Energy House 2.0 Project
Since 2011, research conducted through Energy House 1 has led to important changes in the way that UK housing becomes more energy efficient. Now imagine if we could replicate the environmental conditions experienced by housing stock and consumers throughout most of the world. This would give us the opportunity to work with international industry partners and help to solve some major global challenges.
In 2018, we applied to the European Regional Development Fund for a grant to build a new, larger, research facility, and in early 2019 the Energy House 2.0 project commenced. During the project, in addition to building a £16 million, unique research facility, we collaborated with over 150 SMEs in the Greater Manchester region, who had innovative, energy efficient and/or low carbon solution products for use in the construction sector.
The build and commissioning of Energy House 2.0 was completed in February 2022. Consisting of two environmental chambers, each chamber can accommodate two detached houses and under controlled conditions, recreate a wide variety of weather conditions with temperatures ranging between -20˚C to +40˚C, simulate wind, rain, snow, and solar radiation, and will play a key role in accelerating the progress towards low carbon and net zero housing design.
Throughout 2022, we worked alongside Barratt Developments (now Barratt Redrow), Bellway, and Saint-Gobain to build two detached three-bedroom properties within one of the chambers, and in January 2023, Energy House 2.0 officially opened.
Energy House 2.0 was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Office for Students.
