Technically speaking

The CIBSE Technical Symposium is always a tinderbox for the rest of the year, sparking discussion, debate and ideas that will set the agenda for the next twelve months and beyond. To get us in the mood, Technical Symposium Chair Prof. Tim Dwyer is here to give us a sneak preview of some of the highlights.

It’s a long and difficult process to go from the bare bones of an idea to a fully-fledged academic paper on a subject in building services, but it’s also where some of the biggest new ideas in the industry are born. After all of the hard work, this period is perhaps the most exciting: Where the work of the dedicated authors emerges in its final form at the CIBSE ASHRAE Technical Symposium.

The practitioners, researchers and academics have devoted many hours to their posters, case studies, technical notes and papers. Now the scientific committee, of over 70 willing and knowledgeable volunteers, is poring over the submissions, providing the essential appraisal and feedback to ensure that that the integrity of the Technical Symposium is upheld. The final programme of over 50 presentations is developed from the set of reviewed papers and will not be finalised for a few weeks, but to provide an impression of the shape, and diversity, of this year's Symposium here are some previews of what to expect.

All styles of project are welcome, from published academic research to
case studies and slideshow presentations
Melody Wang of Affiliated Engineers California, USA will examine the challenges of adapting systems design to meet the changing role of buildings. By considering the renovation of a university campus originally built in the 1950s and how the occupants requirements for 21st century thermal comfort and transformed expectations for the building use Melody will examine how can this can succeed with constraints of budget, space, building/system information whilst preserving the building's heritage. This case study will look at multiple campus renovation projects at the University of Florida that produced more resilient buildings for the future.

Tom Lawrence of the University of Georgia Atlanta, USA and ASHRAE distinguished lecturer, will consider how the advent of a smart grid opens the potential for smart buildings to participate in load management and demand response programs in collaboration with the electrical utility or grid system operator. He will illustrate how the interaction of smart buildings with a smart grid can affect both the occupants’ thermal comfort as well as the building’s energy consumption (and the corresponding environmental impacts). His paper includes a discussion of how 'model predictive based controllers' at the building level could serve as powerful tools to optimise the operation of smart buildings and improve human comfort perceptions while helping to better integrate renewable energy systems with increased grid stability.

Tom Lawrence will present on demand response programmes in his Symposium talk

Sophia Flucker of UK based Operational Intelligence Ltd  Will examine how the environmental impact of data centres can be minimised but looking beyond energy efficiency. By developing a lifecycle approach Sophia will explain that there are two other significant areas of impact - the embodied impact of materials and the grid power source. By focussing purely on energy efficiency, operators may cause a burden shift by taking action to reduce energy consumption whilst increasing the embodied impact and although there is limited data available research has identified which factors significantly impact a facility’s environmental impact. She promotes that this should be used not only in the design process but throughout the data centre lifecycle.

Abdullahi Ahmed of Coventry University UK will show how a EU funded project focussing on the refurbishment of existing public buildings aims to bring together design and decision making tools and innovative building fabric to achieve energy reduction in the region of 50%. Using Coventry University estates as a Living Lab case study and by selecting and testing advanced available technologies, as well as novel techniques developed in the EU project, he will explore the challenges and develop a methodology to successfully analyse, select and install the different technologies to overcome the challenges faced during the coordination of retrofitting activities.

Abdullahi Ahmed will focus on the potential of a
building's fabric to reduce its energy usage
Kevin Kelly of Dublin Institute of Technology Ireland will uncover a new interior lighting design methodology. Compared to the traditional methods that commonly consider the average illuminance on a working plane the proposed new lighting design system is designed for appearance rather than visual performance. It has been suggested that this could offer the prospect of a quantum leap in lighting quality and Kevin will explain that the new metric of 'mean room surface exitance' will provide a route to discover whether this is truly a better way of designing lighting. He will candidly explore some of the challenges remaining before these new methods can be fully adopted.

The registration fees for the two day event have been kept low to encourage the widest participation. Delegates will receive access to all papers, access to all sessions across two days, lunches, refreshments, the awards cocktail reception, and the evening ’networking’ buffet dinner on the evening of the first day. It's all hosted at Loughborough University - but be sure to book now to avoid disappointment!


Tickets to the 2017 CIBSE ASHRAE Technical Symposium start from £85+VAT, to find out more and book your place visit www.cibse.org/technical-symposium-2017

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