SRC's research history includes developing a residential energy conservation research report that was used in the
National Building Code of Canada. In the late 1970s, the SRC was contracted to design and build a
passive solar house that was suitable for Canadian prairie conditions. The project, which hired
Harold Orr from the
National Research Council, resulted in the construction of the Saskatchewan Conservation House in
Regina in 1977. The project featured innovations such as the blower door test, air-to-air heat exchange, and an airtight construction that became influential in
low-energy building design. The house has been cited as an inspiration for the
passive house building standard.SRC mapped the groundwater resources in Saskatchewan south of the
Precambrian Shield. In the past they housed a
SLOWPOKE-II nuclear research reactor (that had 16 kW thermal power) that performed analytical tests. SRC's SLOWPOKE-2 reactor operated from 1981 until being shut down in December 2017. Decommissioning was expected to be completed sometime in 2020. In the early 2000s, SRC developed a suite of dual-fuel hydrogen vehicles that led to the launch of Saskatchewan's first hydrogen fuelling station in 2010 Current research is conducted in a range of laboratories and test facilities. Its Geoanalytical Laboratory provides geochemical analyses for the mineral exploration industry. Other labs include Petroleum Analytical Laboratories, a Biofuels Test Centre, a Pipe Flow Technology Centre, and a diamond testing facility. SRC is contracted by the Government of Saskatchewan to manage the thirty-seven abandoned
uranium mine and mill sites near
Lake Athabasca through Project CLEANS. In 2017, SRC launched the Centre for the Demonstration of Emissions Reduction (CeDER), a test and verification facility to help industry manage and reduce its GHG emissions. In 2020, SRC was awarded $31 million in funding for a first-of-its-kind Rare Earth Processing Facility in Saskatchewan. ==See also==