Friends of Energy House 2.0
To celebrate the launch of the new Energy House 2.0 facility, the University of Salford launched the Friends of Energy House 2.0 community, a group of like-minded businesses and individuals who are committed to accelerating our efforts towards net-zero.
Energy House 2.0, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, is a one-of-a-kind, world-leading research facility that is forging the way in making our buildings carbon neutral. The built environment accounts for 40% of the UK’s carbon footprint; to achieve net-zero by 2038 in Greater Manchester, we need to be building better and building smarter. Energy House 2.0 will facilitate a step-change in the design of buildings, such as our homes, helping us to live more sustainably in low carbon environments.
Harnessing the influence and research of Energy House 2.0, the work of the Friends will centre around an Impact Fund which will support projects that extended the expertise and activity of the facility located at the heart of the University’s campus directly into the community.
Friends of Energy House 2.0 Impact Fund
To become a Friend of Energy House 2.0, we asked for a philanthropic donation of either £5,000 or £10,000 to our Friends of Energy House 2.0 Impact Fund.
The Impact Fund was designed to support areas critical to the advancement of our national and global move towards net-zero, funding projects that focus on the following areas:
1) DIVERSIFICATION OF THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY WORKFORCE
In the UK alone, there is a need for 400,000 roles within the Net Zero Energy Workforce over the next 30 years, which will require new individuals moving into the sector. There is also a demand to diversify the workforce – a PWC and POWERful Women report released in May 2021 found that only 18 the top 80 UK energy companies they surveyed had any female executive directors, and across the renewable energy sector, women make up just 32% of the workforce.
To help diversify the sector, we will fund a new PhD Scholarship at the University, specifically focused on attracting and supporting more females in the STEM and energy efficiency sectors.
2) EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAMMES
We heard from young voices across the globe, through the Mock COP26 Declaration, demanding better education on climate change in Schools. Research conducted by YouGov and Oxfam found that 75% of teachers feel they haven’t received adequate training to educate students about climate change and 69% think there should be more teaching about it in schools.
To help equip young people with the skills, knowledge, and tools they need to learn about, question, and tackle some of the big challenges around green energy and climate change, by funding non-profits to deliver educational outreach projects across the region.
3) SUPPORTING STUDENT & LOCAL COMMUNITY INITIATIVES FOR FUTURE LEARNING
We will also support local sustainability initiatives driven by our students or those within the Salford or Greater Manchester community to raise awareness and accelerate the work of Energy House 2.0.
Harnessing the influence and research of Energy House 2.0, the Friends community will centre on an Impact Fund. The Fund will extend the expertise and activity of the facility located at the heart of the University of Salford’s campus directly into the community.
In June 2022, the Impact Fund opened for applications for points 2 and 3 above. Projects were reviewed by the Independent Board Members and scored against a range of criteria, including overall impact, value for money, and long-term sustainability.
We were able to award £60,000 in funding for three projects which focus on raising awareness around sustainability:
/ Digital Advantage’s The Sustainable Box Project will centre around the creation of the Energy House in kit form to be used in classrooms to provide students with a hands-on, experimental workshop programme. This engineering kit is being developed with support by the Morson Maker Space.
/ University of Salford Arts Collection Team’s Artist in Residence will be delivered in collaboration with Castlefield Gallery and Open Eye Gallery, to support two artist residencies in Energy House Labs to highlight the vital work and engage the public.
/ Marple Education and Spotlight School of Speech and Drama’s The School Green Summit is designed to raise awareness of sustainability issues by developing the work of the Greater Manchester Green Summit to be more accessible for young people. For The Green Project, please click here.
As part of our educational outreach with the local community, in May 2023, Assistant Site Manager at Bellway Manchester, Sam Ward, visited local school, Newhouse Academy, to provide construction students with a presentation on the Future Home. The visit focused on informing pupils about the Energy House 2.0 facility and Bellway’s Future Home’s innovative technologies, and how these can help move the UK’s house-building industry towards low-carbon and zero-carbon ready homes. Full details on the visit can be found here.
Our Friends
Get Involved
Becoming a Friend of Energy House 2.0 is a public commitment to helping the fight against the climate emergency and towards the ambition of net zero.
The STEM PhD Studentship and projects detailed above conclude the first phase of our Friends of Energy House 2.0 Impact Fund for 2022. If you are interested in becoming a ‘Friend’ in the future, please contact Sophie Thorp, Strategic Development Manager: S.L.Thorp@salford.ac.uk.
The University of Salford was granted the status of an exempt charity by a Statutory Instrument passed in May 1967.