How ‘green’ homes are across Greater Manchester is the forefront of a Salford University-led study into sustainable living.
Researchers from the University of Salford will provide data on the effectiveness of measures such as insulation, new boilers and glazing, as part of the government’s Green Deal.
The homes, currently being selected, will include private and social housing from 1750 to modern builds which are part of the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) core cities programme.
Dr Will Swan – who is leading the project – from the university’s Energy Hub said: “If we are to effectively understand what difference sustainable retrofit is going to make to people’s bills and their quality of life, we need to establish the evidence base that will help inform those decisions.
“The team is committed to making sure we can not only do that, but work with our partners to ensure that real learning takes place.”
Working with the DECC, data collected will include the use of sensors to understand living conditions and energy use and soft issues of how people use and understand their homes.
Households are being invited by the government to take part in the Green Deal in order to reduce fuel poverty and carbon emissions across the country.
The Green Deal enables householders to fund some of the costs of energy efficiency measures which are then repaid through the resulting savings on the energy bill.
Data will be collected using sensors measuring heat loss using infrared thermography along with monitors which take electricity and gas meter readings every few minutes to understand energy use patterns throughout the day
Instruments to find how insulation affects humidity and carbon dioxide levels within the home and surveys with householders to gain qualitative data about living comfort and behaviour change will also be used.
A grant of £237,000 from the Department of Energy and Climate change will fund the 21-month study and interim results will be available in March 2014 while a final report will be published in September 2014.
The university’s team will also provide guidance with representatives from the Project Programme Board and GM Buildings Group as part of their commitment to addressing sustainable buildings in Greater Manchester.
Researchers will gather data over the next few months to accurately assess the effectiveness of measures and inform the current theoretical models with detailed information gathered.
At the end of the research there will be a standardised method and set of data which can be used by DECC to evaluate the effectiveness of measures which might be available under the Green Deal.
Picture courtesy of Alex Pepperhill, with thanks.
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