The UEA is leading an international field in carbon reduction

The University of East Anglia is the lead partner in Carbon Connections, an international network of organisations from higher education and industry.

The project is funded through the Higher Education Innovation Fund.

Carbon Connections aims to exploit low carbon technologies and turn new ideas into commercial reality.

House of the future

Carbon Connections will concentrate on sustainable building and renewable energy.

It plans to build a "low carbon house" which will be used for research into lifestyles and energy consumption.

Professor Trevor Davies, pro-vice-chancellor for research at the University of East Anglia, said: "This will be a major step-up in activity in low carbon innovation and behaviour."

Partners in Carbon Connections include University Campus Suffolk, the universities of Essex, Cranfield, Cambridge, and Newcastle, and the Milton Keynes-based Open University.

Other partners involved in the project are One North East, City College Norwich, Easton College Norfolk, Writtle College, Arup, Business Link Suffolk, the Centre for Offshore Energy and the Centre for Sustainable Engineering.