The Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has welcomed a brand new centre for low carbon technology in buildings at London South Bank University (LSBU) which will help put London at the forefront of the fight to tackle climate change.

Funded by the London Development Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, in partnership with LSBU and City and Kingston Universities, the Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings will provide a unique teaching, research and demonstration resource for the capital.

The centre is the first of its kind in the UK and will provide teaching in sustainable energy technology and building design for university students, academics and to industry. It will also be available to the commercial and construction sectors as a research facility as well as showcasing the latest in low carbon technology and design including photovoltaics, solar thermal, ground source heat pumps and wind power.

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The building itself will be cooled and heated using geothermal energy technology which will form part of the demonstration facility on the roof top of the building.

Data about the technologies will also be available to a wider audience via a web-based virtual learning facility.

The Mayor of London said: "If we are to reduce carbon emissions in London and tackle climate change, it is vital that we help the construction and design industries to incorporate energy efficient technologies into their buildings.

"This exciting new technology centre, part funded by the London Development Agency, is unique in that it provides both research and teaching facilities but also enables people to see, hands on, how technologies can be used."

The centre will be built on top of LSBU's new Keyworth II building. It's design includes features to reduce carbon emissions including thermal massing, solar shading, ground source heating and cooling, and solar thermal.

(JM)