The ERBE CDT collaborators have been an integral part of the UK Energy and Built Environment research community for many decades. UCL and Loughborough provide the premier research environments in the UK (REF, 2021) and MaREI is the first SFI Research Centre to secure an NFS-SFI and an NFSC-SFI partnership programme on energy.
ERBE PhD projects are aligned with our three broad themes: Flexibility and Resilience, Technology and System Performance, and Comfort, Health and Well-being. The links on this page provide more information about the projects within each theme.
Unique facilities include four, full sized, test houses for evaluating smart heat and power systems, supercomputers for big data analysis and modelling, hygrothermal chambers in which to study the dynamics of heat and moisture transfer. Community heat and power, and thermal and electrical storage systems, can be studied in new and existing developments. The Smart Meter Research Portal provides unrivalled access to UK energy demand data and data analytics expertise. The Irish National Ocean Test Facility for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, and pilot scale biogas and hydrogen laboratories, enable new renewable energy technologies to be studied at scale. Working with partners from the electricity generation and supply sectors, with building design and construction companies, and with NGOs, central government, and charities, research within ERBE has tangible impact in the UK, Europe and beyond.
Our world-leading facilities support a portfolio of research in excess of £30 million. ERBE students are aligned with our most significant research projects, many of which are supported by stakeholder partners. With over 50 academic supervisors on hand, our students are assured the most learned supervision available.