ENERGY HOUSE 2.0, a leading £16m research facility for the development of new low-carbon homes and retrofit technologies at The University of Salford, has achieved practical completion. This follows the end of the construction phase of the main building, with the next stage of the construction focusing on the four homes inside the building, which will provide the test bed for the climatic and energy related research.
Property, construction, and infrastructure consultancy Perfect Circle was appointed by the University to provide a range of multi-disciplinary services throughout the delivery of the state-of-the-art research facility. The project was led by AECOM, a founding partner of Perfect Circle, and procured through SCAPE Consultancy, a direct award framework that drives collaboration, efficiency, time and cost savings from one of the UK’s leading procurement authorities.
The Energy House 2.0 laboratory will be the largest test and research facility of its kind, supporting the UK in its ambition to reach carbon net zero by 2050. It has been part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). To ensure the project’s success, AECOM delivered the feasibility study, which enabled the University of Salford to initially progress the project, before going on to successfully and rapidly steer it through the planning process. The work meant the project was sufficiently developed in time to successfully bid for ERDF Funding. After the RIBA Work Stage 3, AECOM has continued to provide project and cost management and client-side technical monitoring.
David Maiden, Perfect Circle regional lead and AECOM project director, said: “This truly unique facility will be invaluable in guiding us to make better decisions for future developments and enable our wider industry partners to carry out important research. We have delivered a complex, technically challenging project, with nothing like it ever undertaken before. We believe innovation is crucial in helping the industry reach net zero and projects such as Energy House 2.0 are critically important in this journey.”
AECOM also supported the development of the hugely complex mechanical and electrical systems, as well as the performance design, which involved the development of two environmental chambers, each able to accommodate a variety of house types. The chambers can recreate a wide variety of weather conditions with temperatures ranging between -20˚C to +40˚C, including simulated wind, rain, snow and solar radiation to represent up to 95% of the populated world’s climatic conditions. Bowmer + Kirkland are the contractors for the construction of the facility.
Victoria Brambini, managing director of Perfect Circle, said: “We provide clients with speedy access to industry leading expertise, delivering innovative solutions that positively impact the built environment. On Energy House 2.0, AECOM’s existing relationship with the client was invaluable in expediting the appointment and ensuring that the ERDF funding that was critical to the project could be secured.
“Collaborating with delivery partners such as the University of Salford, Bowmer + Kirkland, Bond Bryan Architects and NG Bailey, helped to develop a solution that will bring benefits to the university, the region as well as the wider market. We are proud to have been part of this exciting project and look forward to seeing how it will support the understanding of, and finding solutions for, some of the most challenging energy and climate change issues we are facing globally.”
Mark Robinson, group chief executive at SCAPE said: “The built environment is responsible for roughly 40 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions and it will take bold initiatives to tackle this. Energy House 2.0 will play a crucial role in helping the sector – and country – achieve its net zero ambitions.
“The project sets out a clear case for the benefits of early collaboration. By identifying potential challenges and time pressures early on, the delivery team were able to rapidly accelerate a much-needed facility for Salford and benchmark project for the UK’s built environment sector.”
The finished Energy House 2.0 facility will have two large chambers and will allow up to four houses to be experimented on at any one time. The ERDF funding will also enable SMEs to access the facility and innovate in the development of energy saving products. Other project partners include Muse Developments in partnership with the English Cities Fund. It will build on the leading work undertaken at Energy House, which has enabled key changes to UK housing stock to save energy, and will offer world leading research and academic expertise in Smart Living.
The new facility will open in summer 2022.
Ends
Notes to editors:
The project is receiving up to £8,244,043 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding
About Perfect Circle
Perfect Circle is a properly, construction, and infrastructure consultancy, delivering real value with full procurement compliance for clients commissioning any aspect of their built environment or infrastructure projects.
Perfect Circle delivers the broadest range of consultancy services available to the public sector via SCAPE, the UK’s leading public sector procurement authority, and SCAPE Consultancy, a direct award framework that drives collaboration, efficiency, time and cost savings.
Perfect Circle’s wide-ranging supply chain network brings together the strongest collaborative team, enabling authorities to maximise local spend while delivering high-quality projects that contribute substantially to social value.
About AECOM
AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical expertise and innovation, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $13.3 billion in fiscal year 2021. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.
About SCAPE
SCAPE is one the UK’s leading public sector procurement authorities, dedicated to creating spaces, places and experiences that leave a sustainable legacy within the community.
Since 2006, SCAPE has accelerated over 12,000 projects across the UK with their direct award frameworks, property services and innovative architectural designs.
Working with SCAPE is all about partnership, bringing together the brightest talent from the construction industry and the local economy. SCAPE projects are collaborative, compliant and fully performance managed to ensure delivery efficiency, tax-payer value, targeted local economic enrichment and offer a direct response to the climate emergency.
SCAPE operates with a buying power of £18bn and is actively performance managing over 1,800 live projects. SCAPE is a member of the National Construction Frameworks (NACF) and in 2020, was name in ‘The Sunday Times Top 100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to work for’ in the UK.
For more information visit: https://www.scape.co.uk.
