Housing minister calls for for a 'complete revolution' in housing design and build as she unveils exemplar scheme
Housing minister Yvette Cooper has launched five buildings that are designed to lead the way in sustainable construction at BRE’s Offsite 2007 exhibition in Watford.
Cooper unveiled the schemes, all built as examples, including four zero carbon homes and a carbon neutral school.
The homes, which are located on the BRE Innovation Park, are by Stewart Milne Group, Kingspan, ecoTECH and Hanson, have been built to the government’s Code for Sustainable Homes, introduced in April.
The school by Re-Thinking, the consultancy arm of Willmott Dixon, is made from recycled timber and is designed to maximise the learning and teaching capacity of pupils and teachers. It achieves the BREEAM excellent standard for schools.
Cooper said: “A quarter of carbon emissions come from our homes. That’s why zero carbon homes are so important. We need a complete revolution in the way we design and build our homes.
“Many of the technologies exist already as these homes show. Now we need more work to test them and deliver economies of scale.”
Also launched at Offsite 2007 is a volumetric three-bedroom house from developer Spaceover which is part of a sustainable community project being constructed in Harlow.
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