Research, Enterprise & Innovation

SustainableCommunities Institute

Our ambition 3

London South Bank University has been transforming lives, businesses and communities for more than 120 years

When it first opened the aims of the University were to improve the employment opportunities for the people of south London and to support the community by providing access to relevant applied knowledge. The core of our mission remains unchanged today.

Our goal is to deliver:

Real world impact

So that our highly applied academic environment supports the

communities we serve by providing the high quality applied research they

need to improve and grow.

Student success

We want to provide a personalised, high calibre education which equips

graduates for employment and prepares them to make a positive

contribution to society.

Access to opportunity

We aim to build opportunity by partnering with entrepreneurial organisations seeking to address

current and future challenges facing society.

About Research, Enterprise & Innovation 54 Introduction to LSBU

We serve business communities, improving people’s employment opportunities and allowing our knowledge to progress the commercial world.

Research, Enterprise & Innovation at the University is the gateway to accessing the full range of specialist services, facilities and applied knowledge we offer businesses and organisations.

Businesses, public sector and voluntary

organisations

Helping them innovate, grow and improve performance: finding cost-effective solutions and connecting

them with the right expertise

Academics, PhD students and early career researchers

Connecting them with funders and external organisations: helping

them develop and submit research proposals and creating a supportive

research environment

Students, graduates and

alumni

Driving and supporting them to be enterprising: fostering their start-

up businesses and connecting their growing businesses with

relevant expertise

Enterprise excellenceLSBU’s Research, Enterprise & Innovation team works with:

Our research

One of the top three modernuniversities in London for research.

(REF 2014)

Over 70% of our researchconsidered world leading and

internationally excellent. (REF 2014)

Research relevant and actively used in industry with 73% of our work having global impact (REF 2014)

An overview of LSBU

18,221 students (HESA 2013/14)

Nearly 1,000 employers use LSBU to train

their staff

38% of students study part-time

(HESA)

150 British SMEs and major companies have

commercial partnerships with LSBU

Our teaching

Highest possible rating for the quality of our education from the independent Quality Assurance

Agency (QAA report 2010)

In the top three London moderns (post 92) for graduate prospects

(Complete University Guide 2015)

20% of our students are sponsored by employers and 25% of our students

are postgraduate

9 out of 10 students are in work or further study 6 months after graduation

A top 10 London university for graduate starting salaries. Top 2

among London’s modern universities. (Sunday Times League Table 2015)

70%

Introduction to Sustainable Communities Institute 76 Introduction to Sustainable Communities Institute

Welcome to the Sustainable Communities Institute

Our green economy expertise include:

Heating and cooling

• Energyefficientheatingandcoolingschemes.

• Domestic,officeandindustrialsystems.

• Communitypowerandheatnetworks.

• Energyreductionforrefrigeratedtransport.

• Useofheatpumpsandenergystorage.

• Datacentrecoolingandenergyefficiency.

Energy reduction in buildings

• Energyandcarbonemissionreductiontechnology.

• Retrofitofexistingbuildings.

• Heatnetworks.

• Passivhausdesignandpractise.

• Energymanagementsystems.

• Energypolicy.

Circular Economy

• Productdesignforendoflifeandeaseofmanufacturing.

• Materialsecurityandsupply.

• Energyreductioninproductdesign.

• Implementingalternative,circulareconomybasedbusinessmodels.

We help businesses achieve their sustainability goals; whether that’s by improving energy efficiency, by embedding sustainable product design methodologies or implementing low carbon technologies.

Our purpose is to support the development of future-proof organisations that drive economic and business advantage.

We are solution-driven. We set up cross-disciplinary teams that include world renowned academics who deliver maximum impact for our partners through consultancy, research, training and education.

Our activities are supported by our excellent facilities. Our Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings (CEREB) showcases a range of energy efficient technologies including solar PV, solar thermal, heat pumps and phase change materials. We also have an environmental chamber, food science labs, robotics labs and materials testing labs that support our work.

LSBU’s Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy

How we work 98 How we work

How we work together and why

London South Bank University Organisation

Brings a challenge

Sharing knowledge and experience

We generate new knowledge through our research Organisations can access this knowledge via Research Contracts, Consultancy Projects, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, IP Licensing

We provide training and education Highly relevant, professional training to develop your workforce and their skills

We help organisations access funding European Union funding, Innovate UK funding, Crowd Funding

We provide access to European and Global networks Intensive, practical advice and support for students and graduates to refine their business and social enterprise ideas

We also help organisations in other ways, such as: • Providing office space, venue hire,

specialist facilities (labs etc) • Interns placed in your business

The relationship

What we provide

The impact of the collaboration

For business:

Innovation in process/products/services to improve

your business

Increased profits Growth Upskilled and satisfied workforce

Evidencing social impacts/social return on

investment

Enables delivery of highly applied,

professionally accredited courses

aligned with industry

Helps LSBU graduates to be

entrepreneurial and highly skilled

Grows knowledge and ensures it has a solid and practical

purpose

For LSBU:

Quality of life Job creation Increase in GDP Influence on Government

and Policy

For society:

Case Study – Bond Display Cabinets and Dr. Deborah Andrews 1110 Case Study – Bond Display Cabinets and Dr. Deborah Andrews

Turning it aroundLSBU develops the circular economy in the refrigeration industry

Since the Industrial Revolution, the design and manufacture of the majority of products has been based on a linear model of ‘cradle to grave’. Billions of tonnes of materials are wasted as products, components and materials are discarded at the end of their life. Although leading thinkers have proposed new design and manufacturing approaches based on ‘circular’ systems, their ideas have only recently been adopted by a few businesses.

In 2012, the UK’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB, now Innovate UK) launched a programme to help more businesses develop the ‘circular economy’ where products, components and materials are not discarded but are reused.

As well as making new cabinets, refrigeration company The Bond Group extends the life of existing units by re-manufacturing and re-engineering them to become better than new: swapping mild steel components for stainless steel and replacing non-recyclables like plastic insulation with sustainable and hi-tech materials.

The TSB funded LSBU’s Dr Deborah Andrews (product design) and Dr Issa Chaer (building services engineering) to carry out a feasibility study to identify ways Bond could further develop good practice and move towards a circular economy for the refrigeration industry.

In addition to technical, economic, ethical and business feasibility studies produced by the academics, the project created a video to communicate the need for change. Creating the animation was an excellent opportunity for BSc Product Design students Andrew Hodgson and Dave Wildman, allowing them to work on a live design project as part of their year-long work placement.

Bond Managing Director Chris Woollett was so pleased with the three-minute film that when he visited LSBU he asked Dave and Andrew to make more videos to promote the company’s work in sustainable design, manufacture and the circular economy.

800,000Approximate number of refrigerated display cabinets in UK

13%Current amount re-engineered or re-manufactured materials and components

Case Study – Food of the future 1312 Case Study – Food of the future

Insects anyone?With the United Nations predicting a global population of 9 billion people by 2050, pressure is on to find alternative food sources. LSBU academics have developed what they believe could be the future of food production – using ground-up insects and a 3D printer.

Insects Au Gratin is a collaborative project involving LSBU’s Susana Soares, Andrew Forkes and Dr Ken Spears. Insects are already acknowledged as a rich source of nutrition – four crickets provide as much calcium as a large glass of milk and one dung beetle proportionately contains more iron than a steak. Together, the academics are exploring the nutritive and environmental aspects of entomophagy – consuming insects as food.

After being dried and ground into a fine powder, it is mixed with other food products like icing butter, chocolate, spices and cream cheese to form the right consistency as a building

Eating insects could be the solution to global food problems

medium for 3D printing. Reformatting the insects using this hi-tech process is hoped to challenge people’s perceptions, encouraging them to consider this new source of protein and overcome traditional aesthetic issues around eating insects.

Using insect protein as a ‘printable’ material opens up a range of new applications and questions about sustainability, raw materials, nutrition and food acceptance. Although the notion of printing food is not a new development, the innovation of using insect paste as a build medium is highly novel. This – coupled with farming and harvesting insects – could create a sustainable source of food for an increasing global population.

The project team would like to go on to create printed cake toppings, flowers and designs. Also, if they are able to produce substantial structures it will be possible to print bars, like cereal bars.

Keeping it cool

In London, a huge amount of energy is used to heat and cool buildings. Like many cities, 90% of these buildings will still exist in 2050 so dealing with the energy use of ‘existing stock’ is a global challenge. LSBU’s Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings (CEREB) has taken on an industry partner to research and test a cold water heat network, an innovative system using cold water to share heat and cool buildings on the university’s campus.

CEREB is a unique research and technology demonstration centre that brings together talented partners to work towards the UK’s challenging carbon reduction target – 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050.LSBU is developing a novel cooling

and heating network for university buildings

14 Case Study – Low Carbon Case Study – Low Carbon 15

LSBU’s Professor Andrew Ford and Research Fellow Dr Aaron Gillich are collaborating with sustainable energy firm ICAX, leaders in the rapidly growing cold water heat networks and experts in managing heat storage. Together they won over £10,000 of funding in the first stage of Innovate UK’s low-carbon economy competition. As well as research, the money will go to create a demonstration project which the team will use as they enter the second-stage of the competition seeking funding to build the heat network on LSBU’s campus.

Innovate UK is the government’s innovation agency encouraging organisations from different sectors to work together to develop low energy supply networks. It has committed over £200 million of funding between 2011 and 2015.

The heat network project draws on LSBU’s expert industrial reputation in building services – the university educates 60% of the UK’s building services engineers – and refrigeration research through the university’s Centre for Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Research.

16 Case Study – Cooling the tube Case Study – Cooling the tube 17

Cooling the tubeA challenging task

The problem of increasing temperatures on the London Underground (LU) network has been challenging engineers for decades. In 1999, it was of particular interest to LSBU researchers John Missenden (now retired) and Graeme Maidment from the Centre of Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Research at LSBU.

That year, the pair began their research into low carbon methods for LU’s Cooling the Tube programme, whose work explores the concept of using geothermal cooling methods. The programme has introduced the cooling methods at Victoria, Green Park and Oxford Circus stations. Cooling the Tube has also been the focus of two PhD studies and many undergraduate

£375,000Investment by Parsons Brinckerhoff and Innovate UK

3°CLocal reductions in platform temperature

16 yearsTime LSBU, LU and PB have worked together

projects. It also received a series of awards including for example a 2012 Rail Business Award for Environmental Innovation and the Daily Telegraph Carbon Innovator of the Year Award in 2007.

Missenden and Maidment’s preliminary research led to a detailed investigation of the geothermal cooling potential of the aquifer under London for London Underground. It was at a meeting about this work that LSBU and international engineering constancy Parson Brinckerhoff (PB) decided to collaborate.

As Maidment explains “We were both working for London Underground on their Cooling the Tube programme, so it made sense to combine our expertise and share knowledge.”

In 2006 PB and the Technology Strategy Board (now Innovate UK) jointly invested £375k into research to evaluate candidate cooling models. In addition to generating additional revenues of £500K for PB, a key outcome of this project was the design and development of a pilot ground source cooling system which was installed at a tube station in 2007. It confirmed the promise of the initial research and demonstrated significant local reductions in platform temperature (3°C).

Perhaps most importantly the pilot provided LU with reassurance and confidence that the technology was viable. As a result they went on to commission and install two further schemes.

The first at Green Park tube station has been recognised for its environmental impact through an Environment Innovation Award.

Aspects of the technology developed at the Green Park and Victoria schemes were incorporated into an installation at Oxford Circus now providing a more comfortable, lower cost and efficient travel system for passengers. LU is now investigating 15 sites for groundwater cooling on the Northern line. LSBU has also helped LU develop their state of the art cooling technologies for new trains, with significant development work by Dr Alex Paurine being implemented.

Get in touch 1918 Testimonials

Get in touch to talk about how we can develop your business and meet your sustainability goals.

T 020 7815 6992E sci@lsbu.ac.uk

Introducing and embedding change into a company is always challenging and sometimes a little scary, so we often just stick with the status quo. But opportunities through change management can be realised with LSBU and the KTP programme. LSBU will lead the application process and identification of a suitable project associate to act as the conduit for knowledge transfer between university and company. We are just completing our second very successful KTP with LSBU. Not only have we managed essential change processes benefitting the companies efficiency and profitability, but also gained a highly competent and valuable team member in the associate. Companies embracing the KTP programme with LSBU, along with a good associate can turn an opportunity into a reality.

Ian Wood, Managing Director, Adande Refrigeration

“

London South Bank University Research, Enterprise & Innovation 6 St George’s Circus, London SE1 6FE

T 020 7815 6992 E sci@lsbu.ac.uk

www.lsbu.ac.uk/sci