A centre is to be established in Wales to develop the ultimate in low carbon, low energy, sustainable construction technologies where the actual façade of buildings, the walls and roofs, are used to transform the buildings from being energy consumers into energy generators.

The Sustainable Building Envelope Centre (SBEC) will be a showcase for sustainable products and used to test and monitor new integrated heating, energy and ventilation systems on the fabric of the building.

The centre is one of the research projects to come out of the £34 million Low Carbon Research Institute (LCRI) Energy programme, which is supported by European funding through the Welsh Assembly Government.


Led by the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University and backed by five other Welsh universities, the Research Institute is designed to drive forward cutting-edge research to secure a low carbon future for Wales, create green jobs and help business to develop sustainable products and technologies

A team of eighteen people at SBEC, including staff from the LCRI and Corus, will be involved in the design, modelling, prototyping, testing and monitoring of a suite of heating and energy solutions based primarily on photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies.

They will focus on the practical integration of these systems into the full range of building types, and will be collaborating with a wide range of development partners.

The building, designed by the Welsh School of Architecture with funding from Corus and the LCRI, is expected to be completed by October of this year.

(CD/BMcC)