The electronic Newsletter of IBPSA England (2019 No. 1)

Dear IBPSA England members

This year's first issue of the IBPSA-England eNews includes an exciting announcement from the organisers of the BSO 2020 Conference, research findings from members of our board (Clarice co-curated a Special Issue of JBPS and Ruchi appeared on a CNBC programme), and a job opportunity at Cambridge University.

There are links to follow webinars and videos, so get your earphones on and immerse yourself in the world of Building Performance Simulation.

Happy reading!

Eleonora Brembilla

IBPSA England eNews Editor

Email: e.brembilla@lboro.ac.uk

P.S. The IBPSA eNews is published on a quarterly basis, namely at the end of the following months: March, June, September, and December. If you would like to share IBPSA England related information with all IBPSA England delegates, please don't hesitate to send an email to e.brembilla@lboro.ac.uk

Item 1: BSO 2020 is back at Loughborough University

Loughborough University is excited to host the Building Simulation and Optimization Conference in 2020. The two-day conference will engage with industry and academia to uncover the recent innovations in building simulation and optimization.

We will be inviting the international building simulation community to contribute to discussion on the progress in building simulation techniques, new approaches to optimization for building design and operation, challenging real-world case studies, and applications of building simulation to enable health and well-being, better urban environments, and better interactions with the energy system.

The conference program will contain high-profile keynote speakers, interactive panel sessions, a social conference dinner, and many opportunities for networking and information exchange. We look forward to seeing you all in the Midlands!

- Dr Bianca Howard & Dr Steven Firth

Item 2: Building Performance Simulation and the User

Special Issue of the Journal of Building Performance Simulation, and focus of IBPSA 2019 Webinar series.

Guest edited by Dr. Clarice Bleil de Souza (Cardiff University) and Dr. Simon Tucker (Liverpool John Moores University), this Special Issue introduces emerging perspectives and initiatives on ‘user-centric’ approaches to building performance simulation, discussing how to better integrate the use and development of simulation tools with different user goals and ways of working. The six papers included address the following topics:

Goals and tasks of BPS users
The different levels of knowledge needed to use BPS
The interaction of users with BPS

The SI is accompanied by a webinar series that includes an introduction to the SI and the topic, and six further webinars delivered by the authors of each paper.

The webinars may be accessed by clicking on the video below or HERE, and the journal guest editorial is HERE.

IBPSA Education Webinar Series 2, 2019
Session 2 by Clarice Bleil De Souza and Simon Tucker

Item 3: CNBC programme features simulation and monitoring project led by our chair Dr Ruchi Choudhary

An underground farming project is the focus for a business and finance cable television network CNBC programme presenting research aimed at reducing energy consumption. The programme features CSIC investigator and head of the cross-disciplinary Energy Efficient Cities Initiative (EECi) Dr Ruchi Choudhary and EECi PhD researcher Melanie Jans-Singh.

Growing Underground is an award-winning urban farming facility creating energy-efficient growing conditions in former WW2 air-raid shelters 120ft below the busy streets of Clapham in London. Hydroponic systems and LED lighting are used to grow pesticide-free micro greens and salad leaves currently thriving with the help of a smart monitoring programme that records temperature, humidity and C02 levels. Real-time monitoring of the farm supports optimising yield while reducing energy consumption; leaves are harvested and delivered locally within four hours.

Melanie’s research is using the Growing Underground case study to create a baseline simulation tool for integrating urban farming into other unused spaces. Currently Data-Centric Engineering Group Leader at the Alan Turing Institute (ATI), Dr Choudhary explains how the new collaboration with the ATI enables data analysis and modelling to combine seamlessly to support the expansion of the farm, and consider other derelict buildings that could potentially provide energy-efficient growing environments.

Find the original article and more links to the different aspects of the project on www-smartinfrastructure.eng.cam.ac.uk and check the video broadcast on CNBC by clicking on the image below.

Researcher Melanie Jans-Singh at the Growing Underground project – click to see the full video

Item 4: Research Assistant/Associate in Uncertainty Quantification of Built Environments and Energy System Models (Fixed Term)

A position exists, for a Research Assistant/Associate at University of Cambridge to work on Uncertainty Quantification of Built Environments and Energy System Models.

The post holder will develop models to test resilience of energy systems and built environments. The main tasks will include: (a) quantification of key uncertainties in input parameters, (b) investigate uncertainties due to future changes and short-term events, and their influence on energy systems, (c) investigate methods to model and propagate uncertainties to quantify resilience of energy systems. The post holder will link energy system models of the built environment to both national and sub-national infrastructure planning. The post holder will be mentored by Dr Ruchi Choudhary (Engineering, Cambridge) who is currently based at the Data-centric Engineering Program of the Alan Turing Institute (ATI) in London.

For further information: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/20637/

UPCOMING EVENTS

SimAUD, 7-9 April 2019, Atlanta, GA – www.simaud.org/2019/
CIBSE Technical Symposium, 25-26 April 2019, Sheffield, UK – www.cibse.org/symposium
26th International Workshop on Intelligent Computing in Engineering, June 30 - July 03, 2019, Leuven, Belgium – eg-ice2019.architectuur.kuleuven.be
European Conference on Computing in Construction (EC3), 10-12 July 2019, Chania, Greece – More information at ec-3.org/conf2019/
18th International Radiance Workshop, 21-23 August 2019, New York, USA – radianceworkshop2019.com
Building Simulation 2019, 2-4 September 2019, Rome, Italy – buildingsimulation2019.org
Advanced Building Skins, 28-29 October 2019, Bern, Switzerland – abs.green/home/