How can housebuilders help the UK achieve net zero?

Barratt Developments helps South Coast policymakers understand the effects of climate change on the built environment.

The UK’s leading housebuilder, Barratt Developments, is committed to making the homes of the future as planet friendly as possible. On a recent trip to the cutting-edge Energy House project at the University of Salford, the housebuilder’s Southampton division showed politicians and business leaders from the south coast how it’s assessing the impact of extreme weather on the built environment.

Building commitments

With the new Labour government promising to build 1.5m new homes during the coming parliament as part of its commitment to rebuild Britain through major planning reforms, Barratt, through its Future Homes Hub, is working with the government and other housebuilders and suppliers to ensure that the built environment can help the UK achieve net zero.

This summer, Barratt’s Southampton division invited a group of local councillors and business leaders to visit a unique project called Energy House 2.0 to see how Barratt will use the project’s findings and how policymakers can play their part in ensuring the homes of the future are fit for purpose.

Among the guests were some of Southampton’s key influential stakeholders, including Councillor John Savage from Southampton City Council, Cabinet Member for Green City and Net Zero, along with Business South’s Group CEO Leigh-Sara Timberlake and Head of Strategy Kate Peace, Alex Rennie, former leader of Havant Borough Council and his colleague, Parliamentary Assistant and Hampshire County Councillor, Imogen Payter, and Councillor Martin Lury, Leader of Arun District Council.

As part of its mission to become the UK’s leading sustainable housebuilder, Barratt Developments has collaborated with Bellway Homes, product manufacturer, Saint-Gobain, and the University of Salford to create a £16m industry-leading project that is looking at ways that the homes of the future can withstand more extreme weather conditions. Known as Energy House 2.0, the project uses learnings from Barratt’s first net zero home, known as ‘Zed House’.

The detached houses at Energy House 2.0 have been constructed in specially built climate chambers that recreate temperatures ranging from -20°C to +40°C, as well as simulating wind, rain, snow and solar radiation to replicate the climate in 95% of the earth’s environments.

Changing habits, challenging perceptions

The built environment accounts for 40% of the UK’s carbon footprint and achieving the government’s carbon reduction targets will require a step-change in the design of new homes. Energy House 2.0 is researching, in tightly controlled conditions, new ways of powering, heating and insulating homes, while also cutting water usage. This will inform the sector about achieving a significant reduction in carbon emissions for new-build homes from 2025.

During the visit, guests heard from Oliver Novakovic, Technical and Innovation Director at Barratt Developments, about ways in which Barratt is collaborating with innovative companies to introduce additional sustainable solutions. This could result in improvements that will be cost-effective for the construction industry, while delivering significant savings on energy bills for customers.

He explained that some of the challenges Barratt faces in futureproofing our housing stock are unique to the UK. “Most houses in Europe are built with a timber frame, but in the UK there is still a perception that ‘brick is best’,” said Oliver. “So, to keep things aesthetically pleasing for our customers while ensuring our homes are sustainably built, we have developed a brick ‘cladding’ which is effectively a render that goes over the top of the timber.”

When it comes to saving water, Oliver admits our love of baths is a concern for housebuilders. “Ideally the houses of the future would only have showers but at present market demand is very much for baths in bathrooms – it’s difficult to sell houses without them.”

The use of rainwater, also known as ‘grey water’, could help with water consumption, but it’s a practice that still meets with resistance, as Oliver explains. “Grey water is perfectly OK to use in homes to flush toilets, or in the washing machine, but a lot of customers are put off by this, because it isn’t the clean water we are used to seeing in our homes. However, these are just a few of the things we can test at Energy House for future developments and trials with customers to address and change attitudes.”

The houses of the future will undoubtedly be smarter, and as electric vehicles take over from those powered by fossil fuel, Barratt is looking at how our cars and houses can have a reciprocal arrangement for fuel exchange. “We think it won’t be long until our homes can actually take energy from our EV car’s battery when needed, and vice versa,” said Oliver.

Accelerating innovation

Guests found that the visit to this innovative project gave them much food for thought. Leader of Arun District Council, Cllr Martin Lury, said: “The trip to Energy House 2.0 was a really positive experience. Seeing the innovation that’s being worked on for the future of house building is exciting. As a local authority we are always on the lookout for forward-thinking solutions and strive to ensure homes built in our area are in line with the latest sustainability credentials.”

Emphasising Barratt’s commitment to the Energy House 2.0 project, James Dunne, Managing Director of Barratt Homes Southampton Division, said: “At Barratt Homes, we do more than build modern homes and beautiful developments. We also design sustainable and energy-efficient places to live that enhance and support the environment.

“The Energy House project is a bold statement about how we as housebuilders are taking climate change more seriously, as well as how innovations can help to improve the sustainable footprint of the housebuilding sector.

“Usually, it would take years to collect the data needed to evaluate the performance of a new design or technology, as we would need to wait for different climates. Because researchers can precisely control the environment to within half a degree at Energy House, they can gather that data in months.

“This means that accurate results can be achieved quickly, accelerating the innovation process. It also means that we’ll be able to understand the impact of multiple innovations in Barratt and Saint-Gobain’s eHome2, which will give us a better understanding of how they will perform in the real world.

“Barratt is committed to making the homes of the future as planet friendly as possible, which is why being part of the Energy House project is so important.”

BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS PLC: 

To get in touch – barratthomes.co.uk and dwh.co.uk.