A paper examining district heat networks and exploring alternatives to combined heat and power from researchers at London South Bank University, together with consumer research by AECOM aimed to understand barriers to large-scale construction of low cost, low carbon homes will feature on the programme of the 2023 Technical Symposium.
Taking place on 20-21 April at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, this year’s theme is Delivering sustainable, safe and healthy buildings for a net zero future.
In the UK we are committed to legal targets for net zero by 2050 as part of the global drive to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to a changing climate. With over 80% of our 2050 building stock already in place, achieving a zero carbon future is impossible without significant retrofit. This is coupled with the continuing need to deliver safe and healthy buildings.
The Symposium, supported by ASHRAE, features a range of peer-reviewed papers and presentations outlining the latest developments in practice, technology, and policy, and showcase the latest guidance for building services engineers. It will provide practitioners with up to-date information about the latest developments in meeting the net zero carbon imperatives and on the newest building safety-related reforms in the UK industry.
The full Technical Symposium programme will be released later this month, but highlights include a paper from the London South Bank University on their research exploring alternatives to combined heat and power (CHP) systems and aims to help overcome the barriers to the broader deployment of low-carbon heat networks in the UK.
Along with a presentation on the Building for 2050, which focuses on the outcomes of the BEIS funded Building for 2050 project undertaken by AECOM, which will present the drivers and barriers to the large-scale construction of low cost, low carbon homes to increase uptake.
Kevin Mitchell, CIBSE President will be welcoming attendees, highlighting the crucial role of building services engineering in meeting the challenges of delivering net zero buildings.
“CIBSE is committed to supporting researchers who are informing the future of our industry and the build environment. The Technical Symposium provides a platform for researchers and engineers to learn from each other, sharing their work and expertise in delivering a safe, healthy, and sustainable future.”
Ben Skelton, former ASHRAE regional chair will be attending this year’s Symposium, presenting his paper focusing on the decarbonisation of industry logistics centres. As a key element within the global supply chain, logistics building has a wide range of energy use intensity and the selection of building systems is often based on lowest cost, not lowest environmental impact. Ben will be presenting a case study which benchmarks typical designs for various types of industrial buildings, including cold storage.
“Much of the discussion in the case study applies to other buildings often overlooked in net zero design discussions such as retail, small office and light commercial.”
CIBSE are delighted to welcome ELCO Heating Solutions, Hamworthy Heating Ltd, and Swegon as gold sponsors for this year’s Technical Symposium.
For more information and to register for the CIBSE Technical Symposium 2023 visit
https://go.cibse.org/CIBSETechnicalSymposium-Programme