Science Capital: Low Carbon

Humans, Habitats and Heat: making homes fit for the planet

Wed 15 June 2011 from 5:30-9 pm at the Hotel du Vin Birmingham

Science Capital is offering this Climate Change Festival event to present the latest technologies and innovative thinking to reduce the carbon footprints of our homes, workplaces and lifestyles, and to foster collaborations  between local research leaders, growing SMEs and business, investment and legal experts.

The building you occupy is very likely to be the largest part of your carbon impact, and is central to meeting the legally-binding target to cut emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.

The government's just released renewable heat incentives('RHI') scheme provides 20 years of support for implementing and claiming a range of technologies including solar thermal, biomass, biomethane, water source heat pumps and deep geothermal.

This framework provides tremendous opportunities for developing new energy sources, distribution and monitoring systems, with other technologies are under review.

Scientists, architects and engineers are invited to present their business plans to a panel of legal, business and financial advisors from Advantage Business Angels, Anthony Collins Solicitors, Beer & Partners, Marks & Clerk and Mercia Fund who are experienced in developing commercialisation strategies.  Those already confirmed to present include developers of solar energy and carbon-neutral cleaning and infection control systems.

Join in the discussions with leading research and business experts, hear about the latest developments in the field, obtain feedback on your plans and build new partnerships.

Speakers include:

Chris Handy, Chief Executive of the Accord Group.  Chris has a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master of Law degree, Fellowship of  the Institute of Housing and membership of the British Institute of Management. He was awarded an OBE in 2009 for service to housing.  Chris coauthored titles including ‘Housing Associations: The Law of Social Landlords’ and ‘Discrimination in Housing’, and is on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Housing Law. 

Matthew Rhodes, Managing Director of Encraft, a specialist engineering and technology consultancy and project development company and winner of two Technology Strategy Board awards in 2010, will speak on microgeneration and energy efficiency in buildings, particularly housing, and the Birmingham Energy Savers Project, which aims to retrofit up to 200000 homes in Birmingham with low carbon technologies. 

Malcolm McIntosh from the Asia Pacific Centre for Sustainable Enterprise at Griffith University, Queensland will present on "Rebuilding Brisbane and Rebuilding The Mind" following the recent flooding in Australia.  He is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation at Coventry University and has written on the interplay between global governance, the environment and economic development.

Lubo Jankovic from the Birmingham City University School of Architecture and Centre for Low Carbon Research at BIAD/TEE will present results of instrumental monitoring and post occupancy evaluation of the Birmingham Zero Carbon House. A combination of this work and the work on authoring a book entitled “Designing Low Carbon Buildings Using Dynamic Simulation Methods” to be published by Earthscan in 2012 will enable him to give insights into ways forward towards securing a low carbon future. 

Chairing the discussion is Keith Budden, a Strategic Partnership Manager at E.ON UK, Chair of Birmingham Science City’s Low Carbon Working Group, and former Environmental Partnership Manager at Birmingham City Council.

Join the debate with our speakers.  The audience includes a diverse range of experts from academia and industry.  By working together the participants will be able to better assess what the market holds for the future, gaining appreciation of the best practice, developing new ideas and exploring new relationships.

Schedule:

We will gather at 5:30pm for a reception and to view posters and products.  A set of short talks on this important theme for our region will begin at 6pm, followed by a lively panel discussion. Food and drinks will be served, along with plenty of time for networking until around 9pm.

Those wishing to present business plans to the expert panel beforehand (3-5pm) for a free, private consultation will be invited to send in a 1-2 page executive summary.

Speaker interviews will be taped beforehand and disseminated widely with the press and on YouTube.

Sponsorships are available and offer a variety of benefits.