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Breakthrough innovation specialist Cambridge Consultants has partnered with Redbarn Group to develop VeriTherm, a fast and simple tool to verify the thermal performance of new buildings. With the UK’s political parties committed to massive home building programs, alongside the need to halve energy usage from new buildings by 2030, it’s never been more vital to ensure that new buildings meet their thermal specifications. But an Innovate UK study[1] found that average total carbon emissions for new build homes were 2.6 times higher than the design estimate, while no homes in the study achieved their ‘zero carbon’ design estimate in practice.
There is a clear ‘performance gap’ between design and construction. Closing this gap, by enabling the construction industry to verify that new buildings perform as specified, can have a massive impact, helping the UK to meet its climate change commitments.
VeriTherm is a new and fast approach to verifying the thermal performance of buildings prior to occupation. The tool compares actual performance of a building against the designed performance, as opposed to measuring exact heat losses. If the designed thermal properties of the building have not been reached, further investigation can then look for specific causes and remedies.
Using machine intelligence to achieve the seemingly impossible
Traditional methods of assessing thermal performance use the standard assessment procedure (SAP) a calculation derived from a manufacturer’s datasheet values, standard tables and allowances for junctions and potential bridging. With SAP, no direct measurement occurs on site, except for an air permeability test which ensures that the building is effectively sealed, meaning the result applies only to an idealized build. At the other extreme is the use of ‘co-heating’, where the amount of energy required to maintain a constant, raised, indoor temperature is measured, but this test can take in excess of two weeks and is used mainly for research as it has proved to be too lengthy and costly to become a mainstream method. The energy performance gap demonstrates that these methods are proving ineffective. Buyers and builders need something in between – a simple test to see if the expected values are being met in practice.
VeriTherm provides a straightforward approach that gives a clear pass/fail result, following an overnight test. The platform takes real-time data from strategically placed sensors as the building is heated and then cools overnight. Patent pending algorithms compare recorded heating and cooling curves against the calculated theoretical design. Performance of the algorithms was verified by testing against a ‘hot box’, a dedicated structure built by Cambridge Consultants that could be heated and allowed to cool. Final testing was carried out in a real building.
In a recent letter of support from the UK’s Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, the Ministry stated that they are: “…keen that [VeriTherm] is further developed and a workable method to measure the thermal performance of homes comes to market” and continued, “this product could therefore contribute to reducing CO2 emissions from homes, reducing occupant bills and to the UK meeting its carbon budgets.”
Mark Fenton, Director at Redbarn Group, commented: “Buildings and construction account for 39% of energy-related CO2 emissions. VeriTherm provides the industry with the opportunity to quickly validate the thermal performance of new buildings. We’re pleased to have chosen to work with Cambridge Consultants who brought a diverse range of skills to the development, including thermodynamics, data analysis and unique algorithm design.
Andrew Lintott, Senior Consultant at Cambridge Consultants, added: “The UK’s Climate Change Act gives us a little over a decade to halve energy usage from new buildings, but the industry continues to construct buildings that underperform their design estimate. Bold and rapid action is required. VeriTherm shows that by harnessing the right technologies we can create pragmatic and powerful tools that contribute to achieving lower emissions.”
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ケンブリッジコンサルタンツとキャプジェミニについて
ケンブリッジコンサルタンツについて
ケンブリッジコンサルタンツは、画期的な製品開発、知的所有権の創出や供与、技術的な難題に対するビジネスコンサルティングを、世界中のお客様に向けて行っています。市場初となる製品の立ち上げや新規市場参入、新技術導入による既存市場の拡大など、お客様がビジネスチャンスを成功へと変えるお手伝いを60年以上にわたり継続してきました。英国ケンブリッジ、米国ボストン、東京、シンガポールに、エンジニアや科学者、数学者やデザイナーを含む800名以上のスタッフを擁し、医療機器、ライフサイエンス、産業機械、エネルギー、消費財、流通、通信、インフラストラクチャなど、多様な分野におけるソリューションを提供しています。
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ケンブリッジコンサルタンツは、デジタルイノベーション、コンサルティング、トランスフォーメーションを統合したグローバル・ビジネス・ライン、「キャップジェミニ・インベント」の一員です。キャップジェミニ・インベントは、経営責任者たちの構想、次の一手の策定支援を行います。世界中の60のオフィスと40のクリエイティブ・スタジオにある10,000以上の強力なチームで構成され、戦略、技術、データサイエンス、クリエイティブ設計領域において、市場をリードする専門家集団を組織します。
キャップジェミニ・インベントは、テクノロジーの力を活用して企業ビジネスの変革・管理を支援するパートナーシップにおけるグローバルリーダーである、キャップジェミニの一部門です。キャップジェミニ・グループは、テクノロジーを通して人々が持つエネルギーを解き放つことで、包摂的で持続可能な未来を目指し、日々まい進しています。世界約50ケ国の32.5万人に及ぶチームメンバーから成る、極めて多様的で責任感の強い組織です。キャップジェミニは、55年にわたって積み上げてきた経験と実績そして豊かな専門知識を活かし、クラウド、データ、AI、コネクティビティ、ソフトウェア、デジタルエンジニアリング、プラットフォームなど、急速に進化するイノベーティブなテクノロジーを原動力として、戦略から設計、オペレーションに至るまで、お客様の幅広いビジネスニーズすべてに対応して、お客様から厚い信頼をいただいています。グループ全体の2021年度の売上は、180億ユーロです。
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