Energy House 2.0 Project
The built environment accounts for 40% of the UK’s carbon footprint and to achieve net zero will require a step change in the design of new buildings but also, more importantly, it will require a comprehensive upgrade and retrofit programme to the existing housing stock; the UK Green Building Council estimates that 80% of the 2050 building stock has already been built.
At a cost of £16m, the construction of Energy House 2.0 has been supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Office for Students.
The build and commissioning of Energy House 2.0 was completed in February 2022 and is the largest test and research facility of its type. Within Energy House 2.0 there are two environmental chambers each able to accommodate two detached houses and under controlled conditions, recreate a wide variety of weather conditions with temperatures ranging between -20˚C to +40˚C and simulated wind, rain, snow and solar radiation. This unique facility will play a key role in accelerating the progress towards low carbon and net zero housing design and builds upon the success of the original Energy House Laboratory, which was opened in 2012.
In May 2022, we will see the start of the next phase of work when in partnership with Barratt Developments, St Gobain, Bellway Homes and Muse Developments we will start building test houses inside the environmental chambers, this will be followed by testing and research programmes which will continue until spring 2023.
For technology suppliers there are still opportunities to get involved and we are seeking suitable partners:
- To supply energy saving technologies that can be quickly and easily installed into the test houses. Examples of suitable technologies could be heating control systems, low energy lighting, EV charge points etc.
- Within Chamber No. 2 there is an area (approx. 9mx5m) which could be used to site a small portable building, mobile home, caravan etc. This would then be the basis for a suitable test and research programme around the energy performance under a variety of climatic conditions.
For more details about this unique opportunity, click here.
Be part of Energy House 2.0
With the ERDF support, the Energy House 2.0 academic and technical team are working with businesses in Greater Manchester to develop low carbon technologies for buildings. The project build was completed in February 2022 and during March and April, four different types of houses will be built inside the environmental chambers that will act as test beds for low and zero carbon technologies.
For companies with suitable technologies, we are able to offer access to the Energy House 2.0 for testing and research – entirely free of charge. If you would like to be involved, please contact us at energyhouse2@salford.ac.uk.
