Domestic heating, hot water, lighting, cooking and household appliances account for more than 25% of all energy use in the UK.

British housing stock is among the least energy-efficient in Europe. It means that reducing greenhouse gas emissions to meet the requirements of the 2008 Climate Change Act presents a real challenge.

But connecting homes to a modern, efficient local energy infrastructure could go a long way to meeting targets for saving energy and reducing emissions.

That is why Leamington Spa-based Encraft, an engineering consultancy specialising in energy solutions in the built environment, wanted to undertake a feasibility study on a 3,000-home development in Warwick.

A potential model

Encraft believed the scheme could be a model for new housing across the UK but needed a convincing business case to persuade developers and builders to get on board. It also required funding – so they applied to Innovate UK and were awarded £37,000 to ensure the feasibility study went ahead.

Kate Ashworth, Head of Distributed Energy Products at Encraft, said: “Without the work to articulate the business case behind the technology, we wouldn’t be able to go forward with our latest commercial offerings – such as developing smart grids for the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership.”

Encraft worked with developer Gallagher Estates, Warwick District Council, energy network operator Western Power Distribution and Warwick University on the Modern Infrastructure for New Housing (MINH) study.

It explored energy solutions for a development of just under 3,000 houses, looking at three scenarios:

* an all electric development

* a district heating scheme with combined heat and power (CHP)

* homes having a choice between connecting to a local smart infrastructure or using traditional power and grids

All were based on the latest technologies for network management and storage and demand response. They also took into account the technical requirements of the existing distribution network and the political and planning constraints of local authorities.

Kate said: “When you start connecting buildings there's a greater opportunity to aggregate energy saving benefits across the whole community.”

For example, if properties are heated by air source heat pumps, central control across a community would allow an energy service company to turn them off and on as required – offering more resilience to the grid,

Combining technologies

The study’s findings provided a basis for developing smart local energy infrastructure. If adopted widely this could yield a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits.

Encraft has already combined the results of this feasibility study with another Innovate UK-funded project to trial a ‘smart infrastructure’ roll-out in Wiltshire. In 2015, also building on the findings of this work, the

firm received further funding from the Innovate UK Energy Catalyst Fund to develop and pilot new sub-station control technologies.

Kate said: “It’s been a really useful learning exercise. The study brought together several technologies in a realistic and tangible way. We now have a concrete commercial offering that makes sense for non-experts and that we can take to market. We wouldn’t be in this position without Innovate UK grant funding.”

Anh Tuan