Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

I am two weeks into my self-titled Phase 2.5 – a three week attachment with a privately owned company specialising in offsite modular manufacture and construction. This is as they, Wernick Buildings, are interested in developing a rapid foundation assessment method for low-rise structures i.e. my thesis. Essentially looking at quicker ways of assessing ground bearing capacity and settlement using a Dynamic Probing Light (DPL) (EN ISO 22476-2), a small and man-handle-able SPT (Standard Penetration Test). SPT is the energy required i.e. number of measured blows (N), to penetrate 300mm with a 63.5kg mass. For DPL it is 100mm with a 10kg mass. There is currently no widely accepted method to correlate the two methods. Obviously this has both civilian and military applications, hence the interest. However, after a tour of their factory and look around their main products/modules I was taken to their latest project, the UKs first energy positive building aka…

An Active Building producing Micro Energy

Figure 1 – ‘The Active Building Centre’s vision (centre) is to transform the UK construction and energy sectors, through the deployment of Active buildings powered by the sun, creating energy resilient communities, and significantly contributing to electric vehicle and decarbonisation targets.’

The Active Building Centre at Swansea University, is a new pan-UK university research initiative by SPECIFIC (funded by Innovate UK & EU circa £36m). It is to ‘reduce the cost and commercialise energy generation and storage components in buildings’ i.e. turn buildings into decentralised micro power stations. The ABC stored 29kWh and exported 47kWh back to the grid on the first day it was opened. This is the first building to achieve an A+ negative value on its EPC. It recycles its own energy emissions – what Building Emission Rate (BER)?! (Bld Regs Part L2A).

Figure 2 – The Active Building Centre’s live dashboard and EPC

A very apt concept when international carbon emissions are on the increase again after four years and on the first (actually second) day of the UN climate change conference COP24 in Katowice, Poland. Has Swansea secured a small chapter in the future of climate change?

True or False – Does this sit within the concept presented by Jason for his CI’s Essay on ‘energy storage in a non-fossil fuel national grid’…?