LEMUR (local energy mapping for urban retrofit) |

LEMUR (Local energy mapping for urban retrofit)

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Background and brief:

The LEMUR project won funding from Innovate UK in 2015 to develop a solution to the significant challenges of tackling urban retrofit in the UK. These challenges are:

1) how to conduct large scale retrofitting of carbon reduction measures in homes;

2) how to facilitate warmer, healthier homes and reduce fuel poverty;

3) how to support thriving local economies and nurture community groups.

Presently, there is incomplete, out-dated data available on which homes could benefit from particular retrofit measures, made even more difficult to assess by added complexities such as differing house types and lack of clarity over the right retrofit solution.

There are also stumbling blocks associated with lack of incentives to retrofit, minimal peer to peer recommendations and lack of understanding amongst many residents. Cost is also a major issue and current retrofit models and policies in the UK have so far resulted in very high installation costs and a consequential low demand for household energy efficiency measures.

Solution:

This project will integrate two existing data driven models; Oxford Brookes University’s Geographic Information System based DECoRuM model and Bioregional’s Community Energy Manager (CEM), into an innovative new service entitled LEMUR (Local energy mapping for urban retrofit).

When combined, the two models will integrate energy and built environment data with social and community-collected personalised data- to provide an energy efficiency masterplanning service for targeted retrofit programmes.

The ability to target areas in need of retrofit will not only help local authorities but also energy solution providers, as well as giving local community groups the tools to manage, survey and deliver community energy projects on the ground, in their local area.

During the LEMUR project, the new service will be tested through a small pilot in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

Outcomes:

This project will evolve over the coming year and be completed in Autumn 2016. The main outcome of the work will be the development of a bespoke and flexible digital service for retrofit programmes, for community groups to use at very low cost and more bespoke services available to local authorities, researchers and retrofit providers alike.

Project funder:

Innovate UK

Project partners: