Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1089967
BUILD TEST SOLUTIONS A It's very clear to us that what were once tradition- ally referred to as the 'supply' and 'demand' sides of the energy industry are having to become one and the same thing. We're amidst a hugely exciting energy revolution yet as an SME with limited resources, battling with lag - gards, against corporate inertia and what often seems like needless bureaucracy can be hugely draining. The challenge is finding the ap - propriate innovation lead or champion within the larger influential organisations and working with them to help join up the dots and win some buy-in. Q What is the best way to try innovations on a huge customer base/ national operation? A I wouldn't know because we haven't managed it yet! We would be delighted to work with a utility supplier or smart meter solutions provider to deploy our HTC algorithm solution at scale. I can cer - tainly sympathise with the fact that just because something is innovative, it's not necessarily a good thing and I guess it's all about running tests and evaluations offline and then gradually building up with a series of smaller trials; using those insights to develop and improve. Q What cutting-edge technologies are you most excited about? A For us at BTS it's the as yet untapped potential of smart meters. They can be so much more than just a live energy consumption read-out on an IHD for a consumer and reduced administrative costs for suppliers. Things like time of use tariffs and other incentives through the meter itself through to linking in additional sensors and DSR functionality via consumer access devices are really exciting and the potential for added value to the supplier, the network and the consum - er is immense. Q How smart is the smart revolution go- ing to be? A There's a lot of specula- tion and ideological pro- jections doing the rounds but with things like electrification of transport and heat, growing numbers of IoT devices and ever faster and more reliable data networks you would be foolish to not recognise that the revolution is set to snow - ball over the coming years. We may only play a small part with our building performance measurement and monitoring tools but our view is that the energy sector will be almost unrecognisable in 10 years. Making space for change This section features regular interviews with small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) to highlight the work they're doing with networks and the types of technologies that are driving innovation forward. This month, Dr Richard Jack – product manager at Build Test Solutions, is the focus. GET IN TOUCH If you're interested in being featured in the new Supplier Side section, or know of someone who might be, please get in touch with the editor at alecpeachey@fav-house.com "It's very clear to us that what were once traditionally referred to as the 'supply' and 'demand' sides of the energy industry are having to become one and the same thing." l Build Test Solutions are innovators in building performance measurement. Their working ethos is what you don't measure, you can't manage and with that the company seeks to provide such capability to everyone from building occupants through to building developers, energy suppliers and distribution service operators. Q How did you get to where you are today? A Build Test Solutions is an exciting tech start-up that develops and promotes tech- nologies capable of measuring the in-situ energy perfor- mance of buildings. We're a small team but the reason for presenting ourselves here to utility suppliers and those re - sponsible for energy network infrastructure is because we believe our technology solu- tions can have a big impact. Q What does Build Test Solutions have to of- fer? A Space heating demand in buildings accounts for 20 per cent of the UK's total energy consumption, it occurs at peak times and is set to be - come largely electrified. Using our comprehensive under- standing of building physics as a basis, BTS have developed an algorithm that uses smart meter energy consumption data to calculate the whole house heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of a building. The meas - urement takes into account the performance of the building fabric as a whole and within a single value, indicates the amount of energy required to maintain a building at a stated temperature. Our view is that with this added intelligence, a significant piece of the smart grid puzzle may be unlocked. Q What are some of the main challenges you face when it comes to engaging with the wider sector and the regulator? NETWORK / 46 / MARCH 2019