44 ENERGY HOUSE 2.0 SPOTLIGHT eHome2: to 2025 and beyond


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 anked 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 evelopment Fund and the university. The facility can fit  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 arvel film  ron an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 urope, 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  eceeding   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 oods in akistan. 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 ouse is one of the most significant


THE EHOME2 HOUSE HAS BEEN BUILT WITH AN ADVANCED CLOSED-PANEL TIMBER FRAME SOLUTION WHICH CAN BE PRE-CLAD WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK


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