Case Study: Smart Building Optimisation at Leigh Works

  • Tuesday, April 14, 2026
  • Posted By Energy Innovation Agency

Introduction

Leigh Works is a creative co-working and community workspace located in Leigh, Greater Manchester. Home to freelancers, start-ups, and established businesses, the space aims to provide flexible, affordable workspace while demonstrating how sustainability and occupant wellbeing can be embedded into everyday building operations.

Challenge

Prior to the project, Leigh Works faced several interconnected challenges common to many commercial buildings:

  • High and variable energy consumption that was difficult to measure or understand at a granular level

  • Inconsistent thermal comfort caused by the building’s mixed construction (fabric)

  • Manual and time-intensive building system management processes (BMS)

  • Lack of insight into how spaces were actually being used

  • Limited visibility of energy consumption by area or system, making optimisation impossible

At the same time, Leigh Works wanted to reduce energy consumption to lower operating costs, cut carbon emissions, improve indoor environmental and comfort quality, and be an example of best practice for other commercial buildings in the region.

Solution

With access to hundreds of effective energy-saving innovations, and grant funding from Innovate UK, the Energy Innovation Agency (the Agency) took the Leigh Works challenge to market through the innovator cohort in its scale-up service, and was quickly able to identify a solution; introducing Leigh Works to Nemiah, a company specialising in on-line and mobile apps, software and electronic design and development which solve problems and deliver creative, high-quality building solutions.

In November 2024, part-funded through the Agency’s Energy Accelerator for Non-Domestic Buildings programme, Nemiah delivered a CosmOS Demonstrator project at Leigh Works.

CosmOS is a Smart Building Operating System that integrates energy monitoring, environmental sensors, presence detection, and intelligent software to optimise building performance. The system was customised specifically for Leigh Works’ challenges, accounting for its co-working environment, variable occupancy, and mixed construction.

The solution enabled:

  • Real-time monitoring of energy use across the building

  • Automated optimisation of heating, ventilation, and lighting

  • Continuous tracking of indoor environmental quality

  • AI-driven forecasting to anticipate energy and occupancy patterns

  • Clear, user-friendly feedback that encouraged positive behaviour change

 

Results

During the three-month implementation period the project delivered results well beyond expectations across a range of measures:

  • 51.2% reduction in electricity use

  • 24.1% reduction in gas use

  • 12,868 kWh total energy saved during the project period

  • With projected annual savings of £5,500 in energy costs

In parallel, building occupants consistently reported improved thermal comfort and air quality, demonstrating that energy savings were achieved without compromising user experience.

 

Broader Benefits

Beyond energy and carbon savings, the project delivered a range of wider benefits:

  • Operational efficiency: Automated building management significantly reduced time spent on manual control and troubleshooting

  • Data-driven decision making: Detailed insight into space use and system performance enabled smarter planning and optimisation

  • Behavioural change: Real-time carbon-intensity feedback, including colour-changing reception lighting, influenced lower-carbon behaviours

  • Reputational value: Leigh Works strengthened its position as a sustainable, future-focused workspace

  • Commercial impact: The demonstrator generated strong market interest, including 20 enquiries, several potential installations, and approximately £2m in investment interest

Agency Role

Through our Validation and Scale-Up Service, the Agency has access to an extensive network of low-carbon energy solutions suitable for commercial and residential buildings, to tackle a variety of energy challenges.

  • Low-carbon electric heating

  • Renewable energy and energy storage

  • Smart energy software

  • Building fabric solutions (retrofit products)

  • Low-carbon transport

We specialise in identifying and understanding an organisation’s ‘challenges and needs’, then matching with the right solution provider/s. Our role is to bring innovators and buyers together, ensure clear alignment of goals, support smooth project delivery, deliver meaningful outcomes, and create shared learning throughout.

Next Steps

Following the success of the demonstrator, Leigh Works will continue to operate and refine the CosmOS system, using it as both an operational tool and a showcase environment. The site will host demonstrations and share learning with other co-working spaces and commercial building operators across Greater Manchester.

Nemiah plans to further develop and scale the CosmOS platform, with enhanced AI capabilities, broader system integrations, and a commercial rollout from 2025.

Project Summary

  • Buyer: Leigh Works

  • Innovator: Nemiah

  • Project went live: November 2024

  • Outcome: 51% electricity reduction; 24% gas reduction - (between November and February)

  • Funding: This project was part-funded through the Innovation Accelerator Programme led by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

cosmOS has been fundamental to recently achieving a 65% reduction in energy consumption at Leigh Works by seamlessly integrating all aspects of building and business operations. This holistic approach has reduced our overheads and amplified the ROI of individual systems like our solar, battery, lighting, and HVAC.

Steven Tomlinson Co-Founder, Leigh Works

Our work with the Energy Innovation Agency has allowed us to access funding enabling us to refine our AI-pipelines and integration into Building Management Systems. The Agency has also been a key partner for us, introducing us to several organisations and potential buyers.

Adam Prescott CTO, Nemiah

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