Tarbase - To reduce Co2 emissions in the built environment by 2030

A number of key research areas have been explored to date by the research group, including:

For a range of different buildings (homes, schools, offices, shops, hotels), the technology bundles that might deliver the desired emission reduction targets
The cost and payback characteristics of these technology bundles
The effect of construction method, end use equipment ownership and usage, location and warming climate on overheating in domestic buildings
For different housing types and constructions, the effect of on-site generation on delivering the 50% emission reduction target
The emission reductions expected from a range of domestic micro-generation systems
The import-export characteristics of a range of domestic micro-generation systems
The effect of end-use equipment specification, building fabric, location and warming climate on the heating and cooling requirement in offices
The effect of warming climate and internal activity on overheating in schools
The dominance, and associated problems, of refrigeration use in the food-related retail sector
The effect of varying carbon intensity of network electricity on the technology bundles defined for each building type

Lowering Carbon Emissions.

Tarbase (Technology Assessment for Radically Improving the Built Asset BaSE) is a £1.4M consortium project, let by Heriot-Watt University, with partners from industry and academia, co-funded by Carbon Trust and EPSRC under the banner of Carbon Vision Buildings.

Reducing CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions in the Environment. The project takes as its springboard the pressing need to reduce CO₂ emissions in the built environment by 50% or more by 2030. Implicit in this requirement is a need to consider the built environment from different perspectives: the end use equipment, building fabric, heating, air conditioning and ventilation equipment, on-site generation of heat and power, carbon intensity of network electricity, effect of climate change on building energy needs and user acceptance and behavioural trends regarding building use.

Carbon Saving Technologies. Tarbase has identified 'bundles' of carbon-saving technologies that, if incorporated into existing buildings, including dwellings, would deliver at least a 50% cut in emissions. The buildings considered for this investigation were grouped by sector and included buildings in the domestic, schools, retail, office and hospitality sectors. The technology pathways have been assessed from technical, economic, embodied energy and user acceptance perspectives.

Academic project partners and participants:

Heriot-Watt University (Phil Banfill, Andrew Peacock, David Jenkins, Marcus Newborough, David Kane, Ya Liu, Marcus Ahadzi, Seyhan Turan, Graeme Bowles, Gillian Menzies)
De Montefort University (Tom Achtmanis, Simon Taylor, Li Shao)
Warwick University (Philip Eames, Harjit Singh)
University of Surrey (Tim Jackson, Ali Berry)
University of Nottingham (Caroline Fox)
University of Glasgow (Giuseppe Pellegrini-Masini, Chris Leishman)