Responsible for 25% of UK carbon emissions, the pressure is on for the UK construction industry to reach net zero targets.
UK homes built from 2025 should produce 80% less in carbon emissions than homes built under the 2013 regulations, according to the Future Home Standard. With energy efficiency at the forefront of the conversation, solutions like insulation are essential for conserving energy to heat and cool homes.
Richard Fitton, Professor of Building Performance at Salford Uni’s Energy House 2.0, said: “The UK faces a huge challenge when it comes to retrofitting existing homes. We have several million conservatories across the country, and the idea that they’re not that efficient yet still people heat them is a concern.” A groundbreaking study by the University of Salford has independently tested leading conservatory insulation provider CI Group’s unique C.H.R.I.S® system, revealing impressive results.
Prof Fitton continued: “The main thing we looked at was the performance of the ceiling. “We measure the ceiling in U-value, which shows us how efficient that element is – and the lower the better. We found that the C.H.R.I.S® system reduced the heat transfer by around 80%. And how that works when you tie into the rest of the building, is the entire heat loss of the building reduced by about 30%. These figures could make quite a big difference to the way people use, heat and cool conservatories.”
University of Salford’s Energy House 2.0 is a £16m world-leading building science facility that mimics a variety of extreme climates ranging from -20˚C to +40˚C – and can even make it snow. This controlled environment provides an unmatched setting to test energy efficiency, temperature retention and U-value.
Earlier this year, the company made history by becoming the first in its industry to secure the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for its quality management and ‘uniquely sourced, thermally enhanced quilt and hollow board system’.
“It’s really interesting doing this research because you find out about these technologies and the impact they can have. A key challenge with the future housing stock in the UK is retrofitting because we have the oldest housing stock in Europe. Some 80% of the homes that will be here 2050 already exist, and a key issue is retrofitting solutions like this one that CI Group has come up with.”
Grant Henshaw, Energy House 2.0 Research Fellow
“The C.H.R.I.S® system is loosely based on the NASA technology they use on the International Space Station. To have Salford University say ‘not only does it perform, but it performs better than what we thought it would’ scientifically validates what we’ve been saying for many years.”
Matt Forrest, Managing Director of CI Group
Visit the CI Group website to learn more about the partnership between CI Group and Salford University
To view the full Conservatory Fabric Report from the University of Salford click here
