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 School of Geography and the Environment

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Energy Research Topics: Buildings

Our inter-disciplinary approach combines qualitative work on people’s behaviour in relation to building energy use with quantitative analysis of building-related technologies – both technology for energy demand reduction and low- and zero-carbon energy supply. We typically take a ‘back-casting’ approach, mapping out short- and medium-term policies that could lead to deep cuts in the long term.

Projects

  • Building Expertise
    2010 - 2013

    This project adopts a modified ‘system of professions’ approach to energy use in buildings, to address questions as to who can best deliver lower-carbon improvements in the coming decades, how they might best be educated, and whether new professions such as system integrators will be required to coordinate the necessary work. The research involves reviews of professional practices, skills, training, technical issues, markets & policy context, along with interviews and a survey of pioneers and mainstream practitioners.

  • SMEasure: energy monitoring tool
    2009-2011

    A new easy-to-use building energy energy management system for small and medium businesses to measure, benchmark and target the energy use of your buildings simply by entering regular gas and electricity meter readings

  • Worldwide Status of Energy Standards for Buildings
    2007-2009

    An investigation of the worldwide status of energy standards for buildings in more than 80 countries linked to the legal status and building sector coverage of the standards in different countries.

  • Building a Greener Britain
    Nov 07 - Jul 08

    The Federation of Master Builders has commissioned new research which will present a series of practical policy recommendations to help encourage householders to make their homes greener.

  • Degree Day Data
    2007-2008

    Free downloads of weekly degree day data for 77 weather stations in the UK at a range of building base temperatures from 10.5 degrees to 20 degrees from before the beginning of the 2007 heating season.

  • Building Market Transformation
    2005-2008

    Examining the policy, economic, social and technical issues surrounding how we achieve a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions from the UK Building stock by 2030.

  • Integrating sustainable energy systems into homes (cRRescendo)
    Aug 05 - jul 10

    Making use of renewable energy technologies in public buildings and more than 6,000 new and existing homes in communities across europe

  • 40% House
    Completed Mar 05

    The 40% House project studies behavioural and technological changes in the search for how UK households can achieve a 60% reduction in their carbon emissions by 2050.

More Buildings projects

Documents & Media

Reports and Publications

Print, Radio & TV

Conference papers

Journal Papers

  • Hinnells, M. (2008) Combined heat and power in industry and buildings. Energy Policy 36 (2008), pp. 4522-4526 DOI information: 10.1016/j.enpol.2008.09.018
  • Hinnells, M. (2008) The greening of commercial leases. Journal of Property Investment & Finance 26(6) 541-551.
  • Hinnells, M. (2008) Technologies to achieve demand reduction and microgeneration in buildings, Energy Policy 36 (2008), pp. 4427-4433 DOI information: 10.1016/j.enpol.2008.09.029
  • Layberry, R. (2008) Degree days for building energy management - presentation of a new dataset. Building Engineering Research and Technology (In Press)
  • Boardman, B. (2007) Examining the carbon agenda via the 40%House scenario. Building Research and Information 35(4), 363–378

Submissions to government

Selected presentations

More Buildings publications