果冻影院

DesignBuilder Software is drawing on 果冻影院鈥檚 specialist expertise to help organisations reduce their environmental impact with new 鈥榠n-use鈥� performance evaluation tools for buildings.

DesignBuilder Software specialises in high-productivity simulation software that helps organisations design high-performance buildings. In particular, their tools help to minimise the environmental impact of buildings, while still ensuring buildings are pleasant and comfortable to use.

Building designers and analysts have traditionally used software like this to assess the performance of new buildings. But given the growing need to improve the performance of existing stock too, DesignBuilder was keen to include 鈥榠n-use鈥� assessment tools in their software. Adding this extra functionality would mean customers could undertake energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and a range of other assessments for all their buildings, no matter their age.听

鈥淭his is a relatively new area in building performance simulation software,鈥� explains Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate Nishesh Jain. 鈥淣ot many companies are offering a holistic package for 鈥榠n-use鈥� assessments such as this one, so having access to 果冻影院鈥檚 expertise is enabling DesignBuilder to gain an important lead in their market.鈥澨�

Accessing specialist university expertise

DesignBuilder is currently working with 果冻影院 on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), tapping into expertise and research from 果冻影院鈥檚 Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering. The academic team at 果冻影院 are providing technical know-how and case studies, to ensure DesignBuilder鈥檚 new product is based on the latest insights into in-use building performance assessment.

Director of DesignBuilder David Cocking explains: 鈥淥ur vision is to help our customers significantly reduce the impact of their buildings on the planet while maximising occupant wellbeing. Our partnership with 果冻影院 has given us the technical expertise and knowledge to develop these innovative new tools, placing DesignBuilder at the forefront of research in this emerging field.鈥�

A mutually-beneficial relationship

Dejan Mumovic, Professor of Building Performance Analysis, and Director of 果冻影院鈥檚 Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering was the lead academic in the KTP. Dr Esfandiar Burman was the supervisor.

Dejan was keen to underline the mutually-beneficial aspects of the partnership: 鈥淲hile we鈥檙e supporting DesignBuilder with their business expansion and growth, this partnership is also allowing us to demonstrate the practical application of our research into the operational performance of buildings. The new DesignBuilder software tools are already being used as part of our teaching and have also formed part of research published in several journal articles and conference papers.鈥�

Bridging the gap

As the Associate on the KTP, Nishesh has been there as the 鈥榖ridge鈥� between the company and university. Having undertaken a PhD at 果冻影院 in the operational performance assessments of buildings, he鈥檚 been central to the technical side of the project. He鈥檚 also supported the company with training, webinars, marketing, and shaping technical memoranda to help disseminate best practice in the field. 听

鈥淎s the Associate, I鈥檝e had the chance to get involved in research that bridges the gap between academia and industry. That is a big driver for me as it provides real world context to my academic work,鈥� said Nishesh.听

鈥淭he KTP team at 果冻影院 Innovation & Enterprise have been very helpful in the project鈥檚 success. They handle all the administrative requirements to ensure that me (as the Associate) and my academic team can focus on the technical and research aspects.鈥�

Future links

The latest version of DesignBuilder included some of this functionality, and has already been well received in the market. Additional functionality to further improve DesignBuilder鈥檚 calibration, measurement and verification capabilities are also under development, to be released with future versions.

David added: 鈥淔or us, this has been a highly valuable collaboration, and it's significantly accelerated our development of these cutting-edge tools. We鈥檙e keen to continue our work with 果冻影院 and are currently exploring possibilities beyond the KTP.鈥�

The Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) facilitated the project on behalf of Innovate UK. Mark Matchett, Knowledge Transfer Advisor, added: 鈥淲ithin the Innovate UK grant funding portfolio, the KTP programme is fairly niche but hugely significant in projects such as this. DesignBuilder recognised there was significant value for them in grasping a fundamental understanding of how to evaluate and simulate the operational performance of existing buildings, but that this was beyond their capabilities. They quickly identified that the requisite expertise and research lay mainly in academia. In this context, the KTP was the perfect vehicle to transfer this expertise to their business.鈥�

Find out more about Nishesh鈥檚 experience as a KTP Associate with DesignBuilder.

Links

Find out more about:

• 果冻影院 Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering
• For businesses - working on a Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) with 果冻影院
• For 果冻影院 staff - Transform businesses through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)
• Nishesh听winning the听CIBSE Building Simulation Young Modeller Award 2021

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