Gavin Reflects on Cold Economy Work at the IEA and the Doing Cold Smarter Commission

In May 2016 Gavin travelled to Paris to present at the International Energy Agency (IEA) Experts' Group on R&D Priority Setting and Evaluation workshop on space cooling, speaking on UK cold energy needs in an integrated system. He later joined the Experts' Group as a UK delegate. His session argued for treating cooling as an integrated system, including fitting doors to supermarket refrigeration cabinets, using waste cold and storing renewable energy as cold. The workshop also stressed moving away from high-GWP refrigerants and separating humidity control from temperature control.

He also managed the 2018 University of Birmingham Policy Commission "Doing Cold Smarter" for the Birmingham Energy Institute, which introduced the "Cold Economy" framework. The workshop is revisited in a 2016 summary report, and the commission in its published report.