In 2019 the Active Building Centre, Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) was born through Innovate UK’s Transforming Construction Challenge. Since then a small team has focussed on real world projects embedding the active building principles first developed by Swansea University. In October 2022 we launched our ABC Blueprint to share our learnings and knowledge to…
This insight paper summarises ABC’s programme to date of testing the performance of domestic heat pumps for space heating. It includes an assessment of commercially available heat pumps and the development of thermal modelling of CO2 heat pumps and their building application, including the application of thermal storage. The paper also describes how heat pump design incorporating new technology to increase performance efficiency can be tested using ABC’s laboratory testing facility.
In this insight paper, Dr Kerry Mashford OBE explains how ABC has worked to integrate the energy systems required for an active building. Following on from the publication of ABC’s Blueprint, this document focuses on integration as a principle to consider at all stages of the energy hierarchy pyramid. Dr Mashford takes us through the reasons for integration and how this has been achieved in practice by ABC in some of their projects.
Since 2019 ABC has worked with lots of organisations in the #netzero space. So with the pressure on to reach #netzero by 2050 what are the challenges facing the s
It is widely understood that there are certain trade-offs implicit in making our homes and other buildings greener and more sustainable – whether in new-builds or via retrofitting existing structures. Greater initial capital expenditure, in the form of higher up-front costs, translates into lower operating expenditure, in the form of decreased energy consumption and savings…
