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University builds terraced home for energy tests
28/05/10
Edited by Andy Jowett. Builders are to construct a traditional terraced house inside a sealed, three-storey testing chamber at the University of Salford to allow researchers to examine the energy consumption of older properties.
The Coronation Street-style building will have brickwork and roofing in the same style as the UK's 4.5 million pre-1920s homes.
It will also be fully furnished and come with water, gas and electricity supplies.
Experts at the university will conduct a range of tests to measure the property's energy performance and will use the chamber's unique climate system to generate a variety of rain, wind and solar conditions.
The project aims to generate insights into how builders can improve the sustainability of the country's ageing housing stock.
Professor Steve Donnelly, dean of the university's faculty of science, engineering and the environment, said: "We need to find ways to make these old-build properties more efficient, as they will continue to house people for generations to come."
According to the university, around 70 per cent of existing residential property will still be inhabited by 2050.
At present, around a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions come from its houses.
