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.
Energy House 2.0 expands the already established world leading work and partnerships at the University of Salford, creating an international whole building test facility to investigate the future of housing, looking at issues such as offsite construction, smart homes and energy use. Energy House 2.0 contains two environmental chambers with the ability to achieve temperatures of between -20˚C to +40˚C and simulated wind, rain, snow, and solar light. The facility will target a global market, with environmental conditions of 95% of the world’s population able to be replicated in the facility. The ERDF funding for the Energy House 2.0 project will enable small and medium sized companies free access to the Energy House 2.0 facility and a range of existing laboratories to further the development of energy saving products, all supported by world leading research and academic expertise..
The build and commissioning of the £16m facility, was completed in February 2022 and it is the largest test and research centre of its type in the world.
It was awarded Project of the Year in the North West Regional Construction Awards for being delivered on time, to budget, with zero RIDDORS (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences) and excellent levels of customer satisfaction. Excellence in construction was demonstrated throughout and the judges were most impressed by the role the building will play in accelerating the progress towards low carbon and net zero design and build.
