Knight Frank, the global real estate adviser, recently hosted an innovation showcase event in partnership with Climate-KIC and the European Institute of Technology, focusing on technologies that can significantly reduce carbon emissions from the built environment.

The Demand Led Innovation Event saw David Goatman, Head of Energy and Sustainability at Knight Frank, discuss the significance of technology in the property industry in combatting climate change, Sir Ed Davey, former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change discuss his time in office and also his take on the current market, followed by presentations by six businesses on their innovative technology solutions.

The businesses that presented included Polysolar – which developed the UK’s first energy generating bus shelter at Canary Wharf – and Suez, which has developed a technology that uses sewage to create thermal energy.

The audience was comprised of property companies, real estate investors and fund managers and architects, whom, upon seeing these transformative solutions, have the potential to implement the new technologies at scale across their portfolios and projects.

Further information on Knight Frank’s Energy Team, Climate-KIC and the technologies presented is below.

Knight Frank Energy Team

Knight Frank’s award-winning Energy team brings together a wide range of specialist expertise from across the Rural, Residential and Commercial property sectors. The team provides experienced consultancy, project management, valuation, investment and transactional advice covering every stage of the energy value chain in the UK and internationally. Our energy consultants work with a diverse group of clients including the generators, suppliers and users of both conventional and renewable energy, as well as policymakers, landlords, developers, investors and those affected by energy infrastructure. The team is led by David Goatman, a leading authority on carbon compliance and property sustainability issues who is also Chair of the Built Environment Platform of Climate KIC.

Climate-KIC

Climate-KIC is the EU’s largest public private partnership addressing climate change through innovation to build a zero carbon economy.  Education is at the heart of these themes to inspire and empower the next generation of climate leaders.  Climate-KIC runs programmes for students, start-ups and innovators across Europe via centres in major cities, convening a community of the best people and organisations. Our approach starts with improving the way people live in cities.  Our focus on industry creates the products required for a better living environment, and we look to optimise land use to produce the food people need. Climate-KIC is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

Technologies presented

Polysolar

Polysolar is an award winning developer and manufacturer of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) architectural glazing. The company produces transparent, thin-film solar PV glass for application in building façades, roofing and windows. Offering an alternative to conventional building envelope cladding, for both retrofit and new build projects, Polysolar’s multifunctional architectural solar BIPV glass delivers both the weather proofing and thermal control of glazing, combined with efficient onsite renewable energy generation. The substitution of traditional building materials, with solar PV glass, results in a marginal additional installed cost per square meter in construction. This enables developers and designers to meet the highest environmental building standards while also securing a return on the investment.

Suez – Degrés Bleus

Suez is an innovative solutions company that aims to deliver essential life services, to protect water resources, and to treat and recover waste. It has developed an innovative and sustainable way using its Degrés Bleus solution which uses heat recovered from the waste water in sewers to heat  buildings, cool also where relevant, heat process water or supply heat to district heating schemes. Whether you are a community or a resident, you can save energy by recovering heat from the wastewater networks under your feet. It uses its expertise to benefit from the waste heat in those pipes by using heat pumps, which can both heat and cool spaces, meaning Degrés Bleus helps you to reduce your energy consumption all year round. Suez has more than 15 references of this solution in France, and working towards providing the UK market with this opportunity.

Naked Energy - Virtu

Naked Energy Ltd is an award winning British design and innovation company specialising in solar technology.  The company is redefining solar energy with ‘Virtu’ a patented hybrid solar collector that generates both heat and power for commercial and residential applications. What makes the company’s unique product so compelling is the ability to create more useful energy per square metre than conventional technologies.  Not only does this mean a much quicker payback on investment, but it also has the ability to create a significant reduction in carbon emissions and deliver improved building efficiency standards

Demand Logic – Big building data

Demand Logic is an easy-to-use web platform that uses data analytics and infographics to find energy-savings, comfort improvements and other low-cost performance improvements in commercial buildings. It is already installed in office buildings, data centres, banks, newspapers, blue-chip headquarters and university campuses, with buildings including 20 Fenchurch St ("the Walkie Talkie") and One New Change using their big data technology.

ETH Zurich - Adaptive Solar Façade

The Chair of Architecture and Building Systems researches active and passive systems for the energy supply and climate control of buildings with projects ranging from components to neighbourhoods, from design to operation. The Adaptive Solar Façade project combines recent developments in architecture, energy technology and robotics and is the largest object showcasing soft robotics in architecture. The delicate, movable photovoltaic modules can be mounted onto a lightweight structure on the building envelope so they can be used for both restoration and new construction projects. Aside from energy production, they offer shading and daylight control for the interior as well as individual adjustments to the view by the occupant. The facade is also equipped to store energy: In the case of excess energy, the excess is transformed into pressurised air, which can be stored and used to adjust the movable modules at a later stage, for example in bad weather when no energy is generated. The facade features a varied, dynamic appearance with modules continuously reacting to changes in their environment.

Origami Energy

Origami Energy has developed a technology that will optimise the energy usage flexibility in any energy asset – whether it’s demand, generation, or storage. We are creating a grid-edge flexibility marketplace that will allow your assets to provide multiple services to multiple organisations, generating additional revenue for you and reducing the cost of the energy system for everyone.