Oliver Novakovic of Barratt Developments takes us inside the Energy House 2.0 test project in Salford, focusing on eHome2 – the three-bedroom family home built by Barratt & Saint-Gobain with a host of product innovations to take it past the Future Homes Standard.
I am standing in the future. I am in an enormous, tightly-controlled climate chamber, the largest of its kind in the world. The only other chamber to rival Energy House 2.0 is believed to be owned by The Department of Defense in the US – although this is probably classified info!
Energy House 2.0 stands on the University of Salford’s campus. To one side, it is flanked by the Faculty for Health, the campus nursery and a cafe. On the other side is acres of green parkland, which feels like a well-hidden secret, given that the city of Salford is known as being at the forefront of the industrial revolution.
The revolution happening at Energy House 2.0 couldn’t be further from the smoke-fuelled chimneys of that era. The research taking place over the next two years is designed to test clean, renewable energy sources to power the homes of tomorrow.
The Energy House 2.0 was designed and built by the university, with £16m of funding from the European Regional Development Fund and the university. The facility can fit 24 double decker buses inside, and viewed from the outside is a huge, jet black box, but with bright red trim at the entrance. You could be forgiven for thinking it is something straight out of a Marvel film – Iron Man’s latest experiment perhaps. While the reality is far more humble, the research from Energy House 2.0 could have more far-reaching consequences.
As the country’s largest housing developer, Barratt Developments partnered with Saint-Gobain and the University of Salford, a leader in research into the built environment and the effects of climate change, to lead our transition to net zero ahead of Government targets.
THE RAPIDLY CHANGING IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change, water and resource scarcity are the most critical challenges of our time.
The extreme heat seen last year has broken records around the world, bringing raging wildfires across Europe, Australia and the US. A total of 28 countries experienced their warmest year on record in 2022, including the UK, China and New Zealand. Large parts of the globe have suffered droughts over the past year, and three-quarters of the world is predicted by the UN to suffer regular droughts by 2050.
In the UK, we’ve had the 10 hottest years on record since 2002. The hottest-ever day – exceeding 40˚C – was recorded last summer, leading to red weather warnings for heat. The south and midlands are predicted to be in serious, prolonged drought by 2030. This year has already seen horrendous earthquakes in Turkey and floods in Pakistan.
Construction has to transform to meet these challenges. As a leading national sustainable housebuilder, we know we have a big role to play in reducing carbon emissions and our impact on the environment. We need to build high-quality sustainable homes today, as well as innovating and adapting our designs for the future climate.
BUILDING A GENERATION OF
GREENER HOMES
Building eHome2 within the Energy House is one of the most significant projects that Barratt has ever undertaken. Along with Saint-Gobain and the University of Salford, we’re leading the way to test the impact that extreme temperatures caused by climate change could have.
We have to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, wherever they come from. With homes responsible for 16% of the UK’s carbon emissions, and with energy bills driving inflation and putting pressure on households across the country, it’s vital to green the country’s housing stock.
We need to innovate and test low carbon technologies to find solutions that make being green easy and cheap for everyone. We need to have enough suppliers, with products such as air source heat pumps, available at the scale and price required to meet demand. We need a skilled workforce to install and maintain this technology.
And we need the electricity grid to be ready to take the strain, with the capacity to cope as we shift to electricity.
With the cost of living higher than for generations, we need consumers to come on the journey too. As we transition to the Future Homes Standard, there is an urgent need to prepare people for what will be needed in a zero carbon world – and more sustainable living.
Creating eHome2 will create a new blueprint for building homes at volume that are capable of operating at net zero carbon level, consuming far less water, and creating less waste. At times like this, with the cost of energy at a critical point, new solutions to create comfortable, efficient homes that will cost consumers far less to heat are essential.
COMMITTED TO LEADING SUSTAINABILITY
To build a sustainable business that delivers value for shareholders, employees, partners and communities, we must act responsibly. Our approach to sustainability will help us to maximise long term value for communities, the environment and for the economy.
To embed sustainability throughout Barratt, we are focused on the issues that matter to our customers, shareholders, employees and other key stakeholders, and have set long-term goals that define an ambitious future research and innovation road map.
Barratt was the first national housebuilder to set science-based carbon reduction targets, along with a number of other sector-leading commitments across our supply chain. This is led by a commitment for all of the homes that we build to be zero carbon from 2030 and for Barratt to be net zero in our operations by 2040.
Barratt is continuously working alongside the Future Homes Hub, and challenging our supply chain to become more innovative and support the sector to achieve its sustainability goals. A key part of this is the Supply Chain Sustainability School, a transformative partnership in the construction sector that enables companies large and small to share learnings and drive change.
SPEEDING-UP CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH
The specially-built climate chamber at Energy House 2.0 is recreating temperatures ranging from -20˚C to +40˚C, as well as simulating wind, rain, snow and solar radiation. The chamber enables us to perform testing within a few months that would ordinarily take years.
The data will help to inform how the wider housebuilding sector can design homes that are future-proof, while cutting bills for consumers.
We’ve begun the first set of research at eHome2, using 95 sensors and kilometres of cables to provide accurate data that will inform the construction sector around the world. Over the coming months, we’ll also have people staying in the home to provide a real world view of the technology and comfort levels in the homes. Just last week, we had a BBC reporter stay in the house – the first real road test.
So far, the eHome2 is performing as predicted. The first set of robust data will be released later this year.
The 18-month project will inform us to build net zero housing at scale, using off-site methods of construction and lower carbon products that reduce the impact on the planet.
BUILDING ON ZED HOUSE
The built environment accounts for 40% of the UK’s carbon footprint. Achieving the Government’s carbon reduction targets will require a step-change in the design of new homes. Barratt, Saint-Gobain and The University of Salford are working together to create a blueprint for future homes, including working in partnership to develop new low carbon products, such as the use of timber and render, instead of brick and block.
The Energy House is the next step from Barratt’s zero carbon concept home, known as Zed House, to integrate new and improved products and technologies into eHome2. Zed House, built in collaboration with the University of Salford and 40 innovation partners, reduced embodied carbon by 125%.
SPOTLIGHT ON INNOVATIONS
eHome2 is being built with an advanced timber frame solution, pre-insulated walls installed at the factory, and lightweight render-based bricks. The house was built in 14 weeks – half the time it takes to build a standard home.
MMC
eHome2 has used an advanced closed panel timber frame solution which can be pre-clad. The application of advanced MMC and lightweight cladding has reduced built time by 40% compared to an equivalent masonry build. The skills required to deliver the building are also different, again impacting our mix of trades on site.
A FABRIC-FIRST APPROACH
Barratt believes that a fabric-first approach to building design, which involves maximising the performance of the materials that make up the building itself, is the key to building sustainably. eHome2 is built using a high-performing timber frame system – Scotframe’s I-Stud timber frame system – which meets Future Home Standard thermal values.
WHOLE LIFE CARBON
eHome2 achieves 100% reduction in operational carbon through the use of solar PV and an air source heat pump. The embodied carbon of the building is also significantly reduced through the use of a brick slip system, which has significantly lower embodied carbon compared to traditional brick. This brick system also lowers the whole life carbon impact in areas such as transport and waste. The reduction in brick thickness on the exterior of the building, also means we can add more insulation.
DUAL HEATING
eHome2 has the ability to switch between heat sources and renewable technologies, easily via the Smart Home app. The house is trialling two completely different innovative systems.
As an alternative to radiators, which can look unattractive and hinder where you place your furniture, the house has a combination of an electric-based system of Infrared Panels on walls combined with an air source heat pump for hot water. In addition to this, the house is trialling a truly innovative Thermaskirt system that heats skirting boards – both creating a more ambient heat in a room combined with a Vaillant aroTHERM air source heat pump, which provides both heat and hot water.
DUAL VENTILATION
The home has two systems installed within the home to demonstrate the impact on internal air quality. Firstly, Vent-Axia Multivent, a centralised ventilation system, as well as Vent-Axia Sentinel Kinetic Advance Mechanical ventilation heat recovery system, supplying pre-heated fresh air to all habitable rooms while extracting from wet areas. The smart controls enable homeowners to switch between the two systems. This is part of Barratt’s commitment to use products within the house that deliver healthier environments for people by improving the air quality.
SMART HOME CONTROLS
With the average consumer fitting a lot of technology in the modern home, there is a potential for conflict between technologies, with multiple apps or interfaces on the wall.
The revolutionary Loxone control system automates the eHome2 to maximise the efficiency of all technologies installed without any input required from the homeowner – this is the ‘brain’ of
the home.
The smart system controls everything from heating to TVs, lighting, audio and window blinds. Loxone can use excess PV generation to heat the hot water or charge the electric vehicle for free. It can detect that your teenager has left on the lights and it can turn off the heating when you are in the office.
With extreme temperatures becoming more common, the system can passively heat rooms using solar gain by lifting the blinds before bringing on the heat source or in a heatwave, it can also cool rooms automatically by tracking the trajectory of the sun to make the home comfortable and efficient. The system can be controlled automatically, through sensors or voice commands, through smart home devices, such as Google and Alexa.
The eHome2 has lots of smart technology that will make our customers more comfortable in the future. Bigger than this, is the fact that Energy House 2.0 is a critical piece of new research infrastructure.
The growing challenges of climate change and the cost of living crisis mean that we need to consider how we build and operate our homes. As the cost of gas and electricity continues to be unstable, this work is even more important to create a sustainable and economically viable future for this country and the world.
Oliver Novakovic is technical & innovation director at Barratt Developments
HARNESSING THE POWER OF RESEARCH AT ENERGY HOUSE 2.0
Professor Will Swan, director of Energy House Labs at the University of Salford comments:“The growing challenges of climate change and the cost of living crisis mean we need to consider how we build and operate our homes. Energy House Labs’ mission is to work with industry and policy makers to provide evidence for what works.”
“Energy efficient, high performing homes can change people’s lives. The importance of this agenda is one of the main reasons behind the University of Salford’s major investment in Energy House 2.0, which is a critical piece of research infrastructure that can help usfind solutions to these problems.”
Richard Fitton, professor in building performance at the University of Salford, adds: “The development of Energy House 2.0 has taken over six years and £16 million of funding.”
He concludes: “Our work with some of the largest housebuilders and product manufacturers in the UK will help to answer difficult questions about how we reach the zero carbon target in future housing.The facility will help us to stress test these buildings under extreme hot and cold climates, to provide data on energy efficiency and overheating in homes.”
EHOME2 RUNNING COSTS (COMPARED WITH A ‘TYPICAL OLDER HOME’):
- Using current energy costs, eHome2 would be £85 per month
- A Barratt new home sold today would be £105 per month
- A Victorian house would be £250 to £350 per month