September 28th 2023
Carbon smart building to be constructed at the University of Birmingham
Although the city has found itself in hot waters the University of Birmingham have announced a £50m investment to help deliver a new energy institute on campus.
The new building, which is set to be situated on the University’s Edgbaston campus, will contain state of the art research laboratories. It will form the cornerstone of the university’s vision for a ‘living laboratory’, in which the campus is transformed into a national testbed for innovation in low carbon energy systems.
Once completed, the facility will be home to the University’s Birmingham energy Institute (BEI), bringing together interdisciplinary energy research and education from across the university and its partners.
In addition, the centre will provide a nerve centre for the university’s industrial collaborations, in which digital sensor and analytics technologies will be combined across campuses in Birmingham and Dubai to test new, low carbon approaches to energy generation and use.
‘This new investment will put us in a position to bring transformational change to the sector,’ said Professor Martin Freer. ‘We are excited to be working with both existing and new partners to develop and test new innovations both technical and non-technical on a scale that is not currently available anywhere else in the UK.’
Although the city of Birmingham is currently facing some serious issues after they issued a section 114 notice, energy research at the University of Birmingham has never been better.
Research has grown rapidly at the institution over the last decade with experts leading developments in energy systems and storage, heating and cooling, materials irradiation, hydrogen fuel and future vehicle technologies, as well as in energy policy investment.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: ‘Our region is helping to lead the way when it comes to tackling the climate emergency and that’s why we’ve made our #WM2041 net zero commitment. This investment and facility very much supports our regional agenda – developing our research and technology capabilities, enhancing our preparedness for the Green Industrial Revolution, and demonstrating public/private cooperation at its very best.’
Image: Luke Matthews