Nimbus researchers secure €1.5m in EU funding for energy efficient buildings projects
Researchers from the Nimbus Centre at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) have secured €1.5m in EU funding as part of the development of two international projects.
The Horizon 2020 projects are in the ICT for Energy Efficient Buildings call for 2015.
The first is called ‘Tools for Continuous Building Performance Auditing’ led by Dr Susan Rea and Dr Alan McGibney.
The second is ‘Modelling Optimisation of Energy Efficiency in Buildings for Urban Sustainability’ where Dr Christian Beder with Juan Manuel Escaño and Dr Niel Canty will optimise building energy control mechanisms, and implement automatic fault detection and equipment maintenance.
A virtual reality environment will be created, allowing building maintenance staff to optimise their work processes.
The projects involve several Irish and European academic and industry partners, with Tyndall National Institute being a partner on one of them.
Dr Dirk Pesch, head of the Nimbus Centre, said being awarded the funding both elevates the impact of Ireland on the European energy stage and assists jobs, education, and innovation, at home.
“The funding will continue to strengthen the research that is happening in Nimbus, and CIT, on the ‘energy efficient buildings’ topic. This contributes to creating a sustainable Europe for future generations.”
The ‘National Sustainable-Building Energy Test-Bed’ is located on campus at CIT and other industry and research projects using it are already underway.
The research will help improve Europe’s energy efficiency, reducing the gap between predicted and actual energy performances in buildings thereby improving carbon emissions and saving money.
The Nimbus Centre aims to support Ireland in leading the emerging ‘Internet of Things’ boom, helping Irish companies develop smart, connected, products and services.
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