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Is zero carbon housing really possible?
TODAY there are 21 million houses in Britain and together they are responsible for 27% of the country's carbon emissions. With the British Government setting 2050 as the deadline to cut total emissions by 60%, future house design is now seen as a critical factor in reaching that target.
To speed progress, the government has announced that by 2016 the only new houses that will be granted planning approval will be those that comply with stringent zero emission standards. Unlike carbon neutral developments, carbon zero developments have to be built without creating a carbon footprint. Under the British definition, there can be no carbon offset.
To prove such standards are feasible, the government is now sponsoring the construction of eight zero emission demonstration projects, the first of which will be started later this year and centred on an old disused hospital in the village of Hanhall east of Bristol. Pictured above is an illustration of what a Hanhall zero carbon house may look like.
If it proves successful, it will become a blueprint for tens of thousands of similar homes that will progressively be rolled out across the country. Families living in the new houses are expected to be able to reduce what would be their normal carbon footprint by 60%.
While most Britons may still not realise the implication, David Warburton, South West director of the government's "regeneration agency" English Partnerships, has no doubt the move will open an "eco-friendly chapter" in house-building history.
"I think humankind has always evolved according to local and environmental conditions and, as slate replaced thatch 400 years ago, that's all we're talking about here," he said. "We're at the next stage of building and community evolution." Under the Hanhall proposal the chosen developers, Barratt Development, will be constructing a village of about 200 eco-friendly homes around the site of a 17th century country manor-turned-hospital that has lain derelict since 1999.
As part of the project, the manor house and its outbuildings will be refurbished and handed over for community use. Under the terms of the project, Barratt will have to achieve a standard of Level 6 under Britain's Code for sustainable Homes.
.That means zero carbon, minimal water use (80 litres per person a day) and building with materials drawn from sustainable sources. As well as "delivering high-quality design combined with exceptional environmental performance" about a third of the homes will have to be "affordable and low cost".
