Saint Gobain & Barratt Developments “eHome2” Baseline Performance Report

Fitton, Richard; Diaz Hernandez, Heidi; Farmer, David; Henshaw, Grant; Sitmalidis, Anestis; Swan, William

Abstract

This report examines the fabric thermal performance of a prototype home (eHome2) built through a partnership with Saint Gobain and Barratt homes. The home was designed and built to meet the anticipated Future Homes Standard in terms of fabric performance. The research was carried out under controlled conditions at the Energy House 2.0 facility at the University of Salford (UK). The aim of the research was to characterise the building and identify any gaps between the design values and the actual performance.

The researchers examined the whole house heat loss, measured U-values, and the airtightness characteristics of the home. The overall fabric heat loss of eHome2 was 3.9% worse than the SAP design model predicted, the majority of the 3.9% difference was due to the plane element heat loss, such as walls, roofs, doors, and windows, being greater than the design value. The measured air permeability of eHome2, was found to be better than the design, with an over-performance of 6.3%. When this whole house heat loss is compared to other studies on new build homes then this is considered to be well performing.

Citation

Fitton, R., Diaz Hernandez, H., Farmer, D., Henshaw, G., Sitmalidis, A., & Swan, W. (2024). Saint Gobain & Barratt Developments “eHome2” Baseline Performance Report. Salford: ERDF & Innovate UK

• Report Type: Technical Report
• Acceptance Date: Jan 2, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jan 2, 2024
• Publication Date: Jan 2, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 2, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 12, 2024
• Keywords: Future Homes Standard, Building Performance, Building Physics, New Build Housing