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Archive for the ‘data’ Category

Publish all heat tariffs

Posted in data, district heating, energy, ESCO on January 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Some customers on UK heat networks pay way over the odds for their heat but because heat networks are natural monopolies there’s little they can do about it. Sure, we can introduce some direct competition on heat networks (for example by making it possible to switch out the metering and billing provider) but the opportunities are pretty limited.

While direct competition between suppliers is limited, it is possible to introduce virtual competition between suppliers by making the cost to customers transparent and available to everyone. In fact our best opportunity by far to apply competitive pressure in the heat market is to publish tariffs, including unit and standing charges, in a central, publicly available register.

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2017 will see the rise of quantified performance

Posted in Code of Practice, data, engineering, tagged on January 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

In 2016, the heat sector finally recognised the importance of performance data. Helped by companies like Guru, heat network operators began to obtain energy performance data from their networks.

The data sent shockwaves through the industry as many realised that their networks are not performing anything like what was promised, largely due to shortcomings in design and commissioning.

Using this information, the operators of these poorly performing networks could finally attach precise numbers to their long-held suspicions: that losses are high, that heat costs too much and that service can be unreliable. Of course, customers on bad networks already knew this from their own experiences of high bills, cooking corridors and intermittent heating and hot water.

As this awakening gathers pace, a key trend for 2017 will be the move towards quantified performance. Armed with clear requirements, clients will be more specific about what they want, and use measurement and verification to ensure they get it. ESCOs, having had their fingers burnt, will no longer be content to sample the performance on a limited number of dwellings before adopting a new network. Instead they will use performance data to verify that 100% of equipment in homes has been properly commissioned. In short, networks won’t be allowed to go into operation until they work as intended.

This change in approach will have huge implications for the industry.

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Innovation alone won’t close the performance gap

Posted in Big Data, data, energy, engineering, tagged on November 14, 2016| 2 Comments »

This post originally appeared on the CIBSE blog.

New buildings in the UK consume far more energy than intended by their designers – up to 10 times more according to an Innovate UK study. This performance gap doesn’t arise because we lack technology. Studies by the UKGBC and others conclude that it’s the result of failings throughout the project lifecycle, from concept to handover.

Performance gaps may arise because clients are unclear about what they want; project teams don’t understand the impact of their design choices; contractors substitute products and materials on the fly and then install them poorly; or quality assurance is lax, with employers’ agents either blind to the problems or willing to let shoddy work escape their net.

There’s no doubt about it – we’ve got trouble right here in the UK building industry. But innovation on its own won’t solve the problem. The Internet of Things isn’t coming to the rescue. Because the performance gap isn’t a technology problem – it’s a problem of people, information and accountability.

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utility data: too hot to handle?

Posted in Big Data, data on May 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

This post originally appeared on the Network Magazine website on 12 May.

We’re often told that energy data is valuable. Less often discussed is the fact that handling data can be risky. But just as not all data is equally valuable, some types of data are riskier than others. The trick is to maximise value while minimising risk.

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