Energy House 2.0 Electric Vehicle Workshop
With the UK government ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles coming into effect in 2030, and Greater Manchester’s upcoming introduction of the Clean Air Zone, on the 14 & 15 September the Energy House 2.0 team ran a workshop on electric vehicles (EV).
Aimed at Greater Manchester-based companies, the event provided a deeper understanding of how the growth in electric vehicles and the direct and indirect implications will affect their business, help them become better prepared for it, and identify potential new business opportunities. Participants were also advised on how EVs fit into modern connected homes and reduce carbon in the built environment.
The event was held both online and on campus, providing delegates an opportunity to network with EV-focused businesses and peers. Speakers and exhibitors were available in-person to provide information on electric vehicle and EV charging options, as well as hands-on experience of electric vehicles and bicycles, and EV charging options. Delegates were also provided with a tour of the University’s Vehicle to Grid, EVCC, and Autonomous Vehicle Lab.
Click here for day one presentations and here for day two.
DEVELOP YOUR MANAGEMENT SKILLS
Salford Business School is delivering the Help to Grow management development programme, which is specifically designed to meet the needs of senior managers in small and medium sized businesses. The programme is delivered over 12 weeks with a blend of online and oneto-one support and covers key topics such as marketing strategy, change management, and digital technologies.
Register here.
Business Support for GM Companies
GC Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company, has helped thousands of businesses at all stages of their growth journey with a broad range of services delivered by its experts, as well as public and private sector partners. These services include one-to-one and peer-to-peer business support, events, specialist programmes, and funding.
Experienced innovation advisors can help you overcome the difficulties in getting new ideas moving, and accelerate the time it takes to bring new products or services to market. Areas of support include: addressing technical challenges with short or long-term solutions; accessing research or testing; transferring knowledge, data and expertise into your business; and tapping into innovation funding.
There’s also a dedicated business growth service for SMEs working within – or looking to diversify into – the Green Technologies and Services sector. Whether you’re looking to enter new markets, raise your company profile or grow your sales pipeline, the Hub can help you thrive in this large, growing sector.
“GC Business Growth Hub support for Urmston-based TechDisinfect has boosted sales and profits. ‘There’s a market there for the products and services we offer – and thanks to help from Hub we are now in much better position to capitalise on those opportunities,’ says founder and director Karim Samani.
GC Business Growth Hub is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and also supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Greater Manchester local authorities.
To access expert support, funding and tailored resources, email BGHinnovation@growthco.uk and connect with your local advisor.
Smart Meters Smart Homes Innovation
The UK is currently undergoing an energy transition. This means the way we consume energy is changing, driven by changes to the infrastructure, particularly the introduction of smart meters. Traditionally, we would consume and pay for energy, homes would be “dumb nodes” on the end of our energy system simply consuming energy. However, we are now becoming accustomed to homes that generate energy, using solar panels, and store energy in batteries.
This, connected with the digital capability provided by the smart meter infrastructure, is creating huge opportunities for different ways of paying for energy and business model innovations such as Virtual Power Plants. The Smart Meters Smart Homes Lab has been at the centre of this exciting area. The SMSH Lab is an innovation sandpit with smart meters and a range of connected devices ranging from heating systems to smart appliances, allowing a safe environment for experimentation.
Dr Ioannis Paraskevas, who leads the lab said, “This is not just a question of energy transitions. Our homes are increasingly full of smart devices, each generating data. The role of our lab is to understand how to collect and combine this data in a way that might generate useful insights for occupants. We can use energy data in ways that might support issues such as social care or security.”
The Energy House 2.0 project has supported a number of new start-up businesses in developing products and services using the unique environment to test and research. The team also work with major companies exploring the future of smart energy as an integral part of the future of our homes.
ENERGY HOUSE 2.0 CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
The main building structure is now complete and weather-tight. The next phase will be the installation and commissioning of the heating and cooling systems which will enable a wide range of climates to be simulated in the environmental chambers.
In parallel, the specialist rigs to recreate rain, snow, wind, and solar radiation are currently being constructed off-site so that they can be quickly installed and commissioned once the building is complete.
Regular construction updates and a timelapse webcam of the construction can be found on our website.
ENERGY HOUSE LABS EVENTS UPDATE
Housing 2021
Professor Will Swan, Director of Energy House Laboratories, spoke at Housing 2021 held on the 7th – 9th September at Manchester Central. Housing is the major social housing conference in the UK and this year will attract more than 6000 delegates over 3 days. The focus of the talk was on the work of Energy House Labs and their contribution to decarbonisation of the housing stock, and some of the earliest footage of Energy House 2.0, as it nears completion, was shown.
Will said, “Social Housing has been at the vanguard of the decarbonisation for the last decade in terms of both retrofit and new build. Housing has always been a place where sustainability has been discussed between social housing providers and their supply chains. We are pleased to get a chance to be able to showcase the exciting work we are doing.”
IEA Annex 71
September saw the completion of a six-year global research project on the subject of providing building ratings using smart meter and IOT data.
The outputs of this work were comprehensive reports which cover the background, solutions and policy work that is needed to implement this largescale piece of work.
Click here for further details.
Future of Utilities
Dr Richard Fitton presented at the Future of Utilities Summit in London on the 16th September. This talk will cover the future of decarbonisation of homes in the UK, and how ensure that the homes we build and retrofit are up to standard.
Click here for further details.
If you would like one of the Energy House Labs team to speak at your event, please contact energyhouse2@salford.ac.uk