Modular specialist completes UK’s first energy-positive office

The first UK office to generate more energy than it consumes has been completed at Swansea University. The construction project was managed by modular specialist Wernick.

The new building, known as the Active Office, aims to reduce the energy consumption of UK buildings, which currently stands at about 40% of all energy consumption in the country.

It was designed by Specific, a UK innovation and knowledge centre, led by Swansea University and built by Wernick.

The Active Office combines a range of innovative technologies that will enable it to generate, store and release solar energy in one integrated system, including:

• A curved roof with integrated solar cells in a laminated photovoltaic panel;
• A photovoltaic thermal system on the south-facing wall;
• Lithium ion batteries to store the electricity generated and a 2,000 litre water tank to store solar heat.

Next to the Active Office is the Active Classroom, the UK’s first energy-positive classroom, another Specific project. In its first year of operation, the Active Classroom generated more than one and half times the energy it consumed.

The Active Office and Classroom will be linked together and able to share energy with each other and electric vehicles.

The office will be opened by secretary of state for Wales Alun Cairns. 

Kevin Bygate, chief operating officer of Specific, said: “Turning our buildings into power stations is a concept that works, as the Active Classroom shows. This new building will enable us to get data and evidence on how it can be applied to an office, helping us refine the design further.

“The Active Office is a first, but it isn’t a one-off. It is quick to build using existing supply chains, and uses only materials that are already available. This is tomorrow’s office, but it can be built today.”

Ian Campbell, executive chair of Innovate UK, said: “It’s difficult to overstate the potential of developing a building that powers itself. The concept could genuinely revolutionise not only the construction sector but completely change how we create and use energy, so the opening of the Active Office in Swansea is an exciting step forward.

“Developing technologies like those demonstrated in the Specific Active Office can play a strong role in the Government’s modern industrial strategy to create ‘clean growth’ and fulfil our mission to halve the emissions of new buildings by 2030.”

The Active Office was funded by Innovate UK, with support from Swansea University and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, and is sponsored by Tata Steel and Cisco.