The UK’s first centre of excellence in low carbon technologies for buildings is set to open at London South Bank University (LSBU).

The Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings (CEREB), set to open on the Southwark campus in 2009, will be a unique resource for teaching, research and demonstration of low carbon energy technologies in the built environment.

The Centre is the result of a partnership between LSBU, City and Kingston Universities, who all jointly lead in training and researching the built environment. A funding grant of just under £2 million was received from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and a further £878,500 from the London Development Agency (LDA).

CEREB will be at the forefront of low carbon building design and will be able to provide high quality teaching resources in sustainable energy technology, building design, construction and management.

These new facilities will be available to students, researchers, academics and the professionals in the built environment sector. It will also be available to those who would like to use the facilities for research and manufacturer demonstrations.

To ensure that the centre reaches a wider audience, output data from the technologies will also be available through web- based virtual learning environments through a CEREB web portal.