ABOUT
Part of the Knauf Group, we are using technology to transform the decarbonization of the building stock.
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We deliver high quality energy efficiency outcomes for new build and retrofit, as well as providing smart home services.
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Key to what we do is a technology breakthrough - the negaWatt hour meter.
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For the first time a kiloWatt hour of energy saved is equivalent to a kiloWatt hour of energy supplied.​
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This starts us on the exciting journey of building Virtual Energy Infrastructure.
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Welcome to a new world in which 400,000 Smart Retrofit homes can now substitute a one gigaWatt power station at a fraction of the cost.
The NegaWatt Hour Meter
SOLUTION
All too often asset owners are left with long-term risk exposure and return on investment calculations which fail to materialise in practice, when thermally renovating their buildings or launching new build projects.
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By partnering with Knauf Energy Solutions asset owners can reverse this outcome – one that is real, not aspirational.
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Continuous feedback from a network of smart connected building sensors is at the heart of this process.
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We have coupled these sensors with the latest advances in cloud computing and data science, as well as a decade of building science research.
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The result: a fundamentally new understanding of building performance and how to deliver it in practice.
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So now when it comes to asset owners managing their projects more effectively, we can:
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Maximise ROI: Engineer cost-optimum solutions, specifying the precise set of energy efficiency measures that will deliver the biggest return on investment
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Know ROI: Verify and quantify the real energy savings achieved by the new build or retrofit, enabling concrete analysis of value for money, as well as accountability​
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Increase ROI: Place smart control systems in new builds and retrofits that manage these assets in real-time, as well as enabling predictive and preventative maintenance programmes
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SMART BUILD
Optimise Design, Control Construction & Verify Results
SMART RETROFIT
Optimise Strategy, Control Works & Verify Results
SMART HOME
Check Comfort, Predict Maintenance & Energy Services
SHM WOONPUNT ZENNEVALLEI
"Working closely with Knauf Energy Solutions is helping us to re-imagine the way that we retrofit our stock. Their combination of advanced IoT technology, product innovation and on-site quality control is unique. It offers us a great opportunity to dramatically improve our stock's energy performance."
— Bart Vranken, Director
POLICY
Introduce The
World's First
Pay-4-Performance Approach
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Challenge
Buildings account for 36% of the EU’s carbon emissions and 40% of its energy use.
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There is no climate safe future without the decarbonisation of the existing building stock.
Yet our current policy instruments are failing to get Europe even close to the annual 3% deep carbon renovation rates that are required to hit our 2050 climate targets.
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Solution
The negaWatt hour (nWh) meter enables new policies and business models that can kick-start the energy transition in residential buildings.
Knowing the exact negawatts (saved kilo-watt-hours) delivered by energy efficiency renovation creates the opportunity for governments to pay for performance (the actual quantum of energy saved) rather than measures (e.g. the meters squared of insulation, windows or boilers).
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Energy efficiency investment can now mirror energy infrastructure investment with governments only paying for performance - the actual negawatts of saved energy delivered by a thermal renovation.
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Path to Action
Introducing incentive schemes based on Pay-4-Performance approaches will unlock this opportunity.
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Governments can move from subsidising measures with no real understanding of the savings delivered, to instead investing in real performance outcomes.
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A performance-based approach will create a strong incentive to reduce the cost of energy efficiency per kWh saved, just as feed-in-tariffs helped to spur a major reduction in the cost of roof top solar.
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Even a modest cost improvement to energy efficiency renovation of 20% could save Europe €600 billion in its efforts to decarbonize buildings.
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Peak Pressure
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How Electric Heating Drives Peak Generation Demand
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The shift from gas to electric heating will lead to a major increase in electricity demand, particularly during the winter, when heat demand peaks. KES’s EU Winter Peak Report provides a view of the impact on energy generation capacity of this winter peak demand – a 5 times increase is calculated. It also shows that every 1kWh of energy efficiency delivers 5 kWh of reduced energy generation. KES's UK Winter Peak Report replicates these findings in a UK context.
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