16 Feb 2024
Towards More Energy Efficient Buildings
User friendly tools to assess the energy performance of your building
Building diagram showing digital twin
 |
Wouldn’t it be great if building managers had simple digital tools to assess the energy performance of their own building?We talked to Laurence Peinturier, currently studying for a DPhil with the Oxford e-Research Centre, under the supervision of Professor David Wallom and Dr Phil Grunewald. |
Laurence: "Last year I completed the MSc in Energy Systems here in Oxford, and as I've always been very interested in modelling things, energy systems and the global energy transition, I wanted my DPhil research to combine these in a way that was practical, hands-on and straightforward.
“Buildings currently account for 30% of our global emissions! If we want to limit global warning to 1.5 degrees, ‘buildings’ is the sector that needs significant acceleration towards a more energy efficient system.”
“The clocks are ticking, the time pressure is very high, we urgently need to raise awareness about how we humans consume energy in our own buildings so that we understand what’s happening and what we need to do to conserve energy.”
“My research focuses on investigating the use of digital tools to assess the energy performance of buildings, whether they are domestic or non-domestic.”
"My overall aim is to develop a framework to enable a more user friendly and accessible approach to building energy simulations so that, for example, building managers can assess the energy performance of their own buildings themselves.”
Laurence comes from a mechanical engineering background and has always had a passion for modelling things. In her undergraduate days it was wind turbine blades or cars, and as a teenager she loved doing manual work on buildings spending her summers renovating houses.
In June this year Laurence will present her first paper as a primary author at the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ECEEE) Summer Study on energy efficiency in France. She is basing this on a case study of the Oxford University Mathematical Institute and plans to show how digital tools can identify the energy performance gaps in the building.
