Project 80 is a research project lead by Midland Heart in conjunction with key partners including Birmingham City University which develops homes that model the forthcoming future home standard until it becomes a regulatory requirement in 2025.
The aim of the project is to test and monitor different options when modelling the future homes standard in order to build a comprehensive understanding of how they perform both technically, and more importantly for the people who live in the homes. Specific areas of research include:
- Design options and performance
- Actual as-build performance (in terms of energy use, indoor air quality, and temperature)
- Cost analysis
- Embodied Carbon
- Locality of trades and materials
- Site waste
- Resident experience and interaction with different designs and technologies
- End user information requirements
To date we have delivered 24 new homes and explored 4 different masonry-based specifications and multiple different technologies and heat distribution methods (PV, Waste Water Heat Recovery, Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery, 2 different types of Air Source Heat Pumps, Hot Water Heat Pumps, Panel Heaters, Exhaust Air Heat Pumps, radiators, and underfloor heating) and we potentially have over 70 more Project 80 properties on the horizon.
Three Winning Facts:
- The first future homes standard developments in the country.
- Real homes built for and occupied by real people that are backed by research to provide rigorous empirical evidence to help shape the future homes standard.
- An open source approach to sharing the findings to help disseminate the findings and lessons learnt to aid in the production of future homes without unintended consequences.
