Visit to the BRE Innovation Park (Building Research Establishment Group)

By Juan Luis Reus, Deputy Director UKTI Peru

The trip also included a visit to a very important place that is truly representative of the UK’s world leadership in sustainable construction.

I am referring to the BRE Innovation Park, situated in the centre of the main BRE Watford site, 20 miles north west of Central London.  Here we can find a world leading and ground breaking demonstration development designed to give a glimpse of how the future delivery of sustainable buildings and communities can be achieved not only in the UK but around the world.

The BRE Innovation Park features eight of the world’s most sustainable houses, a health centre of the future, a refurbished Victorian Terrace and over 400 different construction innovations and emerging technologies as well as a state of the art community landscape design.

Collectively these projects demonstrate diverse and innovative approaches to sustainable design and construction.  All share the common goal of having a low impact on the environment but a high impact on the quality of life of building and community occupants, with CO2 emissions reduction.

All us were very much looking forward to be here because we wanted to see up close how everything came together: design, construction, materials and technology.

We went inside the homes, which had the right ambient temperature and felt very comfortable and functional.  Our guide told us about the huge energy savings compared to traditional homes.

Gas and electricity consumption is being monitored in six of the Innovation Park houses.  Smart meters have been installed in houses. The project will investigate energy and carbon management in the home and work place and their impact on energy efficiency and the reduction in CO2 emissions will be studied.

Backed by an extraordinary range of facilities BRE experts test individual materials and products, building systems, engineering structures and whole buildings. Testing services are supported by expert consultancy and research capabilities.