Pioneering live digital twin technology piloted at the University of Liverpool A new tool for optimising the operational performance of buildings has been used as part of a project at the University of Liverpool, resulting in operational cost savings of £25,000 and energy consumption reductions of 23%. Glasgow-based climate technology firm, IES,
Following the highly regarded 2023 awards ceremony in November of last year, the AEMT is delighted to announce that the nomination process for the 2024 awards programme is now officially open. Building on its past successes, the seventh outing of this sector specific awards scheme will again culminate in a
Linkcity, the development arm of Bouygues UK, and Crosstree Real Estate Partners are delighted to announce the financial close and start on site of the fourth phase of the regeneration of Hallsville Quarter in Canning Town, London, forming part of the £3.7 billion Canning Town and Custom House Regeneration Programme.
British Gypsum is to become the first building materials manufacturer in the UK to form a strategic partnership with circular economy pallet supplier The Pallet LOOP in a bid to significantly reduce pallet waste. The manufacturer uses approximately 1.6 million white timber pallets every year but its switch to a
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Pioneering live digital twin technology piloted at the University of Liverpool A new tool for optimising the operational performance of buildings has been used as part of a project at the University of Liverpool, resulting in operational cost savings of £25,000 and energy consumption reductions of 23%. Glasgow-based climate technology firm, IES, is working in partnership with the university by using IES Live to evaluate in real-time the impact of an ongoing HVAC refurbishment project for one of its campus buildings. The project is one of the first to utilise the first-of-its-kind tool which connects live operational data from a building to a calibrated digital twin. Aimed at facilities managers, it equips teams with a single pane view of live operational performance metrics via the cloud. In order to realise the savings, evaluate the performance of the campus building and identify the required improvements to enhance efficiency, a digital twin of the building was created. The digital twin was used to test various refurbishment scenarios and identify those that would be most effective in generating energy, carbon, and cost savings. Once the selected improvements had been made to the building, the digital twin was upgraded by connecting live data from the BMS and energy meters, enabling the model to be calibrated to match measured data on an hourly basis. The updated model highlighted additional interventions to optimise operational performance and move towards decarbonisation. The university’s facilities management team is now using this operational performance digital twin to continually monitor and improve the building. Benchmarking against the simulated baseline, the university can track performance and gain improvement insights for energy, carbon, and comfort. Additionally, the ongoing impact of the refurbishment can be measured and verified. The live feature also helps to prevent operational drift, whereby the performance of building systems degrades over time, as any issues will be flagged and can be fixed before they begin to have an impact. Replicable across the campus, the university plans to continue collaborating with IES to create digital twins for three more buildings in the next phase of work. Valeria Ferrando, Associate Director at IES, said: “Improving the operation of buildings is key to mitigating energy and climate risk, cutting costs and emissions, meeting sustainability objectives and increasing resilience, not to mention being a vital part of a successful net zero strategy. However, you can’t improve what you can’t measure and there was a gap in the market for a tool that can connect live operational data, providing continuous insights and giving energy management teams a holistic view of how their building is performing. IES Live is a real game-changer, maximising the impact of a digital twin which leverages a world-class simulation engine and placing this power in the hands of those who need it. “It’s been a pleasure to work with the University of Liverpool to pilot IES Live and enable them to evaluate the effectiveness of their retrofit measures, verify predicted results and allow informed decisions to be made on building improvements. We look forward to replicating the work across the campus.” “Tony Small, Head of Engineering Services at the University of Liverpool said: “Working with IES on this project has given us detailed insight into the impact of our refurbishment work and will enable us to continually monitor and update our operational systems to ensure that the building is operating efficiently. With building use, occupants and settings altering frequently, having access to this level of data means we can make informed decisions on improvements and ensure optimum performance doesn’t come at the expense of occupant comfort.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Following the highly regarded 2023 awards ceremony in November of last year, the AEMT is delighted to announce that the nomination process for the 2024 awards programme is now officially open. Building on its past successes, the seventh outing of this sector specific awards scheme will again culminate in a gala presentation ceremony taking place on the evening of Thursday 21st November at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Coventry. Centrally located for easy access from all over the UK, this venue will also play host to the supporting AEMT Conference – a ‘must attend event’ for all those in membership. The full programme will be announced during the summer, but its focus will again be on providing AEMT Members with help and guidance on a range of topics that will be of tangible value and relevance in the development their businesses. Then, during the evening, the AEMT Gala Awards Dinner will bring together the electrical and mechanical trades sector in a celebration of business and professional excellence. Personal endeavour, product innovation, skills training, engineering advancement and commercial acumen will once again be acknowledged and celebrated, in recognition of the achievements of both individuals and companies operating across the maintenance and repair arena. Industry wide engagement Operated by the Association of Electrical and Mechanical Trades (AEMT) the awards will again pay tribute to the skill, effort and sheer dedication of the people and businesses serving this important sector of industry. With the support of our invaluable sponsors, well deserved industry-wide recognition will be given to those businesses, who are excelling in their commercial endeavours, and in many cases going far beyond the call of duty, in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of plant and equipment within our critical manufacturing, commercial and utility sectors. Award categories The following nine categories make up the 2024 awards programme: – Call for nominations Entries are being sought for any company, product, application, or individual involved in the supply, installation, service, maintenance and repair of industrial machinery, such as electric motors, drives, pumps, fans, gearboxes, generators, transformers, switchgear, and ancillary equipment. Individuals can put forward entries for themselves and their own company, or they can nominate others that they know merit recognition. The online entry process couldn’t be easier, so anyone wishing to play their part in highlighting engineering excellence should visit the AEMT Awards website – www.aemtawards.com. Closing date for entries In keeping with the programme schedule in previous years, the closing date for all entries has been set as 5.00pm on Friday 6th September 2024, so for those wanting industry-wide recognition for a job well done, be it for product innovation or project management, for application know-how, or service and repair, they should make a note of this key date. It is free of charge to enter the awards, but the promotional value associated with being selected as a finalist is worth many hundreds of pounds. And for those individuals and companies fortunate enough to be announced as one of the nine winners during the charged atmosphere of the gala awards dinner, the promotional benefit is even greater. So, what have you got to lose? Just 20 minutes spent completing the online entry form, providing the information and details that you have at your disposal, and which presents and supports your business and professional endeavours, could make you a winner in your industry’s awards programme; the gravitas and promotional exposure for which is both valuable and enduring. Further details For more information, visit the website www.aemtawards.com or contact the awards programme producers, Touchwave Media, by phone on 07785 290034 or by email at andrew@touchwavemedia.co.uk. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Linkcity, the development arm of Bouygues UK, and Crosstree Real Estate Partners are delighted to announce the financial close and start on site of the fourth phase of the regeneration of Hallsville Quarter in Canning Town, London, forming part of the £3.7 billion Canning Town and Custom House Regeneration Programme. Phase 4 of the Hallsville Quarter proposes a new and exciting home for students in London developed by Linkcity, with design by PRP Architects and interiors by Holloway Li. The scheme comprises 375 purpose-built student accommodation rooms and a range of market-leading student amenity space with a roof terrace and landscaped public realm. As with the previous phases, Bouygues UK will be the main contractor and will take a low-carbon, sustainable approach targeting BREAAM Excellent. This project marks the penultimate phase of the £600 million Hallsville Quarter Masterplan and is expected to complete in the summer of 2026 ahead of the 2026 / 2027 academic year. In total, the Hallsville Quarter development will provide over 1,100 private and affordable homes, over 30,000 square metres of leisure and retail space and a new hotel all located directly opposite Canning Town underground station. The masterplan also provides new public spaces including play areas, pedestrian links, cyclist provisions and secure parking spaces. Oliver Campbell, Development Director of Linkcity said, “This is an exciting and pivotal moment as we reach financial close on the fourth stage of the Hallsville Quarter masterplan and commence work on site. The location of this development, in the thriving new town centre in Canning Town, will provide a vibrant area for students with excellent links into the centre of London. We are delighted to commence this joint venture with Crosstree and look forward to seeing the progress on site as we reach the final stages of this landmark, residential project.”Peter Robinson, Partner at Crosstree Real Estate Partners, added, “Crosstree continue to be active investors in the student accommodation sector benefiting from attractive cyclical and secular fundamentals. Given the market dislocation for forward funding transactions of this type, Crosstree is excited to partner with Bouygues UK, a best in class contractor/developer in taking forward a thoughtfully designed and highly specified PBSA scheme. Canning Town is a strong student location with excellent connectivity via the Jubilee Line to major university campuses in Stratford and London Bridge with 160k+ students within a 30-minute travel time. Together with our partners we look forward to the successful realisation of this project.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
British Gypsum is to become the first building materials manufacturer in the UK to form a strategic partnership with circular economy pallet supplier The Pallet LOOP in a bid to significantly reduce pallet waste. The manufacturer uses approximately 1.6 million white timber pallets every year but its switch to a circular pallet re-use scheme is set to radically reduce the avoidable waste that can result from pallets being disposed of unsustainably. The landmark move supports British Gypsum’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon by 2050, and the initiative is one of many set out in British Gypsum’s sustainability roadmap, which aims to minimise waste, re-use materials and tackle emissions to reduce environmental impact at every stage of build. British Gypsum hopes its partnership with The Pallet LOOP, using its reusable pallets and service-led collection model, will also enable it to work with its customers to support their own reductions in waste and net zero targets. Dean O’Sullivan, Managing Director at British Gypsum, part of Saint-Gobain Interior Solutions, said: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with The Pallet LOOP as we aim to radically cut unnecessary waste. “Pallets left behind after products have been removed have for a long time created a challenge, with many being unsustainably disposed of at a heavy environmental cost. By joining forces with The Pallet LOOP, we aim to significantly reduce this practice.” British Gypsum will roll out The Pallet LOOP scheme in two stages, with the instantly identifiable, green-coloured LOOP pallets scheduled to be in circulation from May for its bagged plaster and accessories. From July, its plasterboard range, based on pallet size, will begin to transition over, resulting in 70% of their products delivered on reusable pallets once the scheme is fully operational. It is hoped the remaining 30% will move across during a later phase of the project. The Pallet LOOP founder Paul Lewis said: “At LOOP, our mission is to transform the way building materials move and we are incredibly excited that British Gypsum, as a market leader, is partnering with us to promote a culture of pallet reuse. “Using our service, merchants, distributors, principal contractors, and housebuilding companies will be able to book pallet collections, which can take place from as little as 72 hours later. There will also be a PayBack of up to £4 available for every green coloured pallet they put back in the LOOP. Our service is a real step change that is set to deliver substantial benefits across the UK construction supply chain. We can’t wait to get our LOOP pallets into circulation and look forward to other building material manufacturers following British Gypsum in adopting our circular pallet reuse model.” For further information, or to register, visit The Pallet LOOP website at: www.thepalletloop.com or, email setmeup@thepalletloop.com Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
