New eco sustainable green homes

How will New-Build Eco friendly homes benefit you?

The greatest advantage is healthy living. Research conducted by the RCLCO and Green TV to find reasons for the popularity of Eco homes concluded that they provide healthy living. According to the research a total of 42 percent the people preferred an Eco home is for health reasons where as 17 percent were motivated by energy savings and the remaining 12 percent for the environmental benefits. Eco homes also offer high standards of living, with luxury that is co-operative with the environment.

Your new Eco-friendly home could feature the latest energy-efficient and 'green' technologies, including wind, solar and geothermal power. They are a good way of confronting the challenge of climate change. It’s part of our contribution to a cleaner, safer, greener environment.

Further advantages and benefits to the environment your home might include:

• Over twice the levels of insulation required under current regulations.
• Solar water heating.
• Water recycling for toilet flushing, washing machine and garden use
• High-performance timber framed windows positioned to maximise solar gain
• Full-house mechanical heat recovery and ventilation system
• Cellulose (recycled newspaper) roof insulation
• Low-energy light fittings

What is a Sustainable Home and The Code for Sustainable Homes?

The building industry is moving toward more sustainable construction, driven by tighter building regulations, rising energy costs and increased consumer awareness of environmental issues. Designers and developers will increasingly need to consider sustainability in the design of new housing.

In response to concerns about climate change The Code for Sustainable Homes was  launched on the 13 December 2006. This was a vision that a single national standard would cover aspects of sustainable design and construction of a home, which came into effect in April 2007.

Since April 2007 the new home developer (in England) can choose to be assessed against the code.
The Code measures the sustainability of a new home against categories of sustainable design, rating the ‘whole home’ as a complete package.  The Code uses a 1 to 6 star rating system to communicate the overall sustainability performance of a new home.  The Code sets minimum standards for energy and water use at each level and, within England, replaces the EcoHomes scheme, developed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

The Code enables developers to demonstrate the sustainability of their homes and differentiate themselves from their competitors and it empowers home-buyers to drive demand for more sustainable homes. It will also signal the direction of future regulations.

The Code currently provides clarity on a timetable to zero carbon homes, via Building Regulations (Part L) with interim steps:

25% improvement in 2010
44% improvement in 2013
Zero carbon by 2016

Sustainability is considered for:

• Construction
• Occupation

Across the following:

• Energy
• Water
• Waste
• Materials
• Pollution
• Ecology

The system for assessment and rating new homes covers 9 categories with points assigned to each and the development needs to reach a minimum number of points for each star rating.

The point system:

Resource Area:

A few examples of ways the Government is planning to reduce CO2 emissions in the home are listed below:

Home and Housing

• working with manufacturers and retailers to phase out inefficient light bulbs
• providing better information to consumers about the products and services they buy and use – including gas, electricity and water
• working with manufacturers to remove inefficient ‘white goods’ - such as fridges - from the market
• encouraging developers to build in good access to public transport when they are planning new homes
• improving building regulations to make new homes more energy efficient
• introducing Energy Performance Certificates that provide more information about how energy efficient a house is

The Government is also thinking about ideas such as allowing householders to fit renewable technologies such as solar panels without the need for planning permission.

Useful links:

Monitor your household energy use
How Eco friendly is your home?
Energy Saving Trust
Sustainable Homes Guide to download

Further information on Categories: