Environmental, economic and social data will be used to address the urban challenge local authorities face: the need to improve energy performance of the built environment, to help alleviate fuel poverty related health issues and improve the local economy. This project is a feasibility study establishing how publicly available built environment, energy and social datasets can be used and personalised to plan mass retrofit and to provide targeted low carbon measures across the city. Combining datasets to map information on buildings and particular local needs, a new value proposition develops allowing local authorities to plan targeted retrofit schemes involving community groups, local energy technicians and retrofit businesses. This results in a wider roll out of retrofit measures, cheaper retrofit delivery and more effective outreach to vulnerable residents. The visible outcome will also be an easy to use prototype online tool, free to community groups and paid for by local authorities, that facilitates this planning and delivery process.

This innovation project is focussed on bringing spatial data science to the world of Local Authority Plan Making to reduce the lifestyle carbon emissions of future planned UK population. Between Bioregional (lead) and Space Syntax, we have two proven spatial models to support Local Planning Authority (LPA) decisions around the location of future housing, employment and social infrastructure. Namely, Bioregional's **Carbon Spatial Planning Tool** (developed in partnership with Greater Cambridge) and Space Syntax's **Walkability Index**. Joining the two will bring a robust, proven digital solution to Local Planning Authority users and Private Developers. This project will allow Bioregional to transform the current tool to an interactive dashboard that automatically draws on Space Syntax's Walkability Index to map the whole of the UK based on open source and proprietary data. This will produce a seamless User Experience with a robust, independent, and evidence-based methodology rooted in combining Big Data and GIS. We propose to perfect the integration of these tools by working closely with Local Planning Authorities with a current need for this digital solution and consulting Private Developers for its future use.

Green Infrastructure (GI) is the network of natural, semi-natural and managed green spaces and water features that provide benefits for people and wildlife. This includes woodlands, parks, gardens, playing fields, street trees, grass verges, green roofs, rivers, ponds, wetlands and sustainable urban drainage systems. GI offers a range of benefits, including flood protection, carbon storage, cooling, filtering of air and water pollution, space for recreation, and habitat for biodiversity. There is a wealth of academic research into the benefits of GI and a wide range of assessment tools have been developed by researchers, but many of these tools are not suitable for wider use, and there is no comprehensive guidance to help users choose and apply the best tools to meet their needs. This poses a problem for local planners, who face the challenge of developing effective networks of GI as budgets fall and demand for land for housing and infrastructure grows. This project is driven by the needs of Cherwell District Council, who are responsible for planning GI in Bicester. The town is set to double in size over the next 20 years, which will place pressure on existing GI - already being lost to infill development - but provides opportunities to create large areas of high-quality GI within the new developments, which include the UK's first eco-town in NW Bicester. The council needs tools to help them plan how to link existing GI with the new GI and the wider countryside, creating connected networks for wildlife and people, and how to ensure that the GI network delivers a wide range of benefits in the areas where they are most needed. The University of Oxford is therefore working with Forest Research to compile a toolbox of existing methods that can be used to plan and evaluate GI, and develop clear step-by-step guidance to help users select and apply the best tools to meet their needs. The tools and guidance will allow users to map and assess existing GI, identify opportunities for adding new GI or enhancing existing GI, and evaluate the benefits of these investments. We will work with local planners to apply this approach to developing a GI Plan for Bicester, and we will test the tools and guidance with potential future users in other local authorities to ensure that it can be applied more widely. By enabling planners, developers and green space managers to assess the impact of new developments on GI, and identify well-targeted cost-effective options for improving the GI network, we expect our project to have a significant impact in Bicester and beyond. Improved planning can maximise the benefits delivered by each area of GI and by the network as a whole. Valuation of the benefits delivered by GI can help to make the business case for investment, allowing more GI improvements to be delivered on the ground. A high quality network of well-designed GI can transform an area into a more attractive place to live, work and invest. As well as improving the health, wellbeing and quality of life of residents, this can boost jobs and economic development by creating new commercial opportunities in maintaining GI or running associated businesses (cafés, outdoor exercise classes etc). GI can also provide the most cost-effective way of adapting to climate change impacts by providing flood protection, shading and cooling. It can also provide opportunities for social engagement, local food production and educational activities, as well as protecting biodiversity. Keywords: Green infrastructure; ecosystem services; biodiversity; spatial planning; valuation; connectivity. Stakeholders: Cherwell District Council; Bioregional; Oxfordshire County Council; Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership; Bicester Town Council; Wild Oxfordshire; BBOWT (wildlife trust); A2Dominion (Bicester eco-town developer); Ecosystems Knowledge Network; Green Infrastructure Partnership; Environment Agency; South Downs National Park Authority; Mersey Forest.

Progress towards sustainable development is gathering pace in the UK. Many government initiatives have been announced in recent years: the 2005 Sustainable Development Strategy: Securing the Future, the 2006 Code for Sustainable Homes, the initiation of the Academy for Sustainable Communities and the Communities England Agency. Activity and thinking are also being influenced by preparations for the 2012 Olympics. Targets set are challenging, aspirations are high, but there is no established or guaranteed road map to achieve them and traditionally separate and centralised delivery of water, energy and other services may not be able to deliver their share of the improvements needed. However, synergies, innovation, cost savings and environmental benefits may be achieved through more holistic thinking, different scales of provision, by greater integration between different service sectors and through different business delivery models. So far, there are few significant examples in the UK of this approach. So, this timely research will explore the extent to which more integrated urban utility service provision can contribute to this agenda and enhance the adaptive capacity of these systems, vital to ensure long-term sustainability under changing climatic, environmental, demographic and economic conditions. This will be demonstrated by working in partnership with Ashford's Future as they deliver regeneration and sustainable development in this key area.

METER addresses a fundamental research question: "What is the temporal relationship between electricity consumption and household activities?". To date this relationship is still poorly understood. METER will address this gap by collecting electricity consumption data in parallel with time-use information using adapted smart phone technology. A detailed understanding of 'what electricity is used for', especially during peak demand periods, is important in addressing emerging system balancing challenges and to develop appropriate policy frameworks and business models leading to the cost effective integration of low-carbon generation. At present electricity is supplied based on a 'predict and provide' paradigm - so long as we can forecast 'how much' electricity is required at any one time, the fleet of mostly fossil fuel based plants can be scheduled to deliver. Little knowledge about the end-uses of energy has been required for this approach. With low carbon sources, such as nuclear, solar and wind, more flexibility may be required from the demand side. Understanding the end use activities supported by electricity becomes more important when seeking to reduce or shift the timing of consumption. Studies attempting to measure electricity use at the appliance level have so far been limited in their scale by the cost and complexity of instrumentation. The absence of statistically robust consumption data has been noted as limiting the UK's world leading research in this area. METER develops a new approach to collect electricity consumption in parallel with time-use information. Smart phone technology, developed by colleagues at Oxford, will be deployed to measure electricity consumption at 1 second resolution and ask participants about the activities they undertake at critical times of the day. The use of smart phones allows this process to be performed at unprecedentedly low costs, such that over 2000 households can be included in the study. This scale is important, because electricity uses are highly diverse and only a sufficiently large sample allows to develop statistically significant evidence for researchers and policy makers. The concurrent collection of time-use and electricity consumption can improve the accuracy of time-use research and provide new insights into the use and timing of electricity consumption and its relationship with household activities. The data and the analytical tools developed by METER will provide much needed insights into the timing of electricity uses, which can underpin a wide range of future research priorities. Among them are emerging energy system balancing challenges and broader policy challenges relying on statistically robust information about the relationship between energy use, demographics, lifestyles and their transitions over time. Findings and insights from METER trials will become publicly available as part of a public outreach campaign, including interactive online tools to explore how Britain uses its electricity and what the public can do to support the transition towards a lower carbon future.