Active Building Centre Ltd

Company description

Active Building Centre is a research and development center focused on accelerating decarbonization of buildings through the integration of appropriate technologies that can maximize both physical and psychological comfort of occupants while enhancing energy efficiency and reducing the demand of buildings.

The Active Building concept was conceived by the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre, at the University of Swansea. Their work led to the design and build of two demonstration buildings (the Active Classroom, in 2017 and the Active Office in 2018) to test and prove a range of energy and digital technologies, as well as show how these technologies can be connected in one integrated system, working together to generate heat and power for the building, and where appropriate for associate vehicles and the local grid. The success of the early Active Building demonstrators gave rise to the Active Building Centre, through funding by the UK government as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and UKRI. That support, including £36m of funding, was provided to develop a national centre of excellence working with supply chains in the energy and construction sectors; in turn supported a parallel Active Building Research Programme involving ten universities: Swansea, Bath, Newcastle, Birmingham, Loughborough, UCL, Sheffield, Cardiff, Imperial College London and Nottingham. Objectives for the ABC include assisting WG in delivering a fairer, more equal and sustainable future; enabling Prosperity for All to deliver a low carbon Wales, through transformed energy and construction sectors in Wales, and across the UK. The Active Building Centre works with national and local government, developers, energy distributors and homeowners, advising on how to most effectively deploy new technologies and innovative energy system solutions into new buildings or retrofit them into existing stock to optimise energy efficiency.

Project impact

The company has built six demonstrator buildings to date, three of which are based at their Berkeley research centre, and a further three projects: 1. The Trent Basin housing development in Nottingham - a pioneering community 'energy bubble'. Through Project SCENe it has become an exemplar in its approach to integrated renewables - community owned solar PV, battery storage and enabling infrastructure were installed at the construction stage, keeping the capital costs low. 2. ABC is supporting Carmarthenshire County Council and the Welsh Government in the delivery of a new low-carbon office and industrial development at Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire.The project is seeking to deliver highly energy-efficient, potentially net-zero-carbon buildings that are innovative in their use of renewable energy sources, adhere to 'Fabric First' principles to maximise material performance and qualify for a BREEAM 'Excellent' rating, signifying best practice in sustainability standards. 3. ABC is funding and partnering with Swansea University and the SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre on the retrofit of Y Twyni, the two-storey modular lecture theatre facility on Swansea University's Bay Campus. The active upgrade involves the installation of rooftop photovoltaic solar panels, battery storage and rapid EV chargers. The company now employs 30+ full-time members of staff across a wide range of roles and continues to seek further funding to support the government and the construction industry adopt renewable technologies to achieve net-zero.