The University of Salford has been awarded the highest national honour in education – a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education – for its pioneering research driving innovation in sustainable building design and tackling fuel poverty. 

The prestigious award recognises the efforts of the team at the University’s Energy House Labs, led by Professor Will Swan and Professor Richard Fitton. The unique testing facilities deliver critical research that is accelerating progress towards net zero housing design and helping millions to save money on energy bills.

The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Education (formerly known as the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes) are part of the UK’s national Honours system, recognising outstanding work by UK universities and colleges that demonstrates excellence, innovation and benefit for the wider world.

Energy House Labs at the University of Salford is a world-leading research facility that supports innovators to build and retrofit more energy efficient houses and rapidly bring new energy efficient products to market, creating economic growth, increasing innovation in carbon reduction and helping consumers to reduce their energy bills.

The labs’ Energy House 2.0 chambers are capable of recreating 95% of the world’s weather, with temperatures ranging from –23℃ to 51℃, as well as solar gain, wind, rain and snow. This allows researchers to precisely control the environment, so data that would usually take months or years to collect can be achieved within a few weeks.

In collaboration with partners including Bellway Homes and Barratt Redrow, Energy House Labs is delivering the houses of the future – currently shaping a quarter of all new homes being built in the UK today. The team is also delivering research that is informing policy on the retrofit of existing homes to enable ageing properties to become significantly more energy efficient, with 65% of homes in the UK built before 1990.

Since Energy House Labs was established, the team has collaborated with hundreds of businesses, from start-ups with brand new ideas to large multi-national corporations, including over 50 businesses that have benefitted from a £3 million Innovation Accelerator programme funded by UK Research and Innovation.

Professor Nic Beech, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Salford, said: “We are deeply honoured to receive a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education. The University has a focus on sustainability and this award is recognition of the extraordinary talent and dedication of our researchers at Energy House Labs, who are accelerating the transition to net-zero building design and delivering solutions that address one of society’s most urgent challenges – fuel poverty.

“At Salford, we believe that innovation and social responsibility must go hand-in-hand. We are firmly committed to research that not only shapes a more sustainable future, but enriches the lives of people in communities across the UK and around the world.”

The Energy House Labs team is focused on bridging the gap between cutting-edge research on campus and the day-to-day challenges faced within households across the UK. Last year, the labs’ research on changing the settings on combination boilers helped approximately 5.2 million households to save money on energy bills – estimated at a saving of over £127 million on consumer energy bills and over 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year.

The labs also conducted the largest research project ever carried out on electrical heating systems – The Future Homes study found that air source heat pumps are capable of providing energy efficient warmth for less than £2 per day. The findings are being used to inform guidance on the most cost-effective ways to heat homes as gas boilers begin to be phased out in new homes by 2035.

With their world-leading understanding of energy consumption in the domestic setting, the team at Energy House Labs have been instrumental in shaping policies regionally, nationally and internationally, informing decision-making around net zero new and existing homes. They have shaped retrofit strategies for 2,000 homes in Greater Manchester and Leeds City Region, and play a key role in organisations such as the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the National Energy Efficiency Taskforce, the GMCA Retrofit Taskforce and the Totally Affordable Net Zero Homes Group.

Energy House Labs has also delivered a £3 million project commissioned by Government’s Department for Energy and Net Zero – the Demonstration of Energy Efficiency Potential (DEEP) – which identified best practice approaches to retrofitting homes.

Professor Will Swan, Director of Energy House Labs, said: “We’re incredibly proud to receive a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education. It’s testament to the hard work and dedication of every single person who has played a role at Energy House Labs over the past 15 years, as well as the invaluable support of our partners.

“With more than 11% of people in England living in fuel poverty, it’s clear that low-carbon, energy-efficient homes that are warm and well-insulated are essential. We have always stood by the view that there is no point in doing research if we aren’t sharing our learnings with the world and helping those who need it most. We’ve achieved so much, but our ambitions are only growing and we stay motivated by the real lives we’re changing, both now and for future generations to come.”

Friends of Energy House, the philanthropic arm of Energy House Labs, has developed a thriving community of businesses and individuals united by a shared commitment to achieving net zero. With over £500,000 raised over the past three years, the network is focused on community-based projects that extend the facility’s expertise beyond campus and building a sustainable talent pipeline for the construction sector.

Sir Damon Buffini, Chair of the Royal Anniversary Trust, said: “The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for Higher and Further Education celebrate the power of education to change the world for the better. This much-loved national honour recognises, at the highest level of state, outstanding work in UK universities and colleges, and the remarkable benefit they bring to our economy, society and the wider world.”

First awarded in 1994, the Queen Elizabeth Prizes are granted every two years by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister following a rigorous, independent review process carried out by The Royal Anniversary Trust, an independent charity.

The winners of the fifteenth round of the Queen Elizabeth Prizes were announced at St James’s Palace on Tuesday 25 November 2025; the Prizes will be presented at a formal Honours ceremony in 2026.