A housing and care provider has built a new property development in Redditch but, what sets the development apart from others, is the use of plastic-free alternatives to reduce the properties’ environmental impact, with the exception of a very few safety features.
The properties have been built on the site of a former car park and will provide twelve affordable one bedroom homes for local people in their twenties, some of whom had never heard of the term “eco-friendly” before.
GreenSquareAccord says it was able to provide the first development of its kind in Europe thanks to financial input from the EU with funding from Interreg North-West Europe of £1.2 million.
The project provided the opportunity of researching ways to reduce and even remove plastic from the building process in a real world situation which will go towards plastic free construction in the future. The project is part of the Circular Housing Asset Renovation and Management (CHARM) partnership, with representatives from the UK, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
The apartments feature :
- timber panels produced in a low carbon manufacturing facility
- high end finishes including kitchen units constructed from solid wood
- aluminium window frames
- ceramic bathroom sanitary ware
- mineral-based insulated copper wiring
- graphene and limestone paint instead of acrylic paint
- solar thermal heating
One of the few plastic items used in the building of the development are intumescent strips (used to seal fire doors).
While the homes have cost more to build than traditionally built properties, they are more durable.
The housing developer’s Carl Taylor said: “We can’t carry on building homes the way we are at the moment, we need people’s energy bills to be lower and homes that don’t have a negative effect on the planet.”
The Future Homes Standard that is coming into effect in 2025 will require developers to build all new homes with a 60% improvement in energy efficiency.
Further advice on improving energy efficiency in your home is available from your local Property Surveying Chartered Surveyor. Get in touch via our website or call us on 0800 880 6264.