TO THE TEST IN ZERO ENERGY HOUSE 2.0

“Saint-Gobain Glass is at the forefront of innovation in the UK glass and window industry. High-performance glass has a critical role to play in delivering the fabric-first solutions that other technologies rely on for the creation of low-carbon, energy efficient homes.

“This ground-breaking laboratory will play a key role in accelerating progress towards large volume, low carbon and net zero houses that are sustainable, comfortable and will cost homeowners far less to heat and run at a time when we’re in the midst of an energy crisis.

“Saint-Gobain is leading the way by making a significant investment in this partnership with Barratt Homes to deliver this project, which also includes products from other Saint-Gobain group companies. This cutting-edge research will make a real difference to people’s lives and will result in a step-change in the way homes are built and used in the future.”

Oliver Novakovic, Technical & Innovation Director at Barratt Developments, said: “With the energy efficiency of the external façades becoming ever more important, as we move to the 2025 Future Homes Standard, windows will play a critical role in meeting the regulations and delivering comfortable environments for our customers. EHome2 allows us to really understand the relationship between the façade, windows and heating solutions, which has not been considered to this level before.”

The built environment accounts for around 40% of the UK’s carbon footprint. The Future Homes Standard will require CO2 emissions produced by new homes to be 75-80% lower than those built to current standards. Homes will also need to be ‘zero carbon ready’, with no retrofit work required to benefit from the decarbonisation of the electricity grid and the electrification of heating. Energy House 2.0 is a £16 million project part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.