Multi-million pound Energy Homes in Salford promising to save householder's money

Video report by ITV Granada correspondent Victoria Grimes

With soaring energy bills weighing heavily on our minds, Salford University has been showing off what has been described as the Energy Homes of the future.

They look pretty space age with two huge chambers, the size of two detached homes, which will be used to test how the properties cope with extreme weather conditions.

At a cost of £16m, the construction of Energy House 2.0 is being supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Office for Students. 

The build is the largest research facility of its type, using simulated wind, snow and solar radiation.

Under controlled conditions, researchers can recreate a wide variety of extreme weather conditions with temperatures ranging between -20˚C to +40˚C..

The university says the facility will play a key role in accelerating the progress towards low carbon and net zero housing design and builds upon the success of the original Energy House Laboratory, which was opened in 2012. 

Professor Will Swan from the University of Salford said; "We've built a climatic chamber and can create wind, rain, and solar heat to understand how different houses perform in different conditions. This is our big solution to the new build problem''

With reducing carbon emissions and saving energy high on the government's agenda, building firms will have to make houses compliant to future homes standards by 2025.

Professor Richard Fitton says, "That's a seismic shift to the houses we build today -  a lot more insulation, a lot more levels of air tightness, and different ways of heating the building as well, but that is the technical challenge so we are here to provide the research to say these houses are going to work under all these different conditions."

The university is working with housing developers and technology experts to test out the effectiveness of different designs.

Oliver Novakovic from Barratt Homes explained their role; "We've built this really warm coat around the house so it is 3 times warmer than a normal house."

"That means we need less heating and a change in the way we heat. We're actually putting the hot water into our skirting boards and using infrared.

"Infrared works just like the sun - it heats you - not the whole room so it is much more efficient."

Asked if this could save homeowners money, he says, "we are talking about £85 a month."

"In an equivalent Victoria home, that would be around £315 a month, so that's a 300% saving."

Some of these measures will not be widely seen until 2025, but those behind the project say the future is already looking brighter and warmer.

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