Salford Uni signs Indian retrofit partnership
A NEW partnership between the University of Salford and the India Green Building Council (IGBC) has been signed ahead of the University’s second conference on energy conservation in construction, Retrofit 2012.
The agreement, which will include the development of a joint Masters programme in green and sustainable management, was signed at the India Green Building Congress.
In his keynote address, Professor Mike Kagioglou, Head of the University’s School of the Built Environment, said: “Our current relationship with the IGBC puts us in a unique position to act as a hub for collaboration between Indian and British companies in green construction and energy.
Salford University will hold its Retrofit 2012 conference in January, which is aimed at international academics, businesses and policy-makers in the sector. The conference will be used to prevent the findings of research into energy use and reduction undertaken in Energy House – a pre-1920s terrace built inside a three-storey, sealed testing chamber.
The house has been furnished and fitted as a typical working home with
functioning water, gas and electricity connections.
The University has been looking at the best ways of retrofitting energy-saving measures in these traditional two-up, two-down houses that make up 15% of the UK’s housing stock but are responsible for 23% of emissions.
Professor Nigel Mellors, Energy Theme Lead said: “The interest from India shows that even though a Salford terrace and homes in India, and their ambient climates, may differ dramatically, the same issues of energy reduction are at the top of the agenda.
“Whether the housing type is terraced house or a clay structure, the findings of the research we are doing here are needed as much in Mumbai as they are in Manchester.”
