Eco-homes become hot property in the UK

A revolution underway?

The Guardian has an interesting article on the move to Eco Homes.

Local authorities across the country have been encouraging these developments supported by Developers and Architects.  The Article highlights schemes in Exeter, Leeds, Cambridge.

The article concludes

“It used to feel like we were ploughing a lone furrow,” says Jon Bootland, the chief executive of the Passivhaus Trust which was established over a decade ago to promote the low-energy standard, but for years was seen as the preserve of one-off eco-homes in the countryside. “Now our approach is really in the mainstream, as one of the few proven routes to net zero.” The non-profit organisation, which trains designers and contractors and certifies buildings, has recorded a 60% increase in membership over the last year alone.

The environmental engineer Clara Bagenal George, the founder of the London Energy Transformation Initiative (Leti), has calculated that there are now about 30,000 homes at the masterplan stage that meet the Passivhaus target for a space heating demand of just 15 kWh/sq metre/year (compared with the current average of 54 kWh/sq metre/year), equating to a massive reduction in carbon. “It’s an amazing story,” she says. “The industry defined ‘good’, over and above the regulations, and within a year there are now tens of thousands of homes in the works that meet this standard. It shows we can do it.”