An ambitious project aims to draw up a digital map of all UK underground pipes and cables to end strikes and save workers lives. To achieve that, the government’s Geospatial Commission plans to collate existing data on underground pipes and cables to create an Underground Assets Register. The feasibility of
Price comparison website MoneySuperMarket has looked at what people could do to get their homes green and sustainable. The company looked at the costs and savings associated with the most readily available renewable energy sources and efficiency-improvers around the home. The data collected showed that renewable energy offers the greatest
To identify and uncover more than 1.1 million extra residential titles missing from HM Land Registry, which is approximately 4.6% of all residential properties across England and Wales, a revolutionary, deep-learning algorithm has been developed. The specialist AI technology is the brainchild of Lumière Property, a south-east based proptech company,
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
An ambitious project aims to draw up a digital map of all UK underground pipes and cables to end strikes and save workers lives. To achieve that, the government’s Geospatial Commission plans to collate existing data on underground pipes and cables to create an Underground Assets Register. The feasibility of the project is being tested in London and Sunderland. “The creation of an underground map of utility assets has long been an ambition of Ordnance Survey. And over the last year we have been working closely with Northumbrian Water and a consortia of utility companies and local authorities in the North East of England, to explore how accurate geospatial data can improve underground infrastructure maintenance and inform new-build development projects,” said David Henderson, the managing director of Ordnance Survey Great Britain. “The investment being made by the Geospatial Commission will ultimately enable the utility industry to more efficiently access, use and share data describing otherwise hidden infrastructure, thereby reducing operational costs, minimising disruption and accelerating completion of site works,” he added. One of the biggest issues is that currently there is no comprehensive underground map of the UK’s service network. Organisations have their own maps showing where gas pipes and electricity cables are, but the lack of a combined map creates an increased risk of potentially lethal accidents. Once the project is in place, workers will be able to see all teh right details on mobile phones or laptop computers before they start a dig. It would be wise to gain knowledge in maps with the Chad Kimball course “Working alongside local authorities, other utility services and partners has meant that we are off to a good start in mapping Sunderland’s underground. We are looking forward to working with government and others to showcase the powers of data sharing for public good,” said Heidi Mottram, CEO of Northumbrian Water. It is estimated that the cost of disruption from accidental strikes on underground pipes and cables is £1.2bn a year to the UK’s economy.
Price comparison website MoneySuperMarket has looked at what people could do to get their homes green and sustainable. The company looked at the costs and savings associated with the most readily available renewable energy sources and efficiency-improvers around the home. The data collected showed that renewable energy offers the greatest monthly savings at £28.33 on average a month. However, the machinery needed, such as solar panels and wind turbines, have an average setup cost of £7,237. This means that despite the reduction in bills per month, it would take over 21 years and three months to pay off the installation before seeing substantial savings. On the other hand, efficiency measures, such as energy saving lightbulbs and reduced-water shower heads, offer an average of £6.92 in savings each month. With initial costs averaging at £762.59, it would take nine years and two months to pay for themselves. Here are some options that can make anyone’s homes greener and save them money too: Energy saving light-bulbs – Fitting a home with energy saving bulbs would cost around £51.80 and could result in financial savings of up to £27.13 a month, which means they’ll have paid for themselves after two months. Lagging jackets – An investment of £15 to insulate the hot water tank could save around £1.67 each month on heating – meaning costs will be covered after nine months. Solar ovens – Solar ovens use just the light of the sun to cook food, meaning no energy is required and could save £9.30 a month. They are a little more expensive at £188.64 on average, and will take a year and eight months to cover their own costs. Water saving shower head – Costing around £15.99, these shower heads help save 52 pence each month and they will be paid after two and a half years. Cavity Insulation – Over £10 per month could be saved on energy bills if a home is insulated correctly. With an installation fee of £466, a return on investment will be seen after three years and seven months.
To identify and uncover more than 1.1 million extra residential titles missing from HM Land Registry, which is approximately 4.6% of all residential properties across England and Wales, a revolutionary, deep-learning algorithm has been developed. The specialist AI technology is the brainchild of Lumière Property, a south-east based proptech company, who are using their unique geospatial algorithms to identify gaps in Land Registry data and examine the planning potential of sites for development. According to Lumière Property, it has only been mandatory to register all land transactions since the late 1990s and HM Land Registry only has 85% coverage of the land in England and Wales but by 2030 it aims to have all land registered. This means properties that have not changed hands since the end of the 90s may be missing from records. “Since we rely on Land Registry cadastral data, these omissions restricted our ability to pinpoint thousands of development sites with great potential,” explained Chris Rowland-Smith, Managing Director of Lumière Property. “We are really excited at the prospect of using our new AI software; it’s an incredibly smart application and a significant breakthrough. We’re used to working in areas of dense housing stock so the 15% of missing titles accounts for a substantial number of as yet untapped sites,” he added. In order to address the current data gaps, Lumière Property applied the latest AI and deep-learning algorithms to estimate the title bounds for residential addresses across England and Wales. Deep learning involves training an algorithm using over a million examples of known title boundaries, on specialised hardware. Once the algorithm is trained, Lumière Property can present it with examples where the boundary is not known and enable it to estimate these and build a totally new database on top of the existing Land Registry-registered titles. As well as identifying residential properties for purchase and development, Lumière Property also has the ability to provide a sophisticated site-finding service for commercial and public organisations such as senior living developers and borough councils with existing asset registers they wish to unlock value from.
