Residential housebuilder Bellway has collaborated with Mira Showers on The Future Home within Energy House 2.0, a unique £16 million research facility at The University of Salford. EH 2.0 has been partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund and is the largest test and research facility which focuses on fuel-efficient technologies.
Built in accordance with 2025 standards, the home has been designed to generate significantly less carbon than homes that are currently being constructed. With the official launch of the Future Home back in January 2023, live trials then began in February.
One of the key features of the House is that its Chamber can replicate most of the world’s climate conditions including wind, rain, snow and solar radiation, ensuring that the home will be tested in temperatures ranging from minus 20°C to plus 40°C. To determine the most efficient methods of operating a home, The Future Home will test a variety of new technologies including wet radiators, infrared panels and underfloor heating.
Commenting on the project, Jamie Bursnell, Group Technical and Innovation Manager for Bellway, said: “The Future Home and the wider Energy House 2.0 project will pioneer new ways to build homes, as well as teach us how we can live in a more environmentally-friendly and cost-conscious way. We have collaborated with many of our suppliers to bring together a wide variety of innovations that can reduce the carbon emissions generated by our homes. The testing will teach us more about which are most effective in varying climate conditions.”
Jamie Bursnell continued, “In addition to limiting carbon emissions, we understand that people who buy our homes will be conscious of their energy bills. How we manage the cost of running the home will therefore be an important component of the research.”
Marcus Hudd, Senior Product Manager at Mira Showers, added “We are delighted to be collaborating with Bellway and The University of Salford on this innovative project, designed to help UK housebuilders meet their sustainability targets. Results from the study will be fed back into our product development programmes to refine future technologies.”
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