Minimising Energy in Construction
Our long-term vision is for the built environment to be designed cost-effectively, based on whole life cycle energy consumption using minimum material resource for appropriate performance. Our immediate ambition is to use feasibility studies to identify and address sources of wasted embodied energy, value-less cost, and performance over-design in the construction industry to transform sector wide design practice and define the research areas that will underpin this transformation.
This project is funded by the EPSRC, in grant EP/P033679/1, led by Dr John Orr.
A lecture, given by Dr Orr and Prof Wise, at the Institution of Structural Engineers is linked below:
Primer
Want to know more about embodied energy, material efficiency, structural utilisation? Click here for a set of "must read" papers that will get you going.
MEICON Report: Structural Engineering Practice
The MEICON team’s first report of this research, resulting from a survey of structural engineering practice completed in 2017, is available to download.
Related projects
Get it Right Initiative - https://getitright.uk.com/
Enough is Enough - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieqPRhgdUMU
Automating Concrete Construction (ACORN) - http://automated.construction/
Marginal Gains in Construction – more value, less cost. http://bit.ly/2FJ64ZN
UKGBC Advancing Net Zero - https://www.ukgbc.org/ukgbc-work/advancing-net-zero/
World GBC Advancing Net Zero - https://www.worldgbc.org/advancing-net-zero
UKGBC: Embodied carbon: Developing a client brief - http://bit.ly/2U3Qxg0
Buildings as Material Banks, EU Project: https://www.bamb2020.eu/
Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth, UNEP report, 2016: http://bit.ly/2Ox9ZMd
Join Us
It is essential that a wide cross section of the construction industry participates in this research. Please join our industry team to add your voice.