Smart buildings and digital engineering: research insights and perspectives

Smart buildings and digital engineering: research insights and perspectives

Join us for a research seminar and networking session bringing together UCL staff, students, alumni and industry.

By UCL Inst. for Environmental Design and Engineering

Date and time

Mon, 12 May 2025 17:00 - 19:00 GMT+1

Location

UCL Central House

Room G01 14 Upper Woburn Place London WC1H 0NN United Kingdom

Agenda

5:00 PM

Welcome and introduction to Smart buildings and digital engineering research


Dimitrios Rovas and Valentina Marincioni, UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering

5:05 PM

Talk from Prof Graeme Maidment


Professor of Heating And Cooling at London South Bank University and cooling technical lead at DESNZ

5:30 PM

Findings from IEA Annex81: Data-Driven Smart Buildings


Dr Stephen White, Energy Efficiency Domain Leader, CSIRO Australia

5:50 PM

The National Buildings Database: A Digital Twin for GB Buildings


Prof Paul Ruyssevelt, Professor of Energy and Building Performance, UCL Energy Institute

6:10 PM

Controls-based integration of design and operation


Dr Phil Haves, retired Leader of the Simulation Research Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, USA

6:30 PM

From blueprint to Net Zero: transforming estate management with digital twins


James Franklin, Digital Twin Project Director, Kier Construction

6:45 PM

AI-assisted control optimisation of demand flexibility across buildings


Dr Rui Tang, Lecturer in Smart Buildings and Digital Engineering, UCL

7:00 PM

Drinks and networking

About this event

  • Event lasts 2 hours

About the speakers

Prof Graeme Maidment is Professor of Heating And Cooling at London South Bank University and cooling technical lead at DESNZ. He has 40 years experience of the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump industry. Interests in optimisation of Refrigeration of Air Conditioning and Heat Pump systems. His work has been supported by 40+ research projects and have received several awards.

Dr Stephen White leads CSIRO's Energy Efficiency Research. He also leads the “Data Clearing House” Activity in the Affordable Heating and Cooling Innovation Hub (i-Hub). He is the Operating Agent for the International Energy Agency EBC Annex 81 “Data-Driven Smart Buildings” and the more recent IEA Annex 96 on “Grid-Integrated Control of Buildings”. Dr White has over 25 years of experience in energy end use efficiency and electricity industry demand side management. He has extensive experience in the application of research to support both government energy efficiency policy instruments and technology commercialization.

Prof Paul Ruyssevelt is Professor of Energy and Building Performance where he leads on research in energy use and operational performance in non-domestic buildings. An architect with 40 years’ experience in low energy and sustainable buildings he has worked in both academia and industry and always maintained an active involvement in applied research. Paul is the UK alternate delegate and Vice Chair to the IEA Energy in Buildings and Communities (EBC) Technology Collaboration Programme and played a leading role in several Annexes. Paul leads the Building Stock Lab at UCL Energy Institute, which works on methods for modelling stocks of buildings and their use of energy in detail. He is developing 3D stock and the National Buildings database.

Dr Philip Haves is the retired Leader of the Simulation Research Group. He has worked on different aspects of commercial buildings since 1986, with particular interests in simulation and in building operations. He is a Fellow of ASHRAE, the chair of its Technical Committee on Energy Calculations.

Dr Rui Tang is a Lecturer in Smart Buildings and Digital Engineering at UCL. He conducts interdisciplinary works to facilitate the low-carbon technology transitions of multi-scale energy systems, spanning from building HVAC design & control, load prediction, demand response and electricity pricing to large-scale modelling and data-driven techniques. Before joining UCL, he worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as Senior Scientific Engineering Associate.



Accessibility

An access guide to the Central House can be found on AccessAble.

About UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering

Our mission is to help cities and governments adapt and transform to tackle the climate crisis, and create equitable and inclusive spaces where people can live healthy and fulfilling lives.

We provide evidence and expertise to inform and support decision-making and enable transformative change.

We create a deeper understanding of the interactions between the built environment and health, human wellbeing, productivity, energy use and climate change. Find out more ►

About Smart buildings and digital engineering research at UCL

As new technologies and digitalisation transform the way we engage with the world, it has also lead to a revolution in the built environment and the rise of smart buildings and digital engineering. The Smart buildings and digital engineering research theme at UCL seeks to envisage how digitalisation changes how built assets are designed, constructed and operated. Find out more ►

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We pursue a deeper understanding of the interactions between the built environment and health, human wellbeing, productivity, energy use and climate change. We are part of The Bartlett, UCL's global faculty of the built environment.