My idea is an art installation that is also an energy use feedback device. It could be either wall mounted or suspended from a ceiling (say, in an atrium or double-height space), and would be light-based. A series of LEDs would change colour in response to the energy usage of the building. Data from the building management system would be sent to a control unit and the quantitative information translated into commands to change the output of different coloured LEDs, e.g. turning lights green when energy consumption is below a certain threshold and turning orange and then red if energy consumption increases. A wall mounted piece could look like a piece of illuminated abstract art, and a suspended piece could look like a chandelier or light sculpture, with glass or plastic tubes illuminated by coloured LEDs.

More about me

My main interests is daylight in buildings, but I'm really interested in how we can be truly sustainable by creating buildings that are not only energy efficient, but that people will enjoy and want to take care of far into the future. I studied Building Services Engineering at DIT, Dublin, before moving to the UK in 1999 to work for what is now Morgan Sindall (then AMEC) in Stratford-upon-Avon. I then went to work for Max Fordham LLP in London, where I developed my interest in daylighting. I did an MSc in Light & Lighting at UCL and worked for Atkins as a building services engineer with a lighting specialism. I started my part-time PhD at De Montfort University in 2011 and will finish this year.