Galway University drives sustainability message

Congratulations are due to Michael Curran, Chair CIBSE Ireland and Head of Building Services, Energy and Utilities Buildings & Estates, Galway University on the success of Energy Expo 2023, which was held in the Baily Allen Hall on the university campus on Friday, 13 January.

The programme for the day was both varied and multi-faceted. It included 30 stand displays from industry suppliers; morning and afternoon speaker sessions aimed at professionals and the public; networking opportunities; and a special session for children (the engineers of tomorrow) which was hosted by Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President, Galway University.

The format throughout was visitorfriendly. This made it easy for visitors to access experts with whom they could discuss everything from new-build and retrofit solutions through to SEAI grants,

One-Stop-Shops, the OPW’s Optimising Power at Work benefits, and Electric Ireland’s Beat-the-Peak initiatives.

Two separate opportunities were afforded to enjoy the Living Lab Tour. The engineering building at the university consolidates education and research activities in the various engineering disciplines into one building, which not only provides a learning environment, but in itself acts as a teaching and learning tool.

Essentially, the building serves as a “living laboratory” for engineering, where live data sets from numerous types of sensors are being used to illustrate structural engineering and building performance concepts in undergraduate teaching, and in the development of full-scale research in structural engineering and energy.

This was a much bigger event to similar ones held previously and augurs well for further development in the future.