Business models to accelerate uptake of domestic heat efficiency and decarbonisation measures

Decarbonising the heating of existing residential buildings is a key sustainability challenge. Improving building thermal efficiency is a low regrets approach: reducing the capacity and cost of required new renewable sources and reducing fuel poverty. However, retrofitting energy efficient measures in the owner-occupier sector is difficult, facing challenges of low homeowner engagement, high costs and disruption. This dissertation applied case study methodology to consider how business model innovation can accelerate energy efficiency and decarbonisation retrofit implementation in an area of south Glasgow, UK. Using an established conceptual framework of retrofit business models, this research applied an exploratory case study approach to examine drivers and barriers to retrofit in a specific physical and social context. Findings were synthesised in an outline business model suitable to the case study area. Semi-structured interviews with professionals were used to strengthen the transferability of conclusions. Current homeowner decision making was found to be focussed on cost and payback. The potential value of improved comfort may be underestimated by homeowners, especially by occupants of traditional constructions. Coronavirus ‘work from home’ policies have changed younger homeowner attitudes towards home heating improvements. Homeowners indicate interest in advanced, independent and personalised energy assessment. Previous research into the importance of interpersonal trust was reinforced with the discovery of an online social media group with a strong local influence on tradesperson selection. An innovative business model is proposed in response to the case study findings. Policy recommendations are put forward, with particular relevance to emergent minimum energy efficiency standards for the owner-occupier sector. Further research needs are identified

Research Brief : Carbon Intensity of Low-Enthalpy Geothermal Heat

Globally, low enthalpy (i.e. low temperature, <100°C) geothermal resources are widespread and could offer a valuable long-term source of low carbon industrial or domestic heat. The question is, how low carbon is low enthalpy geothermal heat? We analysed the carbon emissions from low enthalpy deep geothermal heat using the Hill of Banchory feasibility project as a case study. The project constraints represent many typical low enthalpy heat prospects, and the methodology we develop can be readily adapted to suit individual projects

Could - and Should - Scotland Sell Carbon Credits in International Markets?

Scotland could remove carbon emission in excess of its output within the next three decades (CCC, 2020a). This work investigated the conditions through which Scotland can meet and exceed its emissions targets and potentially engage in the trade of carbon credits internationally. Key findings are: Without significant deployment of negative emission technologies (NETs) , Scotland will only be able to achieve net zero by 2045 if emission reduction policies and their effects follow highly optimistic modelling. By 2050 however, Scotland may be able to become net negative without the deployment of NETs under a slightly wider range of policy options. Experts interviewed highlighted influencing factors such as: the Scottish Government's desire to pursue NET deployment at scale; the potential to pursue the trade of carbon credits internationally; and the potential for Scotland's engagement in carbon trading to bolster climate ambition internationally. They also highlighted that Scotland's position on trading should be influenced by issues surrounding the environmental credibility of carbon credits and the risk of NETs and carbon credits acting as a moral hazard- reducing the drive towards wider de-carbonisation rather than bolstering ambition

Preparedness is not enough: understanding transitions as critically intensive learning periods

Objectives: Doctors make many transitions whilst they are training and throughout their ensuing careers. Despite studies showing that transitions in other high risk professions such as aviation have been linked to increased risk in the form of adverse outcomes, the effects of changes on doctors’ performance and consequent implications for patient safety have been under-researched. The purpose of this project was to investigate the effects of transitions upon medical performance. Methods: The project sought to focus on the inter-relationships between doctors and the complex work settings into which they were transitioning. To this end, a ‘collective’ case study of doctors was designed. Key transitions for Foundation Year and Specialist Trainee doctors were studied. Four levels of the case were examined: the regulatory and policy context; employer requirements; the clinical teams in which doctors worked; and the doctors themselves. Data collection included interviews, observations and desk-based research.. Results: We identified a number of problems with doctors' transitions that can all adversely affect performance. A) Transitions are regulated but not systematically monitored. B) Actual practice (as observed and reported) was determined much more by situational and contextual factors than by the formal (regulatory and management) frameworks. C) Trainees’ and health professionals’ accounts of their actual experience of work showed how performance is dependent on local learning environment. D) We found that the increased regulation of clinical activity through protocols and care pathways helps trainees’ performance whilst the less regulated aspects of work such as rotas, induction and multiple transitions within rotations can impede the transition. Conclusions: Transitions may be reframed as critically intensive learning periods (CILPs) in which doctors engage with the particularities of the setting and establish working relationships with doctors and other professionals. Institutions and wards have their own learning cultures which may or may not recognise that transitions are CILPS. The extent to which these cultures take account of transitions as CILPs will contribute to the performance of new doctors. There are therefore implications for practice, and for policy, regulation and research

Community matters : sustainable transition of systems of water provision

The Decentralised Water Technologies programme aims to deliver a step-change in water provision and wastewater management. The programme is developing new and improved systems that are fit for purpose and are low carbon. The research is a response to the pressures of climate change and the desire for sustainable communities, as well as to address the limitations of current systems. Research for the communities theme within the programme will investigate how to ensure that both the decision-making processes about new systems and the new systems themselves are fair, equitable, and the best fit for the places they will be used. The research will be led by experts in socio-technical transitions, social and environmental justice, and community and involve island community partners on the Isles of Iona, Arran, Jura, Barra & Vatersay

Hardware Demonstration: Radiated Emissions as a Function of Common Mode Current

This presentation describes the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tests performed on the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM), the science payload of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in August 2015. By its very nature of being an integrated payload, it could be treated as neither a unit level test nor an integrated spacecraft observatory test. Non-standard test criteria are described along with non-standard test methods that had to be developed in order to evaluate them. Results are presented to demonstrate that all test criteria were met in less than the time allocated