Green Energy
Machine learning speeds up search for new sustainable materials
A model that rapidly searches through large numbers of materials could find sustainable alternatives to existing composites.
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esearchers from Konica Minolta and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan have developed a machine learning method to identify sustainable alternatives for composite materials. Their findings were published in the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods.
Composite materials are compounds made of two or more constituent materials. Due to the complex nature of the interactions between the different components, their performance can greatly exceed that of single materials. Composite materials, such as fibre-reinforced plastics, are very important for a wide range of industries and applications, including electrical and information technologies . In recent years, there has been increasing demand for more environmentally sustainable materials that help reduce industrial waste and plastic use. One way to achieve this is to substitute the constituent materials in composites with recyclable materials or biomass. However, this can reduce performance compared to the original material, not only due to the features of the individual constituent materials, such as their physicochemical properties, but also due to the interactions between the constituents. Machine learning offers a potential solution to this problem. Scientists have proposed several machine learning methods to conduct rapid searches
among a large number of materials, based on the relationship between the materials’ features and performance. However, in many cases the properties of the constituent materials are unknown, making these types of predictive searches difficult. To overcome this limitation, the researchers developed a new type of machine learning method for finding alternative materials. A key advantage of the new method is that it can quantitatively evaluate the interactions among the component materials to reveal how much they contribute to the overall performance of the composite. The method then
searches for replacement constituents with similar performance to the original material. They experimentally evaluated the performance of the substitute materials identified by machine learning and found that they were similar to the original material, proving that the model works. The method could be used to quickly and efficiently identify sustainable substitutes for composite materials, reducing plastic use and encouraging the use of biomass or renewable materials.
The role of smart lighting A
s part of their podcast series The Smart Building Podcast, smart soſtware company amBX recently interviewed Andy Saull, who works for CBRE (Global Commercial Real Estate Services) as a digital advisory consultant.
Commenting on the environmental and social sustainability of buildings and what the current trends, challenges and opportunities are, Andy said: “Today’s top trends are focused on environmental sustainability, working towards the net-zero 2030 and 2050 targets.
“However, we’re yet to be able to really measure social sustainability as easily as we can measure environmental sustainability. But in the future, I believe it will be a key metric we all consider when renting, buying and investing in buildings.”
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Andy Saull identified that there are currently no financial incentives for landlords, investors and building owners to upgrade buildings and make them more environmentally friendly. “The market doesn’t yet value more environmentally sustainable buildings, largely because we have no real way of measuring the ROI of sustainable investment.”
“Research shows that currently, things like EPC ratings and minimum energy efficiency standards do not actually correlate with operational energy performance. You can own a building with an EPC rating of A, but it can perform in operation in the same way as a building that has been given an EPC rating of E. It’s just a badge or a trophy. “There are benchmarks slowly being released to measure social sustainability. The Better Buildings
partnership has been pioneering a rating that came out of Australia called NABERS; it’s effectively a new way of measuring operational carbon to prove your buildings sustainable. It requires submission of data throughout the lifecycle of the building, and you always have to be sustainable. I think that will hit the UK market soon as a benchmark of environmental sustainability.”
Other emerging benchmarks are certifications such as SmartScore - it reviews how smart a building is. The Smart Building Certification looks at how digitally connected buildings are, and the Reset Building Data Standard reviews whether systems are interoperable within buildings. Listen to the full discussion here: https://
anchor.fm/ambx/episodes/Ep--27-Social-and- Environmental-Sustainability---CBRE-e1iqd9u
August 2022 electrical wholesaler | 18
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