Harnessing the sun’s energy

The Sustainable Building Envelope Centre (SBEC), funded by Tata Steel, the Low Carbon Research Institute (LCRI) and the Welsh Government, is a three year programme looking into the most efficient methods to capture, store and dissipate energy from the sun. The aim being to evaluate, evolve and enable greener technologies for the built environment to help the nation meet our carbon reduction targets.

There are a significant number of potential solutions within the renewables area. However, relatively few provide attractive paybacks without subsidy or provide design guidance to aid uptake of these technologies in a holistic approach. In order to make a significant impact on CO2 emissions, appropriate solutions for the existing building stock and new build need to be developed. Daniel Pillai, Director of SBEC explained “Our vision is to transform the role of the building envelope and fabric, from one of passive fuel and energy conservation to that of active generation of renewable energy, including storage, distribution and management.”

The current technologies under investigation build upon the existing core technologies of transpired solar collectors and photovoltaics with a view to enhancing their capability and viability by combining them to make a complete energy system. The SBEC building itself combines transpired solar collectors, photovoltaics, thermoactive flooring and ceiling and phase change material to reduce energy demand in the first instance and then optimise / manage the use of available renewable energy.

For more information visit www.sbec.eu.com