A new national centre for retrofit
The Retrofit Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Centre (RAMMIC) is a new research and innovation centre led by the University of Salford, in partnership with the University of Manchester, Sustainable Ventures and the Energy Innovation Agency. It has been awarded more than 8.4 million pounds from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Greater Manchester Combined Authority's Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, part of a national 500 million pound innovation programme.
RAMMIC will explore how advanced materials and modern manufacturing can help decarbonise the UK's existing buildings. An estimated 27 million homes and 1.8 million non-domestic buildings need energy-efficiency retrofits to meet Net Zero targets. As well as cutting emissions, the centre aims to open new markets for business and deliver wider benefits, from warmer, healthier homes to lower bills and reduced fuel poverty.
BREE's role: a 1930s test house
At the heart of the programme, BREE Construction is building a full-scale 1930s house inside the University's Energy House 2.0 facility. A 1980s home is being built alongside it by Barratt Redrow, with funding for the houses from the Garfield Weston Foundation. The two properties represent the older, hard-to-treat housing types that make up much of the UK's stock, giving researchers and innovators a realistic, repeatable setting to trial retrofit products and measure how they perform.
Energy House 2.0 is a world-leading facility whose two environmental chambers can recreate almost any climate, from minus 23 to plus 52 degrees Celsius, with wind, rain, snow and solar gain. Testing whole houses under controlled conditions produces accurate performance data far faster than conventional methods, saving time and cost. BREE's 1930s build, together with the existing Energy House 1, gives RAMMIC the test beds it needs.
Innovation and impact
Working with Sustainable Ventures and the Energy Innovation Agency, RAMMIC will help innovators develop retrofit products and services and attract investment, while tackling industry-wide challenges such as ventilation and overheating. It draws on building performance, energy and acoustics expertise at Salford, including the university's new 24 million pound Acoustics Building, alongside air quality and materials expertise from the University of Manchester.
"RAMMIC represents a major opportunity for industry to come together with academia and policy makers to help shape the future of retrofit for the built environment," said Professor Will Swan of the University of Salford. For BREE, the project extends a portfolio rooted in housing delivery into the research that will shape how the country's homes are upgraded for a low-carbon future.