Sustainable urbanisation requires the provision of secure energy for health and comfort. Key to planning sustainable energy services is an understanding of how energy demand changes over time and space and tools to help plan for its reduction.
iNUMBER is a research programme to develop:
1. A building stock and municipal service energy model to help plan a secure energy supply for urban populations to be thermally comfortable and healthy (via the provision of clean water and sanitation). The model will estimate total and disaggregated (in use, time and space) energy demand. Plus, assess the impacts of different mechanisms (e.g. shading, occupant behaviour and insulation) to reduce energy demand and the capacity to provide locally generated clean energy.
2. Linked new and existing data sets. Developing models is relatively simple, the challenge is acquiring the data to input and test the validity of models. iNUMBER tackles this challenge head on by developing state of the art data collection and analytic methods to overcome this challenge in a range of scenarios with different data availability.
3.Tools to help support the urban energy management process iNUMBER supports Indian municipalities and local partners to develop a data-driven intelligent urban model for built environment energy research and municipal planning. It supports India's deep decarbonisation pathway by mapping current and future energy demand reduction opportunities in the built environment. It will diagnose urban energy problems, test solutions, verify progress, and improve policy decisions utilising state of the art monitoring, data science and analytics.
iNUMBER primarily focuses around meeting the India/UK Newton research topic "Integration of information, communication and renewable energy technologies at building, community, and city level interventions." and will also meet elements of the other two areas of the call "peak demand reduction" by contributing new high resolution data and "city and community technologies" by providing guidance to urban planners
iNUMBER will:
-Undertake innovative research into: urban data collection (e.g. laser ranging combined with IR and visible images from unmanned vehicles), big data analytics, and innovative modelling.
-Promote the economic development of and welfare of developing countries, as required by Newton funding, by helping India to transition to a smart sustainable energy system which is critical to economic development.
-Engage users of different types. Our initial project partners include urban local bodies, energy software developers, energy meter hardware suppliers, residential construction companies, architectural firms, and user experience experts. Beyond these immediate partners, we will coordinate and collaborate with other research groups in the field, engage with policymakers, and benefit the public.
-Leverage Newton and DST funding by ~£1m, with support from host universities and project partners who will provide data, test sites, equipment, and provide sector expertise.
-Demonstrate usable solutions: online energy information systems; benchmarking backed up by large data sets; low-tech "smart-er" retrofits for electricity meters and sub-meters; reduction strategies for energy and the energy-water nexus tailored to cities of different shapes and sizes.
-Build a collaborative India/UK interdisciplinary research project: This proposal builds on the strengths of India in Information Technology and the strengths of the UK in energy epidemiology to build a best with the best collaboration. The team includes leading academics from engineering, data science, information technology, energy analysis, architecture, building science, urban science, urban planning, energy management from leading institutions in India and the UK. All work packages will be delivered via teams from both UK and India and many work packages involve interdisciplinary collaboration.
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