Net Zero Heat

What we've funded

• Heat and Power Upgrades for Demand Reduction

  Overview

  Organisations and projects

  The aim of this competition is to accelerate the shift to a net zero economy, by developing and testing scalable commercial service propositions that take a data-driven approach to assessing and defining appropriate pathways for upgrading building portfolios, targeting decarbonisation, reducing energy demand, improving heat efficiency, taking an archetypal or typology-based approach, using evidence-based design and creating market certainty.

  Solutions will build upon existing data sources, including EPCs, SAP, RdSAP and the PAS 2035 processes. We asked that the projects also consider these wider impacts, including:

  • unlocking private investment in building upgrades
  • enabling a just and equitable transition, particularly improving access to products and services for low-income households
  • giving people more automation of simple tasks and control over their comfort
  • enabling energy generation, reducing their energy imports, removing barriers to accessing services that reward positive behaviours, including flexibility or agile tariffs
  • tailoring solutions to work for everyone by design, irrespective of their needs or vulnerabilities
  • creating demand certainty

  Twenty feasibility studies were undertaken in Phase 1 in spring 2023. Phase 2 has now begun with four project teams developing and testing their tools with building portfolio owners, including taking data from the buildings, installing measures recommended by the service or tool, and verifying impact of the measures taken.

  Phase 1 Feasibility Study Projects

  Working on domestic projects have been:

  • Ambue Ltd
  • Atamate Ltd
  • Cwm Taf Morgannwg NHS University Health Board
  • Energiesprong UK Ltd
  • Environ Audio Ltd
  • Kuppa Group Ltd
  • Nquiringminds Ltd
  • Sustenic Ltd
  • University of Sheffield
  • Wrapt Homes Ltd

  And for non-domestic:

  • Atkins Ltd
  • Hydrock Consultants Ltd
  • London South Bank University (LSBU)
  • RE24 Ltd

  For both domestic and non-domestic buildings:

  • Building Research Establishment Ltd (BRE)
  • Ruane Construction Design and Consultancy Ltd

  Phase 2 Projects

  For domestic:

  • City Science Corporation Ltd
  • Propflo Ltd

  And for non-domestic:

  • Quantaco

  For both domestic and non-domestic buildings:

  • IES Ltd

• Rapid Assessment of Building Fabric Performance

  Overview

  Organisations and projects

  Understanding the performance of a building, the nature of its fabric and potential for decarbonisation will generate better outcomes for owners and occupants of that building. With this competition, we are supporting solutions that reduce the cost and time required for assessing the fabric performance of buildings and assuring net zero performance targets are achieved.

  The techniques and technologies are suitable to existing buildings requiring renovation but also applicable to new buildings and those in the construction phase. When the decarbonisation of heat in an existing building is being considered, these solutions can be used to understand and quantify the opportunities. During the building or installation process, they can be used to provide quality assurance and identify shortcomings, allowing for timely remedial action. Heat performance can be evaluated, or re-evaluated, at the completion of the measures being installed or when the new build is ready for handover, to validate performance and provide confidence to contractors, clients, occupants and investors.

  £1.5 million is being invested in six projects that will last up to 20 months, taking in two heating seasons. Timescales allow for assessment of buildings, creation of menus of heat decarbonisation interventions, implementation of selected interventions and re-evaluation of the buildings.

  Organisations and their projects in the competition are:

  • Measurement Led Actionable Building Diagnostics – led by Build Test Soulutions
  • Historic Heat – led by Cheribim
  • Advanced Open EPC – led by City Science
  • Enhancing Airtightness Quantification with the Portascanner AIRTIGHT – led by Coltraco
  • AutoEPC – Led by digiLab
  • Rapid Thermal Performance Assessment algorithms (RathPas) – led by Kestrix
  • Thermographic survey automation – led by Maesin
  • Decarbonisation Measure Assessment Tool (DeMAT) – led by ICAX

  Sign up for our Net Zero Heat bulletins for progress on the projects.

• Net Zero Heat: Design Engineering Innovation Lab

  Overview

  Organisations and projects

  In September 2023, Innovate UK ran an Innovation Lab to reconsider the retrofit process as a whole. A total of 40 individuals, chosen by competitive process from across the net zero heat and refurbishment sector, from micro businesses through to large manufacturers and energy providers, were residential at the Lab. Supported by a facilitation team and advisors, new collaborations formed, and projects were developed. Teams pitched projects on the final day of the Lab and some of these were then invited to apply for a share of £8.5 million to carry out their plans.

  This article by Mike Pitts, Deputy Challenge Director of Net Zero Heat, gives further information on the Innovation Lab, the objectives and the process.

  Projects were announced at Futurebuild in March 2024. Read the press release for details.

  • ALCHEMAI – led by Elemental Power Ltd
  • Let Zero – led by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
  • TransformER – led by Energiesprong UK

• Data Driven Decarbonisation

  Overview

  Projects

  The built environment community is data poor, possessing very few validated data sets for building condition, performance, occupant behaviour, energy in buildings or net zero pathways across building, community, region, or national levels.

  xRI has been funded by Innovate UK for an ambitious project programme delivering data driven decarbonisation of buildings. The project will allow for connectivity of numerous UK datasets making them more substantial, delivering a national stock model and a more complete energy distribution dataset.

  Approaches include:

  • physical ground truthing
  • deploying standardised IoT infrastructure and naming schema
  • implementing two-way connectivity of existing datasets
  • creating and using robust training data

  This activity builds on the UKRI funded Active Building Centre Research Programme work on building monitoring and data, and continues to support the Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing and Optimised Retrofit Programmes, providing ongoing access to valuable data from buildings and infrastructure.

  • National Stock Model
    xRI are laying the groundwork for a unified understanding of what building stock exists in Great Britain, its current condition, energy performance and the energy infrastructure the stock is connected to. Utilising existing data and developing new datasets, xRI will be creating a comprehensive Great Britain-scale building stock model.
    
  • Built Environment Scanning System (BESS)
    Key among activities is the development of built environment scanning technology. This is car-mounted LiDAR, infra-red, computer vision and machine learning technology, optimised to create a detailed record of building condition and quality across large geographic areas. Read more about the BESS.
  • Time series data
    Approaches to metering and performance validation are variable between different programmes and activities, making it difficult to evidence which approaches provide the greatest benefits and the best value for money. Through the UKRI funded Active Building Centre Research Programme, we have developed open source tools including an IoT platform to ingest data, standardised naming conventions and messaging protocols. Read more about building monitoring and data.