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Salford Energy House retrofit claims 63% savings

17 Mar 14 Energy savings of 63% are being claimed for a project to retrofit a typical century-old terraced house.

The Salford Energy House
The Salford Energy House

Researchers from Salford University and Leeds Metropolitan University worked with building materials producer Saint-Gobain on the Energy House project.

The aim was to prove that whole-house, fabric first retrofitting can deliver significantly reduced energy costs, lower CO2 emissions and remove 50% of air leakage.

The project included Saint-Gobain systems from British Gypsum, Glassolutions, Isover and Weber to bring high levels of thermal efficiency to the building fabric.

The solid walls were insulated internally on one wall and externally on two walls (a so-called hybrid approach), the suspended timber floor was insulated and incorporated an airtightness membrane, the loft was topped-up to current standards and the glazing units upgraded to ‘A’ standard.

According to Saint-Gobain, the results clearly indicate that payback on projects using a Green Deal Assessment could be significantly shorter than currently predicted if whole-house solutions were installed in typical retrofit properties.

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The Energy House at Salford University is a typical 1919 terraced house that has been reconstructed in an environmentally controllable chamber, in which climatic conditions can be maintained, varied, repeated and patterns monitored. Unlike test houses built outdoors, conditions in the Energy House can be replicated time and time again whatever the weather is like outdoors. The building represents 21% of UK housing stock and is classed as a hard-to-treat property due to its poor energy efficiency derived from solid wall construction.

Richard Fitton, technical manager at the University of Salford Energy House test facility, said: “The University of Salford recognises this project as the largest and most comprehensive piece of research carried out into the performance of a domestic retrofit solution in the world to date.  This is vital data, as the construction industry at large is currently experiencing issues with how to deal with the gap between solution design and the as-built performance. This research has direct impact on those vulnerable families currently living in fuel poverty.”

Professor Chris Gorse of Leeds Metropolitan University said: “The results are impressive, considering that the baseline building had double-glazing and roof insulation and would not be considered a poor example of this type of dwelling.”

Saint-Gobain director for retrofit Mark Weaver said: “Saint-Gobain is delighted with the results from the Energy House project, proving that the use of these systems, tackled with a systematic approach focussed upon whole-house and fabric-first, delivers not only huge energy savings but a more comfortable environment in which to live. We look forward to further analysis of results in the coming months.”

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MPU

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