Please see below for a range of the outreach and engagement activites that have been undertaken as part of the LATENT project, for further information on the research and outputs please contact latent@soton.ac.uk.

Southampton Science and Engineering Day (Southampton) 16 March 2024

LATENT researchers Karla González Carreón and Dr Philip Turner exhibited at the University of Southampton’s Science and Engineering Day. The family-friendly event attended by thousand of visitors concludes the ten-day Southampton Science and Engineering Festival At the event Karla and Philip communicated the aims and findings of the project to adults and children explaining the need for the project and the range of factors that need to be considered when developing and evaluating interventions.

British International City Heating Planning Event (Prague) 29 February 2024

LATENT Principal Investigator Prof. Patrick James presented findings from the LATENT field trial at the Architectural Institute in Prague as part of the British Embassay’s Renewables in the Urban Areas British Inspirational Forum in cooperation with the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic. He outlined how the findings from LATENT could inform city planning to enable wide spread adoption of electric heating and navigate potential network limitations/capacity. 

The Big Sustainability Expo 2023 (Southampton) 4 October 2023

LATENT Co-Investigator Prof. AbuBakr Bahaj, and researchers Dr Tom Rushby and Dr Philip Turner exhibited at the Big Sustainability Expo 2023  at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton on 3 October 2023. The team presented the findings from the first field trial period to businesses, local authorities, students, and the general public at the only dedicated Expo on the South Coast facilitating communication between leading experts and exhibitors to help organisations implement environmental impact reduction strategies.

EPSRC Network Heating and Cooling Annual Academic Conference 19-20 September 2023

LATENT researcher Dr Philip Turner presented on day 1 of the EPSRC’s Annual Heating and Cooling Conference held at the Institute of Physics, London. Philip delivered a 20 minute presentation on the progress and future work planned as part of the LATENT project outlining the major impacts/findings from the project. Other members of the research team including Co-Investigator Prof. AbuBakr Bahaj, Researcher Dr Tom Rushby and Good Energy Research Engineer Dr Suyeon Kim were also in attendance to exhibit the current findings from the LATENT project.

4th International Conference on Evolving Cities 13-15 July 2023

LATENT Principal Investigator Prof. Patrick James and Co-Investigator Dr Stephanie Gauthier presented individual presentations at the 4th International Conference on Evolving Cities (ICEC 2023) held at Southampton, UK from 12-14 Septmeber 2023. Patrick presented findings from the LATENT field trial within the Innovation in flexibility to support infrastructure session while Stephanie presented on the adaptive thermal comfort behaviour findings from LATENT in the Retrofit for the (overheating) future session.

International Conference on Sustainable Energy  16 August 2023

LATENT researcher Dr Philip Turner presented at the 20th International Conference on Sustainable Energy (SET 2023), which was held at Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK between 15 and 17 Augus 2023. Philip presented frindings from the LATENT field trial first heating season, answering a range of questions on detailed findings and implications from the study. 

CREDS – Heat pump flexibility: developing a common vision 14 June 2023

LATENT Principal Investigator Prof. Patrick James and researcher Dr Philip Turner presented at a one day in-person collaborative meeting of experts to explore the possibility of a common vision for heat pump flexibility organised by CREDS and the net-zero research network. Patrick and Philip discussed preliminary findings from the first heting season findings from the LATENT field trial and participated in two discussion groups sharing key learnings from the project and discussing key unknowns alternate approaches.

Healthy Buildings 2023 Europe 12 June 2023

LATENT Co-Investigator Dr Stephanie Gauthier presented at the 18th Healthy Buildings 2023 Europe Conference organised by University Hospital RWTH Aachen and RWTH Aachen University under the auspices of ISIAQ (the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate). Stephanie presented results from a cross sectional study which aimed to map cold adaptive thermal comfort beahviours in UK homes from the LATENT background survey.

CDT Conference 2023: Sustainable Infrastructure and Cities 24 May 2023

LATENT researcher Dr Philip Turner presented as an alumni in the opening session at the 7th postgraduate conference hosted by the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Infrastructure Systems at the University of Southampton. Philip presented a summary on the first heting season findings from the LATENT field trial and participated in an open panel on buildings and energy.

Southampton Science and Engineering Day (Southampton) 18 March 2023

LATENT Co-Investigator Dr Stephanie Gauthier and researcher Dr Philip Turner exhibited at the University of Southampton’s Science and Engineering Day at the Boldrewood Innovation Campus on 18 March 2023. The family-firendly event attended by thousand of visitors concludes the ten-day Southampton Science and Engineering Festival At the event Stephanie and Philip communicated the aims and erly results of the project to adults and children explaining the need for the project and the range of factors that need to be considered when developing and evaluating interventions.

Network Heating & Cooling Webinar 24 February 2023

LATENT Principal Investigator Prof. Patrick James presented at the Residential Heat and Solar Thermal Storage Webinar hosted by Durham University as part of the Network for Heating and Cooling established by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Patrick presented an update on the initial findings from the LATENT field trial and participated in discussion on the project and other UK-funded research and innovation.

The Big Sustainability Expo 2022 (Southampton) 22 September 2022

LATENT Principal Investigators Prof. AbuBakr Bahaj, Prof. Patrick James and researchers Dr Tom Rushby and Dr Philip Turner exhibited at the Big Sustainability Expo 2022  at St Marys Stadium, Southampton on 22 September 2022. The team presented the initial findings and planned field trial to businesses, local authorities, students, and the general public at the only only dedicated Expo on the South Coast facilitating communication between leading experts and exhibitors to help organisations implement environmental impact reduction strategies.

3rd International Conference on Evolving Cities 13-15 July 2022

LATENT researcher Dr Philip Turner presented and exhibited at the 3rd International Conference on Evolving Cities (ICEC 2022) held at Southampton, UK from 13-15 July 2022. Alongside exhibiting the project and playing the LATENT introductory video, Philip presented on “Acceptability of a heat deferral approach for UK residential heating” detailing the positive impact the introductory video and discussion had on focus group participants, enhancing not only their acceptance of a heat deferral approach but the levels of temperature and time they would be willing to allow someone to control their heating.

Degrees to Save the World – Exploring STEM! 30 June 2022

LATENT Co-Investigator Dr Stephanie Gauthier presented at the University of Southampton’s Degrees to Save the World – Exploring STEM! event held at Highfield Campus on 30 June 2022. Stephanie presented to year 12 students about the LATENT project in relation to completing an engineering degree, showing the range of disciplines within Engineering and how research can have an impact on everyday life and behaviour.

EPSRC Engineering Net Zero Week 21-23 June 2022

LATENT researcher Dr Tom Rushby attended and exhibited at the EPSRC Engineering Net Zero Week held in person at the Advanced Research Centre, University Glasgow from 21-23 June 2022. Tom exhibited the initial project findings at the event which also included panels, workshops and keynote sessions with discussions on the project aims and outputs taking place with researchers, industry leaders and policy makers.

ERBE Conference – Striking the Balance: Demand Reduction Vs Supply Decarbonisation 25 May 2022

LATENT researcher Dr Philip Turner presented virtually at the 9th Annual ERBE Conference – Striking the Balance: Demand reduction vs supply decarbonisation taking place in Galway, Ireland on 25 May 2022.  Philip presented initial findings form the LATENT online focus groups, fielding questions from attendees on the range of perspectives conveyed during the focus groups.

Unlocking Flexibility: A research, policy and practice workshop 16-17 May 2022

LATENT researchers Dr Tom Rushby and Dr Philip Turner attended and presented at the Unlocking Flexibility workshop at Newcastle University on 16-17 May 2022. The aim of the workshop was to create a forum for open discussion and collective questioning on demand side flexibility with contributions from academics, policy, industry and NGO stakeholders. Tom detailed the project aims and objectives and debated the project plan requesting feedback on the method of engagement and study.

Pint of Science – People, Homes and Drones 11 May 2022

Latent Co-Investigator Dr Stephanie Gauthier presented the LATENT project “Would you give-up control of your home heating” at the Southampton Pint of Science taking place on 11 May 2022 at Harbour Lights Cinema, Southampton. The People, Homes and Drones event Stephanie explained how homes can be connected to reduce our carbon footprint and engaged in a engaging Q&A with the in-person audience.

The Big Sustainability Expo (Southampton) 28 October 2021

LATENT researcher Dr Philip Turner exhibited at the Big Sustainability Expo  at St Marys Stadium, Southampton on 28 October 2021. Philip presented the aims and objectives of the project to businesses, local authorities, students and the general public at the only only dedicated Expo on the South Coast facilitating communication between leading experts and exhibitors to help organisations implement environmental impact reduction strategies.

Business Innovation South Expo 15 September 2021

Latent Principal Investigator Prof. Patrick James and researchers Dr Tom Rushby and Dr Philip Turner exhibited the LATENT project at the Business Innovation South Expo, held at Ageas Bowl, Southampton on 15 September 2021, detailing the aims and objectives of the project. The event was the South’s first large-scale expo where established companies from within the science, technology, engineering and innovation sectors could showcase the latest products/services available to businesses across the region.