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| SEPTEMBER 2022 | UTILITY WEEK
Analysis
Model answers to net-zero
housing challenges
NGN is building a village-sized test bed for new in-home net-zero
technology and innovation by recreating housing stock from the
past century brick-by-brick.
L
ocated at NGN's research site at Low
Thornley in Gateshead, the Customer
Energy Village will see the gas sup-
plier, Newcastle University, National Energy
Action and North East Energy Catalyst build
nine homes from different design eras as a
test site for technologies with the potential
to decarbonise different housing stock and
reduce home energy use.
Drawn up with the help of Arup and Nap-
per Architects to represent the UK's total of
29 million dwellings, the time capsule test
bed will comprise three 1910 terraced homes,
two semi-detached 1930s houses, a 1950s
bungalow, two flats from the 1970s and a
detached home from the 1990s.
"We're building homes to a more than
100-year-old specification but with a lot of
smart home technology added in alongside
significant utility infrastructure – including
both natural gas and hydrogen networks
and connections to each home," Keith Owen,
head of systems development and energy
strategy at NGN, tells Utility Week Innovate.
"We're constructing these homes as close
as is possible to the building standards
of the original construction period, using
techniques less familiar to modern day con-
struction teams," he adds. "This has led to
curious questions throughout the construc-
tion when we insist on a certain aspect of
design – 'yes, do use lime mortar' or 'no, we
don't want modern levels of insulation on
this home'."
Ultimately, the nine-home village has
been built because of the realisation that
there is no one-size-fits-all solution to decar-
bonising the economy, and that utilities need
to grasp which energy solutions work best
in different housing stock and the in-home
changes that can ensure new technologies
work most efficiently.
"Importantly, we need to do this with the
consumer, rather than to the consumer, to
drive the optimal solutions and to support a
fair transition for all," says Owen.
Building high penetration homes
NGN – which delivers gas to more than 2.7
million homes and businesses across the
North East, northern Cumbria and Yorkshire
