Greater Manchester universities and industry awarded funding to drive green homes innovation

Greater Manchester universities, housebuilders and green technology businesses have been awarded £3.54 million in funding to research into improving the sustainability and energy efficiency of homes in the city-region.

The funding award for the Future Homes project is part of the national Innovation Accelerators programme, which is aimed at speeding up the growth of three innovation clusters in Greater Manchester, Glasgow, and the West Midlands. Project partners include Barratt Developments, Bellway, the Energy Innovation Agency, Q-bot, RED Cooperative, RSK Environment, Saint-Gobain, The University of Manchester, and the University of Salford.

Funding will support a built environment innovation ecosystem in Greater Manchester, with a focus on accelerating net zero emission homes through new build housing and retrofitting existing properties. The Future Homes research will make use of world-leading facilities at the University of Salford and the University of Manchester to green innovations around energy efficiency, air quality, impact on noise levels, sustainable materials, and the assessment of homes for retrofit using digital technologies.

The £3.54 million funding for the Future Homes partners will support research with businesses across Greater Manchester through to March 2025.

Project Lead, Professor Will Swan, University of Salford, said:

“Our homes account for around 20% of our total emissions and energy use so there are huge strides to be made.

“The Future Homes project gives us an opportunity to understand how to deliver low carbon and net zero new build and retrofit using unique facilities, such as Energy House 2.0, as well as drawing on expertise from our industry partners and partners at The University of Manchester.

“This is creating an opportunity for Greater Manchester to lead the way in understanding how to get our housing stock to net zero.”

The Future Homes project is part of the pilot Innovation Accelerator programme, which, led by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, is investing £100 million in 26 research and development projects in Greater Manchester, Glasgow and the West Midlands.