Low energy research building to open in Wales

The business, formally known as Corus, announced last night (March 31) it would build a Sustainable Building Envelope Centre (SBEC) aimed at improving solutions to energy challenges facing UK industry.

The £6.5 million centre, due to be opened by first minister of Wales Carwyn Jones, is the result of a collaboration between the Welsh Assembly Government, the Low Carbon Research Institute (LCRI) and Tata Steel.

SBEC, based at Tata Steel’s site at Shotton, Deeside, 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

Tata Steel in Europe chief technical officer, Uday Chaturvedi, said: “Buildings are responsible for almost half of the UK’s carbon emissions, half of its water consumption, around a third of its landfill waste and a quarter of all raw materials used in the economy.

“This means that the UK’s sustainable development targets cannot be met without a fundamental change to the way in which buildings are constructed.

“The steel industry can be part of the solution and these projects demonstrate our commitment to helping to develop a sustainable future.”

Tata Steel also recently announced it had decided to expand its £11 million joint photovoltaics development project based at the PV Accelerator Centre at the Tata Steel site in Shotton.

Luke Walsh