University of Salford wins Queen Elizabeth Prize for innovation in energy-efficient home design and tackling fuel poverty

The University of Salford has been awarded the highest national honour in education – a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education – for its pioneering research driving innovation in sustainable building design and tackling fuel poverty. 

The prestigious award recognises the efforts of the team at the University’s Energy House Labs, led by Professor Will Swan and Professor Richard Fitton. The unique testing facilities deliver critical research that is accelerating progress towards net zero housing design and helping millions to save money on energy bills.

The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education (formerly known as the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes) are part of the UK’s national Honours system, recognising outstanding work by UK universities and colleges that demonstrates excellence, innovation and benefit for the wider world.

Energy House Labs at the University of Salford is a world-leading research facility that supports innovators to build and retrofit more energy efficient houses and rapidly bring new energy efficient products to market, creating economic growth, increasing innovation in carbon reduction and helping consumers to reduce their energy bills.

The labs’ Energy House 2.0 chambers are capable of recreating 95% of the world’s weather, with temperatures ranging from –23℃ to 51℃, as well as solar gain, wind, rain and snow. This allows researchers to precisely control the environment, so data that would usually take months or years to collect can be achieved within a few weeks.

In collaboration with partners including Bellway Homes and Barratt Redrow, Energy House Labs is delivering the houses of the future – currently shaping a quarter of all new homes being built in the UK today. The team is also delivering research that is informing policy on the retrofit of existing homes to enable ageing properties to become significantly more energy efficient, with 65% of homes in the UK built before 1990.

Since Energy House Labs was established, the team has collaborated with hundreds of businesses, from start-ups with brand new ideas to large multi-national corporations, including over 50 businesses that have benefitted from a £3 million Innovation Accelerator programme funded by UK Research and Innovation.

Professor Nic Beech, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Salford, said: “We are deeply honoured to receive a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education. The University has a focus on sustainability and this award is recognition of the extraordinary talent and dedication of our researchers at Energy House Labs, who are accelerating the transition to net-zero building design and delivering solutions that address one of society’s most urgent challenges – fuel poverty.

“At Salford, we believe that innovation and social responsibility must go hand-in-hand. We are firmly committed to research that not only shapes a more sustainable future, but enriches the lives of people in communities across the UK and around the world.”

The labs also conducted the largest research project ever carried out on electrical heating systems – The Future Homes study found that air source heat pumps are capable of providing energy efficient warmth for less than £2 per day. The findings are being used to inform guidance on the most cost-effective ways to heat homes as gas boilers begin to be phased out in new homes by 2035.