshine project will substantially improve energy efficiency in both buildings
In Rovereto, Italy, energy use was cut by
19-21 per cent in two pilot projects, whilst in Bassano, Italy, €74 was saved per street light per year – a cut of more than 50 per cent in energy consumption. The project team realised that many key
stakeholders, such as public administration officials, still lack adequate knowledge about actions that could be taken to reduce energy consumption in cities and urban areas. In order to address this, the project
developed its platform to operate on three different scales: the city scale by mapping the entire cityscape, the building scale by creating awareness of a building’s overall energy behaviour, and on a public street lighting scale that saw the smart automation of public street lighting networks.
For more information see the SUNSHINE project website:
www.sunshineproject.eu/
IN BRIEF
Paint-On Coating For Energy Efficient Windows
The US Dept of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is developing a new paint-on coating that will help building owners improve the energy efficiency of their windows, without the need for trained installers. The vision is that the coating could be used as a DIY retrofit with homeowners being able to buy and apply it. The coating will selectively reflect the infrared solar energy back to the sky while allowing visible light to pass through, which will drastically improve the energy efficiency of windows.
Energy efficient lighting trend in the UK
In the last quarter of 2015, lighting technologies dominated the energy efficiency market with eight out of 10 consumers choosing to install them, according to the ‘Energy Efficiency Trend’ report of Energy Efficiency Verification Specialists (EEVS) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Solar generation also increased with four out of 10 consumers installing the technology. The report also highlighted consumers are keener on energy saving performances with eight out of 10 reporting undertaking projects to be more efficient.
There is an opportunity now for digital businesses to create smart home or property technology that could be adopted by the construction industry and help it to tackle these issues.” There are opportunities to use the data in many fields including in proptech, smart homes, Internet of Things, future cities, wearable tech, data, buildings information management, retail, energy systems, renewables, fintech, sensors, materials and manufacturing. The exchange will help constructors to find
relevant information and also to start working with digital innovators on solutions to some of the challenges they face.
The data has now been made available to the public as part of a three-year Catapult programme to encourage interaction between the construction industry and digital innovators.
CSOK housing support helps energy efficiency
In an unprecedented drive to reduce utility bills for consumers the Hungarian government established the First Public Utilities Company (ENKSZ), which took over the task of selling gas to Hungarian households from the private utilities. Now, under the establishment of the Family Housing Allowance scheme (CSOK), the state will move from acting as a supplier of household energy services to a manger of households’ energy demand. Under the CSOK programme, modern energy-efficient building practices will be condition of qualifying for housing support.
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