The Energy, Homes and Livelihoods (EHL) ARC are hosting a two-day residential event in Cumnock, East Ayrshire, on September 17th-18th.
The “Decarbonising Heat Crucible: A Collaborative Approach to Decarbonising Local Communities” meets the ambitious plans of East Ayrshire Council (EAC) to decarbonise their social housing and other hard-to-decarbonise sites.
The EAC Community Renewable Energy (CoRE) project has funding to deliver a series of demonstrator projects in Cumnock and surrounding rural areas to encourage co-developed research. These projects aim to showcase how critical areas of community infrastructure, such as housing, transport, and waste, can successfully transition to net zero and stimulate local economic growth.
The Decarbonising Heat Crucible is designed to bring academics from various disciplines together with local stakeholders. Professional grant writers will support attendees to create research opportunities around projects within the town of Cumnock. These include the retrofit of residentials (mid-20th century, including 14 archetypes of cavity and system build construction, the majority of which predate the 1976 Building Standard) and municipal (Victorian) buildings which require installation of a district heating network that links to a range of anchor loads.
The event’s Academic attendees will represent their home institutions and disciplinary networks. In turn, EHL hopes to support building a consortium for UKRI and other funding applications while ensuring that local stakeholders will benefit from building a network of academic expertise.
The event will be residential with participants provided with a room and board at the Dumfries Arms Hotel to stimulate focussed collaboration. The event will start at 10 am on day one and finish at 4 pm on day two to encourage the geographical spread of participants.
The event is invitation-only to balance the varying disciplines needed to deliver low-carbon energy (e.g. engineering, social science, health) alongside the geographical spread of attendees. However, a limited number of spaces may become available closer to the event. If you are interested in filling one of these slots if they arise, please complete the form here.
We cannot guarantee places as we must ensure a good mix of universities, disciplines and prior experience. However, by registering your interest, you will also be considered for any similar EHL events in the future.
Learn more about the Decarbonising Heat theme