News Article
Loughborough University To Explore Energy-saving Technology
Hi-tech ways to cut domestic energy bills
The LEEDR (Low Effort Energy Demand Reduction) project will draw together experts in social science, computer science, systems engineering, user interface and design technology at the University. Hi-tech ways to cut domestic energy bills will be explored by experts at Loughborough University, as part of a £1.9 million research project. They have teamed up with communications company O2, energy company E.ON and energy monitoring experts AlertMe to investigate how and why we use energy in the home - and to explore innovative ways to reduce our consumption.
Project leader Dr Richard Buswell said: “This is a very interesting project because it is such a fast-changing, evolving area.
“The need to reduce energy consumption is one which will increasingly impact on our domestic lives. This project aims to uncover innovative, technology-based solutions to the challenge of reducing energy use. At the same time, we will attempt to look into the future - to predict the impact of these solutions on the way we live our lives in the coming decades.
It will have a strong user-centred focus - that means that we will place importance on measuring people's response to possible solutions. There is little point in proposing a new energy-saving device, for example, if, for some reason, no-one wants to use it.''
The three-and-a-half-year project has been awarded a £1.4million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (ESPRC).
The project will enlist the help of 20 volunteer households, whose energy consumption and domestic practices will be examined by the academic team using a variety of methodologies.
Loughborough University has a world-leading reputation for research into the interactions between people, buildings and energy.
The University has established the interdisciplinary Sustainability Research School to help its academic departments work together to tackle the global challenges in this and similar fields.
