LONDON, England (Xinhua) — A team of researchers has designed and built UK’s first low-cost energy smart house, which could export more energy to the national electricity grid than it uses, Cardiff University said Thursday.

The house, designed by Professor Phil Jones and his team at the university, has been built as a prototype to meet tough new targets for zero carbon housing set by the UK Government.

In order to drastically reduce the energy demand, the house was built with high levels of thermal insulation reducing air leakage, and the house’s energy systems combined solar generation and battery storage to power both its combined heating, ventilation, hot water system and its electrical power systems, according to a press release.

To reduce the cost of bolting on solar panels to a standard roof, the south-facing roof comprises glazed solar photovoltaic panels, fully integrated into the design of the building, allowing the roof space below to be naturally lit, researchers said.

“Through this project we have risen to this challenge and used the latest design and technology to build the UK’s first smart energy positive house,” Professor Jones said.

The building, situated on a site near Bridgend, demonstrated the leading edge low carbon supply, storage and demand technologies at a domestic scale, which “we hope will be replicated in other areas of Wales and the UK in the future”, he said.