Energy House 1
Launched in 2011, Energy House 1 was a world’s-first. The facility is a whole Victorian end-terrace built within an environmental chamber. Conditions such as temperature (-13°C – 30°C), wind, rain, solar and snow can all be controlled. This allows the team to bring the weather to the house, meaning repeatable tests can be undertaken under the exact same conditions. The data rich environment means we can better understand how a product performance and how. In addition, as it is a controlled lab environment, we can take risks with products that are in development, as well as looking at the impact of problems such as poor installation or commissioning.
Energy House 1 focuses on energy performance of retrofit products, helping understand their performance. These can range from whole house retrofit, heating systems such as infrared or Air Source Heat Pumps, to simple interventions such as carpet or curtains. Energy House 1 undertakes both grant funded and commercial research, working with major companies, as well as innovative start-ups.
Energy House 1 Expertise
Energy House 1 explore issues of energy consumption in buildings. We use data from large scale field trials and building performance tests to construct accurate models and simulations of buildings and data analytics to look at large data sets of building and energy performance. Our Energy House 1 DEEP report 5.01 on fabric performance and DEEP report 5.02 on heating systems now available. Our team works with partners across a range of commercial and grant funded projects, providing a comprehensive offer of energy and buildings expertise.
Access Information
Access
Cockcroft is accessible through a flat, paved area leading to automatic double doors. Access into the Energy House 1 chamber requires participants to step over a large door frame, and the walkway around the house inside the chamber is narrow so, unfortunately, we cannot accommodate wheelchair users into the chamber of this facility. The chamber can be viewed either through the glass entry door or viewing windows from the ground floor corridor or on the first floor (accessible via lift).
Rest Rooms
There are male, female, and gender-neutral accessible toilets on the ground floor of Cockcroft Building.
For information on the location of this lab please visit our contact page.