Living Lab: Net Zero Carbon Lodges
Are you a technology or solution provider? Are you an expert in low-carbon, construction, or smart technologies? We need your help to develop a methodology for upgrade works and to establish our portfolio of SMART, Internet of Things, and carbon reducing products and technologies.
Professor Adam Tickell
Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Birmingham
“Higher Education has never been as dynamic and open to new ideas as it is right now. The next decade provides a unique opportunity for us all to rethink everything, especially the things we take for granted. We are a University that is committed to change. Join us as we seek to transform society and the environment positively through our research, our education and our innovation.”
The Opportunity
Like much of our city, many of our campus buildings were built pre-1950 and are likely to be with us and in active use beyond 2050. Some of those buildings are now in need of upgrading to deliver ‘fabric first’ improvements and to support our net zero carbon aspirations. We have an exciting opportunity to retrofit existing buildings at scale in a sustainable, affordable way to support the delivery of our net zero carbon target. We need to partner with experts and technology/solution providers to develop our methodology for upgrade works and to establish our portfolio of SMART/Internet of Things and carbon reducing products and technologies. We look forward to working with you to bring this ambitious but achievable project to fruition.
We are upgrading five existing and varied residential properties on the Edgbaston and Selly Oak campuses (Birmingham, UK). We will achieve this in partnership with a broad range of technology, materials, techniques, and construction partners, to turn the properties into five unique zero- or low-carbon demonstrator showcase houses. We expect that these buildings will be be fully functional, habitable facilities after the work has been completed.
The goal is to establish how the collective use and application of a range of ideas, products and solutions can be specified and assembled to all work together to deliver low-carbon configurations. Those configurations, if successful, would be showcased and deployed in a range of similar existing housing stock in Birmingham, the Midlands and the wider UK.
Can your innovation help deliver Net Zero housing?
Submit an expression of interest today
The University of Birmingham Estate
Our estate is large and complex, made up of 200+ buildings ranging in size, shape, building fabric and age. We have more than three miles of underground service tunnels, and over 7,200 trees.
Our estate is currently undergoing one of the most transformational redevelopments since our Birmingham campus was completed in 1909, creating outstanding, award-winning new facilities for our students, staff, and the local community.
We are committed to always pursuing innovation through collaboration and strong partnerships, developing robust relationships with our stakeholders, and developing and collecting a wealth of knowledge that is supporting our Smart Campus Living-Lab ambitions and our Net Zero Carbon targets.
Smart Campus and Net Zero Carbon targets
The University of Birmingham is transforming its Birmingham and Dubai campuses into the world's smartest global campus, creating a 'Living Lab' where data is captured from the University's building technologies, estates infrastructure, and energy plants. This data will be used for innovation, teaching, and research and development activities.
Our mission is to deliver an enriched, personalised experience for students, staff, academics, and visitors. We aim to bring together our people, processes, and services to become a fully connected, global campus.
This transformation also supports the University’s bold sustainability targets, with an ambition to achieve net zero carbon by 2045.
Partnership Opportunities and Benefits
In partnering with us in this project you will have the opportunity to trial technologies and new combinations of solutions, to explore how to improve existing housing at scale in the most affordable way, whilst contributing to local and national efforts of reaching Net Zero Carbon. The University can provide you with a high profile and publicised showcase linked to our World Class Research and academics and you will have the chance to be involved in knowledge sharing and receive support from academic experts in the fields of Energy, Data Science and Sustainability.
It is anticipated that the assembled solutions will comprise new, emergent, and close-to-market products, which could include a range of 'floor to roof' retrofit solutions:
- Low carbon building materials - roofing and insulation products
- Decorative products
- Low maintenance solutions
- Heating and heat exchange systems
- Connected SMART technology & building controls including demand response, solar and battery storage
- Hard landscaping products and grey water storage solutions
The Buildings
Download our Net Zero Carbon Lodges brochure (PDF - 3.04 Mb)
The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. If you choose to work with us, you are collaborating with our university’s world-leading energy, sustainability, and data science experts and sector-leading partners. Together we can combine our knowledge, our research, and our development opportunities to demonstrate that affordable Low-Carbon housing at scale is possible.
Trevor Payne, Director of Estates
Get Involved
If this sounds like an opportunity you might like to collaborate with us on, or if you have any questions about submitting your solution, please visit Innovation Gateway's website, or get in touch: Email us at hello@innovationgateway.com or book a call.