The project, led by technology business , will look to develop new methods for diagnosing the root causes of moisture and damp in our homes whilst developing new ways to benchmark how “energy healthy” they are.
The University’s Building Energy Research Group (BERG) will act as the academic research partner in the project. Professor David Allinson says it’s a vital piece of research: “I’m excited to be part of this cutting-edge project in an important and rapidly emerging field. Building Performance measurements can help us to identify homes that are too expensive to heat, or that get too hot in the summer, or that have problems with mould and damp.
“It’s a huge issue in this country with estimating around 904,000 homes suffered with damp problems in 2021 whilst approximately 653,000 households in England lived with a Category 1 hazard of excess cold in 2019. This means people are living in cold conditions that put their health and safety at serious risk. This is particularly prevalent in households with over-60s.
“As a team, we will build on the current state-of-the-art tools to develop new data analysis methods that can quickly diagnose the root causes of these problems. This will provide landlords and homeowners with bespoke advice to ensure their homes provide a safe and healthy indoor environment all year round.”
BTS Technical Director, Richard Jack added: “On this project we will be looking at unlocking the value on offer through the combining of multiple measurements and what this can provide in terms of diagnostic capabilities with actionable feedback and insights.
“What we will be building over the coming months is a centralised building performance insights platform where heat loss measurements, airtightness test results, U-value measurements, ventilation flow rate results and post occupancy evaluation (POE) findings can all combine and orientate around a given building address point.
“Through the combining of these measurements and insights, the research work will involve determining how to extract improved feedback on the root cause of building performance related issues and specifically what actions should be taken.
“It is anticipated that this new diagnostic package will provide a one-stop solution to deliver against the growing range of regulatory and guidance requirements which are starting to be put into place, such as BS40101, PAS2035 and anticipated changes to Building Regulations."
The project, which received funding under the Innovate UK Rapid Assessment of Building Fabric Performance competition, is due to be concluded in January 2024.