greentech 2015 brochure online

Celebrate Bristol’s year as the UK’s first

European Green Capital For the latest news and events,

visit bristol2015.co.uk

/Bristol 2015 /@bristol_2015

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Innovation for a better future

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FOREWORD

www.bristol2015.co.uk 3

CONTENTS

ContentsBristol and the surrounding region has a rich history of technological innovation. The nation’s most famous engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is closely associated with the city. We witness his entrepreneurship and technical excellence on a daily basis: the Suspension Bridge, the Floating Harbour, SS Great Britain and the Great Western Railway. This proud tradition has continued over the centuries, now in areas of advanced engineering and aerospace, high technology, ICT (information and communications technology) and microelectronics, digital and creative, city innovation and, most recently, clean technology.

As an engineer and as a businessman I have found this heritage inspiring. It helps to make Bristol the ideal place to base an innovative, technologically driven company. I see Garrad Hassan, now part of DNV GL, as a microcosm of the local innovation and entrepreneurship. We are part of the vibrant sustainable energy sector which has made this region the national centre for green technology and business.

This guide to a selection of the exciting technology companies in Bristol and the surrounding region is a celebration of green technology based here. Bristol is European Green

Capital 2015 and this provides a great opportunity to showcase the expertise and successes of these companies. I hope that you find their contribution to the nation’s economy inspiring and see it as proof of how the region is leading national and international innovation. For Venturefest many of them are gathered in Brunel’s very own Engine Shed. He will be keeping an eye on us all!

Andrew Garrad Chairman, Bristol 2015

ForewordFOREWORD .........................................................................................................................................2CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................................................3INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................4THE RISE OF SUSTAINABLE TECH IN THE WEST OF ENGLAND .................................................5ADVANCED ENGINEERINGAirbus .................................................................................................................................................. 7CFMS ....................................................................................................................................................8DNV GL ................................................................................................................................................9RegenSW & Marine Energy Accelerator Programme (MEAP) ...............................................10National Composites Centre ....................................................................................................... 11Renishaw .......................................................................................................................................... 12Stirling Dynamics ...........................................................................................................................14CITY INNOVATION FirstGroup ........................................................................................................................................16 Fusion Processing .......................................................................................................................... 17Keynsham Civic Centre .................................................................................................................18HAB Housing ....................................................................................................................................20Skanska............................................................................................................................................. 21Warm Up Bristol .............................................................................................................................22Wessex Water ..................................................................................................................................23DIGITAL & CREATIVE Bristol City Council ........................................................................................................................25Crocodile ..........................................................................................................................................26Green Running ................................................................................................................................28Power Up Bristol.............................................................................................................................29Playwest ...........................................................................................................................................30Simpleweb and The Curve ...........................................................................................................32HIGH TECHAtkins ...............................................................................................................................................34Bristol BlueGreen ...........................................................................................................................36Western Power Distribution ........................................................................................................ 37FINANCIAL INNOVATIONBath & West Community Energy ................................................................................................39Triodos ............................................................................................................................................. 40Clean Energy Prospector ..............................................................................................................42ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................43


THE RISE OF SUSTAINABLE TECH IN THE WEST OF ENGLAND

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INTRODUCTION

The 2015 International Green Technology Festival, held as part of the Bristol 2015 European Green Capital celebration, involved a series of events and activities designed to promote innovative and successful green technology from the region.Greentech is at the centre of economic growth for Bristol and Bath. Environmental challenges are now core to the requirements of many new technologies. It is now increasingly accepted that commercial technology development has to also be green and sustainable. It is no longer a trade-off, but part of the core requirements.

This collection of company profiles offers an insight into some highlights of the region’s strengths in greentech. It cannot be comprehensive, but it will provide an indication of the growth opportunities in the Bristol area and for Great Britain to create jobs and inward investment.

The companies are grouped in the following five sections:

z Advanced Engineering – to recognise the region’s aerospace, engineering, materials and manufacturing heritage and strengths in innovation.

z City Innovation – the city is a test-bed for many future city innovations combining cutting-edge advanced engineering, digital and high technology.

z Digital innovation – drawing on the region’s expertise in high performance computing, silicon chip design and software development.

z High Technology – a significant growth opportunity for the region covering ICT, microelectronics and their combination in robotics.

z Financial Innovation – finance is required to bring forward new greentech products and services, and we have pioneers in the region.

I hope you find some inspiration and opportunity in this greentech introduction to the region.

Introduction How the rise of sustainable tech in the West of England is great news for our economyAs the companies featured here show, entrepreneurs and businesses in the West of England are increasingly focusing their attention on the significant commercial opportunities being offered by greentech, that is the technology which makes a positive change by reducing our impact on the planet. And it’s a great place for them to do it, as McKinsey & Co. and the Centre for Cities stated in a report last year “Bristol & Bath is the only fast growing & globally significant tech cluster in the UK.”

Greentech is profitable because it makes sound business sense. Today, the conservation of natural resources and the use of renewable resources is seen as a business imperative, not just because it is good for the environment but because there are commercial opportunities and business risks in corporate supply chains that are over-exposed to needing energy, water or other scarce resources.

In 2015, as part of Bristol’s European Green Capital year, the city has had

the opportunity to shine a light on its existing greentech businesses, as well as helping to create new ones. A great example of this was Bristol 2015’s Green Capital Digital Challenge where teams competed to develop apps and games that tackle environmental challenges.

Not only are these greentech companies improving our everyday lives, but they are helping to bring jobs and investment to the region which in turn is great news for our economy, both regionally and nationally.

Sonny Masero International Greentech Advisor Bristol 2015 European Green Capital

“Bristol & Bath is the only fast growing & globally significant tech cluster in the UK” McKinsey & Co. & Centre for Cities, 2014


ADVANCED ENGINEERING

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Bristol and the West of England has long been a home for innovative engineering. The advanced engineering and manufacturing technologies being used in the region cover an incredibly diverse range of disciplines. This includes composite materials; low-carbon fuels; metal 3D printing; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs); and cleantech from the energy and water sectors.

The action to reduce environmental impact is a thread which runs through all of these technologies; and this is increasingly a prerequisite for 21st century engineering. The companies profiled here are just some of the many in the region using these new advances in engineering to make greentech even more efficient and profitable.

Fact 1: The South West is the first region in the UK to be designated as a marine energy park

Fact 2:The world’s first series production electric plane was designed and engineered by Airbus

Fact 3:The headquarters of the largest renewable energy consultancy in the world is located in Bristol

Advanced EngineeringMakers of the world’s first series production electric plane

www.airbus.com @Airbus

The world’s first series production electric plane, the E-Fan, has been designed and engineered by Airbus, who has a significant engineering centre in Filton. It’s extremely efficient and almost silent in flight, as well as producing nearly zero CO2 emissions.

Airbus General Manager Mark Stewart says: “We are leading the way in environmental performance. As an industry we have reduced CO2 emissions by more than 70% in the last 50 years.”

Airbus plans to produce the E-Fan 2.0 by 2017, and it will be followed by the 4.0. The 2.0 will be powered by batteries alone, and is likely to weigh less than 600kg and able to fly for up to 5 hours. The 4.0 on the other hand, will be a 4-seater hybrid training aircraft with an additional combustion engine to provide extended range.

The designs for the aircraft have won several awards, including the Personal Aircraft Design Academy (PADA) award in 2014 and a 2015 iF DESIGN AWARD within the mobility category for the E-fan 2.0 – chosen out of nearly 5,000 entries from 53 countries.

Airbus

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DNV GLEncouraging and supporting growth in renewable energy

www.dnvgl.com @DNVGL

DNV GL, the largest renewable energy consultancy in the world, is head-quartered in Bristol.

Leading the way in encouraging new innovation and investment into the renewable energy market, a big part of DNV GL’s involvement has been in the development of wind farms.

Earlier this year Dr Andrew Garrad, founder of renewables consultancy Garrad Hassan (now part of DNV GL), was awarded the AIOLOS award for his career-long services to the development of wind energy.

DNV GL also recently developed an innovative Operations Control Room containing a complete suite of information about the portfolio of wind farms it manages. It supplies a variety of analytical tools that monitor the wind farms for alerts that require investigation and diagnosis.

Its commitment is strong, especially in the face of challenges to the renewable energy industry. Regional Communications Manager Ali

Ghezelbash commented: “Renewables face different pressures. Global economic pressures and a shifting energy policy landscape have led to reduced levels of subsidy in many leading national markets.”

Nonetheless, DNV GL have recently released a manifesto announcing commitments to work with industry partners in a number of areas including improving the efficiency of existing processes. It’s hoped that these actions could have the potential to achieve reductions in the cost of off-shore wind energy by up to 25%.

Supercomputer simulations supporting leaps forward in renewable energy applications

www.cfms.org.uk @CFMSuk

The Centre for Modelling and Simulation (CFMS) uses a high performance computer to reduce a company’s product development costs and the time it takes to get it to market.

Encompassing aerospace, renewable energy, civil engineering, utilities and transport, the CFMS is working on numerous projects where, as Chief Operating Officer, Sam Paice tells us,

“For every piece of new equipment introduced, there is a focus on techniques that will improve performance and energy consumption.”

For example, The Simulated Wake Effects Platform for Turbines (SWEPT) project has CFMS investigating innovative hardware to support the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software in wind turbine simulations, making them more efficient and affordable.

Sam explains: “This will provide the industry with an advanced toolset to design larger turbines and larger arrays of turbines, which reduces financing cost and allows energy primes to cut carbon emissions and design better wind farm layouts.”

The potential savings for companies using CFMS’s energy efficient tools is impressive, Sam says, as “Even a moderate user of simulation can equate to power savings of the order of £100,000 per year.”

CFMS

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National Composites CentreGreen innovation in advanced materials and composites

www.nccuk.com @NCCUKinfo

Based at the Bristol and Bath Science Park, the National Composites Centre (NCC) brings together top engineering companies and academics to accelerate innovation in the use of advanced materials in composites manufacture and product design.

Composites, with their strength, durability and low weight, provide some of the UK’s most innovative engineering solutions: from reducing a vehicle’s fuel consumption, providing ways of producing greener energy, to reducing maintenance costs in bridges, roads and railways.

Within automotive, for example, EU manufacturers will have to achieve fleet average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 95g/km (around one third less than today’s average). Much of this will be achieved by the use of lighter-weight materials and structures. The NCC is working with a number of companies to provide technology development advice for more efficient engines which, together

with lighter structures, will save millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere.

The NCC will also be helping the UK reach its target of generating 15% of its total energy needs from renewable sources by 2020 by collaborating with renewable energy developers to innovate the next generation of large wind and tidal devices.

RegenSW & Marine Energy Accelerator Programme (MEAP)www.regensw.co.uk

@RegenSW

With a wealth of tidal energy resource available right on our doorstep in the Bristol Channel, South-West renewable energy experts RegenSW is working towards giving the region the priority focus for the development and deployment of marine energy technologies.

As a member of Bristol City Council’s Marine Energy Accelerator Programme (MEAP), RegenSW is instrumental in the programme’s aims to support the development of the marine renewable energy sector in the Bristol City Region.

RegenSW’s Offshore Programme Manager Ian Godfrey tells us: “If fully exploited, marine renewable energy could eventually supply as much as 20% of UK electricity demand, saving 30 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year when compared with fossil fuel generation.”

MEAP builds on four previous years of support for the sector through Bristol City Council’s Offshore Energy

Programme and includes the Bristol Tidal Energy Forum – a technical, international and industry led network and bi-annual conference.

The programme also integrates with the wider South West Marine Energy Park (SWMEP), a programme for marine technology development, especially green energy-generation projects, established by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) back in 2012.

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They’ve been a success for dentists too, providing many other benefits including a better fit. Chris tells us: “We make thousands of metal teeth every month in Gloucestershire.”

Makers of the world’s first metal 3D-printed bike

www.renishaw.com @renishawplc

Global engineering company Renishaw has developed the world’s first metal 3D-printed bike frame for bike designer and manufacturer, Empire Cycles – producing a leading mountain bike that’s 33% lighter than the original and extremely strong.

Based in Gloucestershire and specialising in everything from scientific measurement and calibration to 3D printing and advanced materials, Renishaw is the UK’s only manufacturer of a metal-based additive manufacturing machine that prints metal parts.

As additive manufacturing is developed further, it’s hoped that it can be used across a wide range of applications to provide a number of environmental benefits including a reduction of waste in manufacturing, lighter weight products and an increase in strength.

Some examples of where it could be used in the future include the manufacture of more environmentally

friendly vehicles and transport as well as developing even lighter bikes that will encourage more people to get into cycling.

Extending additive manufacturing techniques across a wide range of industries, Renishaw has also used this process to machine non-precious metal alternatives for use in dental crown and bridge frameworks. The process is called LaserPFM and produces crowns and bridges that are free from metals such as nickel, beryllium and cadmium – making them a much more environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative to cast or machined semi-precious metals.

Renishaw

Empire Cycles

“Advanced manufacturing has produced a mountain bike that’s 33% lighter than the original and extremely strong”

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There is a wide range of city innovation technologies already present in Bristol & Bath. Companies based here are helping create smart, green cities in many different ways: smart lighting; green buildings; smart meters; energy efficiency; hybrid vehicles; intelligent mobility; renewable energy; power management; green & digital street furniture; and open data. The Bristol & Bath region also has several city innovation hubs that help accelerate the take up and implementation of these forms of innovation like Bristol & Bath Science Park; Filwood Green Business Park and Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.

The advantages for cities embracing greentech in terms of reduced costs, emissions and even congestion are clear. Here are a few of the many companies based in the Bristol region already utilising innovative greentech to make our cities a better place to live.

Fact 1: The European Commission awarded Bristol the title of European Green Capital 2015

Fact 2:The first VW Beetle to run on bio-gas from human sewage was created in the region

Fact 3:The region has one of the largest council-owned solar panel systems in the UK

City Innovation Advanced engineering for environmentally friendly waste water treatment

www.stirling-dynamics.com @StirlingDynamic

Stirling Dynamics provides advanced engineering design services to customers in the aerospace, marine, defence and energy sectors.

Recently, Stirling teamed up with green start-up Industrial Phycology to provide engineering expertise to its innovative and environmentally friendly method of using algae to convert waste water from sewage works into biomass and fertiliser.

The algae consume the nutrients and minerals in the waste water, while also absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2), to grow and reproduce. This algae biomass can then be used as a renewable fertiliser or as biomass to create sustainable power – while reducing CO2 emissions which contribute to climate change.

The algae is grown in a bespoke industrial photobioreactor using advanced LEDs provided by Stirling Dynamics. The company is also supplying the advanced control system and systems integration.

Stirling’s Energy Business Manager, Peter Stirling, tells us: “The process has been proved at lab and pilot scale, and we’re preparing to commission a full-scale demonstrator system, funded by DECC and West of England LEP. This will let Industrial Phycology demonstrate the technology to industry, and move closer to commercialisation of the system.”

Stirling Dynamics

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Eco-friendly transport for an eco-friendly city

www.firstgroup.com/bristol @FirstBSA

Transport operator FirstGroup provides travel solutions for 1,000s of people every day. It operates trains, buses and coaches across many UK cities and towns – so it understands the need to have as minimal an impact on the environment as possible.

For example, working with Avonmouth-based Wessex Water, First West of England is trialling a brand new Bio-Bus powered by sewage and food waste on a route in Bristol. The Bio-Bus is fuelled by bio-methane gas, a by-product of Wessex’s sewage processing, which is how it’s gained its friendly nickname, the ‘poo-bus’!

Having garnered some really great feedback already from passengers, the team at FirstGroup are considering introducing more bio-buses to their fleet in the future. Using bio-gas replaces the need to use diesel fuel produced from finite oil deposits. It also creates less pollution and emissions which contribute to climate change.

This isn’t the only innovative green transport technology FirstGroup has utilised. Take the micro-hybrid Wright Streetlites buses, which are currently used by First in Bristol. These buses can harness power from their own braking system and use it to power lighting and passenger information systems. This makes them some of the most fuel-efficient diesel buses in the world.

Tech innovation for safer, more cycle friendly cities

www.fusionproc.com @FusionProc

Cycling is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to travel and is great for your fitness too. Yet to encourage confidence and get more people on their bikes, we need to make our roads safer – for drivers as well as cyclists.

Fusion Processing has potentially solved one of the biggest safety concerns for cyclists on the road with the Cycle Eye – a custom camera which can be placed on the sides

of cars, vans and buses, alerting the driver to any cyclists coming up alongside the vehicle.

Jim Hutchinson, founder of Fusion Processing, explains: “There are many causes of collisions between bicycles and large vehicles, but a common factor in many collisions is that the driver is unaware of the presence of the cyclist.”

The Cycle Eye is unique in that it can reliably identify cyclists against the background of road clutter and other vehicles, quickly alerting the driver.

Today, there are already five cameras being trailed on buses in Bristol, a further two on buses in London, with others fitted to a fleet of trucks and vans from a major UK retailer.

Jim has high hopes for the impact Cycle Eye will have on our roads and the environment: “We hope that widespread use of CycleEye will greatly reduce the numbers of collisions, saving lives and reducing the number of injuries sustained by cyclists. The improved safety will lead to more people feeling confident enough to cycle in the city.”

Fusion ProcessingFirstGroup

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Bath Council’s flagship civic centre provides for the community

www.bathnes.gov.uk @bathnes

As part of a wider development plan for Keynsham town centre, which has ambitious aims to boost the local economy and greatly contribute to carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction targets, the Keynsham Civic Centre was opened in the summer of 2014. Reducing CO2 emissions is important for tackling global climate change.

The centre has one of the largest council-owned solar panel systems in the UK, and produces enough solar energy for all its needs as well as generating excess energy which can be sold to create additional savings.

The council offices within the centre have already achieved an outstanding Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of 5, which is equivalent to almost zero CO2.

The flagship building also benefits the local community; 50% of the site has been given over to new public space, including a new library and market

Keynsham Civic Centre

square. The centre has also created a range of new jobs needed to staff the shops and services that are housed in the building.

For the council teams occupying the offices of the civic centre, having the opportunity to work inside such a unique and innovative building has created a real buzz.

Corporate Sustainability Manager, Jane Wildblood explains: “It’s a really beautiful building to work in and it’s fantastic to know that it’s got such a low carbon impact. There’s a real

sense of pride in what we’ve achieved and how we can now use that to inspire developers and partners to do the same.”

All images ©AHR Architects

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SkanskaConstructing with green technology to cut schools’ energy costs in half

www.skanska.co.uk @SkanskaUKplc

Skanska, one of the world’s leading project development and construction groups, has been employing innovative green technology to build sustainable schools in Bristol for a number of years now – building and refurbishing 43 schools since 2007.

Committed to using cutting-edge technology, Skanska achieved a Green Guide rating of A+ for the straw bale construction of May Park Primary in Bristol, which was not only deemed a zero carbon frame but was a first for this method of construction in the industry. It’s a method that has helped to cut the energy use of the school in half. Skanska also installed solar panels on its roof, which has generated over 20% of the school’s annual electricity requirement.

During the construction of its first South West school build, Bristol Brunel Academy, the Skanska group implemented many green technologies which have been utilised

in further school developments since – including biomass boilers designed to generate 80% of the school’s heating, intelligent lighting systems and toilets flushed entirely from rainwater using a harvesting system.

Skanska’s Bristol Project Manager, John Brennan tells us: “We know that sustainable buildings offer healthier environments as well as cutting costs, so we build to some of the highest green standards.”

Bespoke sustainable home design

www.habhousing.co.uk @HABHousing

HAB Housing is flipping traditional home development on its head. Speaking to Communications and Sales Director Simon McWhirter about HAB Housing’s ethos, he explains: “We adopt an intelligent balanced, holistic approach in line with One Planet Living principles and we’re committed to ensuring that our homes are economic and efficient to run.”

HAB Housing’s first project, The Triangle, uses a smart heating system generated via an air source heat pump and distributed via under floor heating. The homes also have mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems.

Other features include a communal kitchen garden and a car club to help reduce emissions. The green technology used at The Triangle won the 2012 RIBA award for Sustainability.

Homes from their second project, The Applewood, trialled Moixa AC-DC systems which store electricity from the home’s solar panels to power

lighting. This not only reduces the consumption of energy, but also reduces household energy bills.

With plans to develop up to 1,000 homes per year by 2019, many more will be offered the opportunity to own one of these award-winning homes in the near future, with potential projects in the pipeline from Bristol to Bicester.

HAB Housing

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Offering funding to make your home more energy efficient

www.warmupbristol.co.uk @bristolenergy

Warm Up Bristol is a four-year Bristol Council initiative focused on ensuring that Bristol’s homes are as energy efficient as possible.

With help from a £7.3m grant from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Energy Company Obligation subsidies from EDF, Warm Up Bristol is able to assist Bristol householders (including people who rent) through the process of making their home more energy efficient.

This includes initial assessments and advice on grant funding available, to providing quotations and arranging the final installation of improvements. Assessments are subsidised at just £49 and there are up to 45 measures on offer ranging from solid and cavity wall insulation to double glazing, draught proofing and new boilers.

The scheme has only been running for a couple of months, but already 3,000 householders now understand the energy efficiency of their homes

and a further 283 have completed installations.

“We want to empower as many people as we can to improve the efficiency of their homes and, where possible, enable people to generate their own energy,” says Mareike Schmidt, Energy Service Manager. “We hope to install around 30,000 energy saving measures over the next four years.”

Transforming waste food and water into bio-methane gas – fuel for the city

www.wessexwater.co.uk #wessexwater

Wessex Water’s subsidiary company GENeco, a waste-to-energy business based at Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth, built a gas-to-grid plant to inject gas generated from treating sewage and food waste into the national gas network. The use of this bio-gas can reduce carbon dioxide emissions and air pollution as well as avoiding the use of finite natural gas and oil.

Ian Drury from Wessex Water explains: “Enough gas is produced to supply more than 8,500 homes in Bristol.”

Also, working alongside transport group First, they launched the Bio-Bus – the first bus in the UK to run on the gas generated from sewage and food waste (see page 16).

Wessex Water also recently launched the Bio-Bug – the first VW Beetle to run on bio-gas produced from human sewage, which can run for a whole year on the waste flushed down the toilets of just 70 homes!

Another green solution from Wessex Water is its use of specialist robots to gain access to maintain underground sewers. The robots reduce the need for the heavy machinery required to dig up the road – so not only is that great news for road users, it also reduces cost, materials and CO2 emissions.

Wessex WaterWarm Up Bristol

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Bristol City CouncilUsing Bristol’s open data to support positive environmental action

https://opendata.bristol.gov.uk/ @BristolCouncil

As part of the Bristol Open Data project, Bristol City Council, in partnership with leading platform developer Socrata, has developed a pilot scheme to open up council data to the general public.

Kevin O’Malley, Bristol City Council’s City Innovation Partnership Development Manager explains: “Bristol has long recognised the potential of open data and has been actively involved in releasing data and encouraging its reuse since 2010.”

Some of the most visited areas on the site are visualisations of environmental datasets like the City Centre Congestion Map, a graph showing the number of installed solar panels generating electricity and a

map showing the levels of hourly nitrous oxide (NO2) as a measure of air quality in the city.

Clearly there is a public appetite for getting the lowdown on and improving Bristol’s environmental impact.

The council recognises this: “We are opening up a wide range of environmental datasets to support positive action and initiatives to reduce impact,” says Kevin. “One of the datasets we have been capturing is air quality and we have been working with the Open Data Institute to use this information to inform the council of the optimal bus routes to utilise hybrid rather than diesel buses.”

It’s an on-going scheme, as Kevin explains: “We intend to continue to load more and more data into the platform, incorporating data from other authorities and agencies to give a rounded picture of the City.”

The Bristol region is one of the most important digital hubs outside of London. Digital and creative innovation centres based in the area, like the Pervasive Media Studio, Bristol Games Hub and the Engine Shed, ensure that there is an established ecosystem for new digital and creative businesses.

The innovation shown here comes from both large and small businesses showing the diversity in the region: big data; open data; games with social purpose; and consumer digital innovation. All of these fields can be used to power greentech innovation, as the following creative companies show.

Fact 1: Over 500 million people a month see digital content produced in Bristol & Bath

Fact 2:The region’s Digital and Creative sector is expected to create 17,000 new jobs over the next 15 years

Fact 3:The Bristol 2015 Green Capital Digital Challenge tasked digital companies to develop apps, games and websites that tackle environmental issues

Digital and Creative

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DIGITAL & CREATIVE

Sustainability solution expert Kevin Ramm, who was part of the winning Crocodile team, explains: “We were shocked to discover that every school day in the UK, around 40% of primary school children are dropped off by car. High traffic volumes cause continued poor air quality in UK cities, linked to asthma and other health problems.”

Kevin adds: “By catalysing more active travel for children, Crocodile should also bring health and fitness benefits, and increase social interaction between children.”

The app could also have an expected educational benefit: research has shown that children who walk, scoot or cycle to school arrive more alert and ready to learn.

An app to encourage kids to walk to school

www.crocodile.org.uk @crocodileapp

Crocodile is a mobile app that hopes to revolutionise the school run, encouraging children to walk to school to reduce road pollution and increase child fitness. The project is the winner of the £50,000 Bristol 2015 Green Capital Digital Challenge grand prize, a Bristol 2015 initiative to encourage digital companies to develop software applications and games that tackle environmental challenges.

Walking buses and cycling trains offer a greener and more active way for pupils to get to school safely, by foot or by bike, escorted by adult volunteers. Much like a regular bus or train, there are pick-up times as well as designated stops along the route.

The Crocodile app allows parents to view the walking bus routes nearest to them, book their child into their preferred route for their children’s school, check progress on the day and confirm that their child has arrived at school safely.

Crocodile

“An app that encourages children to walk to school to reduce road pollution and increase child fitness”

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Power Up BristolThe eco-friendly puzzle game

www.natalt.co.uk/project/game-power-up-bristol/ @PowerUpBristol

Power Up Bristol is a green-energy focused puzzle game for mobile devices. It was shortlisted for the Bristol Green Capital Digital Challenge which asked Europe’s brightest minds to develop new ways for software to tackle environmental challenges.

James Parker, part of the team of six who created the game, explains: “We created a light-hearted puzzle game which challenged players to power their town (in this case, Bristol) in the most efficient way possible.”

In the game the characters need to generate and connect electricity

for cities without creating too much pollution. At the same time they will also have to avoid crazy obstacles like zombie attacks!

James says, “The game makes use of a cast of lovable characters – The Power Pack – to gently make players aware of the choices that need to be made when balancing power supply and usage against the environmental impacts of those choices and the well-being of the population.”

The Power Up team have created a prototype version for any town so that each version of Power Up [Your Town] can include local characteristics.

Fellow team member Nat Al-Tahhan adds: “Our primary aim for the game was that it would be fun, first and foremost, and that through creating a game that people genuinely enjoyed we would be able to use it as a mechanism for delivering a variety of messages about how people can approach the issues of energy use and supply in their own lives.”

Helping you to better understand your electricity usage at home and at work

www.greenrunning.com @GreenRunningUK

Green Running provides a range of products to help businesses and individuals monitor, analyse and manage their energy consumption, enabling them to make savings, lower their carbon footprint and achieve sustainability targets.

Its products are unique in that they work together to measure energy usage on a second-by-second basis. This allows individual electrical appliances to be monitored in the home as their unique electrical patterns and footprints can be recognised. Green Running products can tell you anything from how much energy your kettle is using when you make a cuppa to the cost of running your freezer for a month.

By being able to see how much energy appliances are using in real time, and the cost associated with that usage, enables individuals to identify and reduce wastage, choose more energy efficient products and

learn more about how their energy bills are calculated.

Founder Peter Davies tells us: “This is a fantastic tool for demonstrating the cause and effect of using electrical appliances, educating individuals on the cost and environmental impact of their energy usage and encouraging behavioural change.”

He adds, “For future generations, this means that they will get a true understanding of how their behaviour affects their carbon footprint and see all the benefits associated with being more sustainable.”

Green Running

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Making games to spread awareness about food waste

www.playwe.st @PlaywestHQ

Playwest are a graduate-driven videogame studio in Bristol that is on a mission to create ‘games that develop you’. Earlier this year the company put together a team that was shortlisted for the Bristol 2015 Green Capital Digital Challenge. Participants had just 48 hours to design a website, app or game that highlighted or solved environmental issues.

For the challenge, Playwest came up with an impressive retro-themed game called Super Trash Heroes where players have to tackle food-waste related challenges to progress to the next level. Waste is the bad guy in this highly imaginative game, especially if there is the chance for it to be re-used or recycled. This means the game characters are breaking open rubbish bags to collect good food to power their vehicle one minute and over-taking dirty rubbish trucks taking waste to landfill the next.

Playwest

Team member Andy King explains: “Games are powerful and persuasive experiences, especially when shared; yet are so often overlooked or misunderstood. With Super Trash Heroes we are creating a videogame to facilitate the removal of the cognitive and behavioural barriers to issues around food waste, because to change our future, we’ve got to reach the next generation.”

Andy is confident the game is a force for good: “We truly believe we can raise the level of practical awareness by busting myths around food waste and empowering people who might otherwise have ignored the issue to act.”

“Busting myths around food waste and empowering people who might otherwise have ignored the issue to act”

www.bristol2015.co.uk 3332 #Greentech2015

DIGITAL & CREATIVE

Numerous high-tech companies have established research centres in the Bristol region to innovate in Information & Communications Technology (ICT). However, the successful growth of the ICT sector has brought its own green issues. For example, the Internet, including ICT, already consumes 8% of the UK’s power and increasing consumer and business demand means this will grow. This means energy efficiency is now an integral requirement for innovations in ICT.

It’s not just energy though, high tech industries offer numerous ways to prosper in greentech, from utilising the benefits of driverless cars to combat pollution, to monitoring and storing power to increase efficiency to save costs and reduce waste. The following are some high-tech companies operating in the Bristol area that are already leading the way.

Fact 1: There are over 18,000 engineers employed in Bristol and Bath

Fact 2:The joined up nature of the high-tech cluster mean green innovators have a wealth of experience to draw upon

Fact 3:”Bristol & Bath is the only fast growing & globally significant tech cluster in the UK” McKinsey & Co. & Centre for Cities, 2014

High TechSharing the world’s energy expertise with businesses

www.thecurve.thecrowd.me @thecrowd

Bristol web design agency Simpleweb is working with business community The Crowd on The Curve, a peer-to peer platform to share ideas and innovations around environmental and social sustainability.

The initial focus of The Curve is sharing information between businesses about energy investment projects, both energy efficiency and renewable energy. By creating an easy-to-use online platform to share experiences The Crowd aims to accelerate the uptake of these projects by more businesses. Luke Clarkson, The Crowd’s Business Development Director explains: “There are now many ways that companies can reduce carbon whilst making an attractive return, but the problem is that most companies are yet to find them.”

He adds: “The aim for The Curve is to make the world’s energy expertise accessible to every organisation. We believe it will transform the way that expertise is shared and exponentially

accelerate the take up of cost-effective energy investments, which will improve energy security, reduce carbon emissions and create jobs.”

Simpleweb is taking care of all aspects of technical development and providing business development advice and support where possible. Mark Panay, the company’s founder explains: “Simpleweb and The Crowd share a passionate belief that sharing ideas and innovations is key to the future of profitable and socially responsible businesses. Simpleweb believes that the team behind The Crowd, and their established network of organisations, have the potential to make a real impact on sustainability in business.”

Simpleweb and The Curve

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HIGH TECH


HIGH TECH

Research and development into cleaner driverless cars in Bristol

www.atkinsglobal.com @atkinsglobal

The VENTURER consortium, made up of a range of South West academic organisations and companies from across different sectors, has secured funding from the UK government’s innovation agency Innovate UK to test driverless cars in the Bristol region. Cars that can drive themselves

promise to create improvements in road safety, reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, and have the potential to help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions which contribute to climate change.

Atkins, one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies, is leading the extensive research and development needed for the project.

Atkins

Atkins is looking into all aspects of public reaction to the driverless car – including concerns about how driverless cars will respond in real-life road situations such as when encountering cyclists, pedestrians and other drivers.

A big part of this is the VENTURER car trial, which is due to continue for 36 months in the Bristol Council and South Gloucestershire Council regions. Bristol-based company Fusion Processing is also part of the VENTURER consortium and is providing their technology to help manage these real-life road situations.

Project Manager, Carolyn Mitchell, explains: “Using safe on-road trials of cars and electric passenger pods, alongside an accurate virtual simulation, VENTURER will gain an in-depth understanding of public attitudes and reactions to inform public policy and signpost the way towards a safe and managed transition to driverless cars.”

She adds, “With the development of testing facilities for autonomous vehicles and their related technologies in the Bristol area, the VENTURER will boldly go where no car has gone before!”

Atkins

Atkins

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HIGH TECH


HIGH TECH

Voltage management for effortless energy savings

www.bristolbluegreen.com @BlueGreenSES

Bristol BlueGreen (BBG) has a mission to become the leading voltage management provider for domestic and light commercial applications.

BBG’s product works by stabilising voltage in properties to a point at which all applications are designed to operate efficiently. Chief Executive, Rick Smith, explains: “There isn’t enough emphasis on energy demand reduction. For every 1kWh of electricity not used we can reduce traditional generation by 2.5kWh: the difference is lost in generation and transmission (largely as heat). BlueGreen reduces electricity consumption without the need for behavioural change. We see this as not only a great environmental opportunity but also a great commercial opportunity.”

BBG has also placed its product into the heart of tomorrow’s intelligent home by integrating its voltage management with energy monitoring and wireless communications. Rick tells us “It gives guaranteed savings, and lower energy consumption.”

The positive environmental effects of BlueGreen are also impressive with a number of trials and studies on the predecessor to BlueGreen demonstrating a reduction in electrical consumption typically around 9 to 10%.

BlueGreen can also reduce the carbon footprint of the average home by 4 tonnes over the 25-year life of BlueGreen (the equivalent of taking one small car off the road for one year). In addition, homes with BlueGreen fitted benefit from longer life in light bulbs and other appliances, creating less waste.

Battery storage to capture excess household-produced solar power

www.westernpowerinnovation.co.uk @WPDUK

South West electricity Distribution Network Operator Western Power Distribution (WPD) is the largest of its kind in the UK. Responsible for the operation and maintenance of the distribution network from 230 volts up to 132,000 volts, it covers the South West, South Wales, and the Midlands.

Having such a large network comes with many challenges, with high demand and generation putting great pressure on electricity networks. A potential solution is WPD’s Sola Bristol project. This is a research and development project that has the potential to not only reduce pressure on the network but also to reduce unnecessary energy usage and electricity bills.

The Sola Bristol Project, which started back in 2012, entered the data analysis phase last year and is funded by Ofgem’s Low Carbon Networks Fund. It’s trialling a system that links the solar panels of 26 Bristol homes, five

schools and an office to their own individual battery storage systems.

The batteries are charged by the solar panels at low demand periods so that the stored energy can be used by the household at peak demand times or exported to the local network. Homeowners are then rewarded by a variable tariff for exporting their stored power and supporting the network during peak times.

You can follow the progress of the project, which will be running until November 2015, by reading the early learning reports on WPD’s website.

Western Power DistributionBristol BlueGreen


FINANCIAL INNOVATION

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Bath & West Community EnergyCommunity-owned clean energy for the South West

www.bwce.coop @BWCE

Bath and West Community Energy (BWCE) was set up in 2010 as a Community Benefit Society with a vision to create a financially sustainable, community-owned energy enterprise.

Through its 13 solar energy projects, it is delivering renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy supply services via a strong community model that will maximise local investment, strengthen the local economy and build community resilience.

Its solar energy projects range from 8KW to 2.34MW installations. Eight of these benefit local schools with free electricity, while its biggest, the Wilmington Farm Solar Array

near Bath, is an impressive ground-mounted solar array. To date, the BWCE’s projects have generated 1,886,177 KWh of clean electricity – enough to power nearly 500 average households for a year and saving over 1m tonnes of CO2.

Community Manager Peter Andrews comments: “The feedback from our community has been amazing. We have had three public share offers each of which has been oversubscribed raising over £3 million. In addition we have been able to contribute £25,000 to the BWCE Community Fund which is giving grants to other low carbon projects in and around our area.”

BWCE has no plans to stop there though, with plans this summer to build a waterwheel on the River Avon. Peter adds: “In the not too distant future we hope to be able to supply our members and the public with electricity generated from the installations that they own.”

Bristol is a hotbed of greentech innovation, and more and more companies are realising it makes sound sense to offer financing in this lucrative business area. This includes banks seeking to progress social, cultural and environmental sustainability through offering finance opportunities, or companies enabling communities to generate their own green electricity to save home owners and businesses money while also saving the planet.

The kind of financial innovation in greentech already in existence in the Bristol region proves profit and principles need not be mutually exclusive, and the companies over the following pages are some of its pioneers.

Fact 1: The estimated size of the retrofit market in the West of England is c£600m creating an estimated 800-1,600 jobs over a 10-year period

Fact 2:Bristol’s banking and insurance sector contributed £1.8B to the economy in 2011

Fact 3:Bristol is a leading financial services centre with many major international and national companies locating head offices here

Financial Innovation

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Investing in a greener future

www.triodos.co.uk @triodosuk

Triodos is a global pioneer of sustainable banking; its mission is to make money work for positive social, environmental and cultural change by connecting savers and investors who want to help make the world a better place.

Triodos Renewables PLC, managed by Triodos Bank, invested in its first South West project in 2012 – a four 2.05MW wind turbine site at Avonmouth, which provides enough power to produce the average annual electricity needs of 4,500 homes.

With offices in Bristol, Triodos have played a great role locally. Head of Communications Lisa Stanley comments: “In our twentieth anniversary year we are delighted to support Bristol as European Green Capital and the myriad opportunities this will bring, both in terms of awareness of sustainable banking, Bristol’s role as a leading European sustainable city as well as the increasing numbers of visitors to Bristol and the bank, from both near and far.”

Triodos

The impact Triodos’ sustainable banking has made is also clear. By the end of 2014, Triodos Group and its climate and energy investment funds were financing 379 different environment projects across Europe, contributing to a generating capacity of 2,100 MW of energy, or enough energy to meet the electricity needs of the equivalent of 1 million European households during the year. So for each European customer, Triodos financed the electricity needs of 1.9 homes.

“Contributing to the generation of electricity needs equivalent to 1 million European households”


Acknowledgements

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Finding smarter ways to get households producing more green energy

www.cepro.co.uk @ceprouk

Bristol-based Clean Energy Prospector (CEPRO) is developing smarter ways to get more people generating solar energy. Originally set up to provide busy people with the information to make informed choices towards a low carbon society; it has recently begun to focus on the deployment and third-party ownership of renewables.

Third-party ownership is where generation equipment such as solar panels are provided to households and businesses with no upfront cost. This encourages adoption, with the owner recouping their investment and making a financial return as the asset generates energy over its life.

Using a model that addresses the two key barriers preventing individuals and organisations from deploying solar panels, the cost and responsibility of the new technology, CEPRO has also designed Simtricity.

Simtricity is an online smart meter platform that supports organisations

deploying commercial and domestic rooftop solar panels. Funders and developers can use the platform to create and operate businesses that generate income from these panels. It also provides residents with tools that visualise the savings they’re making.

Co-founder of CEPRO, Damon Rand explains: “Before Simtricity, operating a large rooftop solar portfolio required significant resources and deep industry experience which is why third-party ownership has mostly been restricted to large solar installers. With Simtricity even small community groups can run free solar schemes in their communities.”

CEPRO is also excited about its big future plans, which will also see the company developing support for heat and power microgrids.

Clean Energy Prospector AcknowledgementsBristol 2015 Official Partners

Bristol 2015 Official Supporters

Bristol 2015 Official Partners

Bristol 2015 Official Supporters

TechSPARK is the information hub for all things tech in Bristol, Bath and the West of England region.

www.techspark.co

Designed by: www.barryhalldesign.com

Printed on 100% de-inked pulp recycled fibre which is FSC certified.

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Green cities – fit for life

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