The homes in Nottingham that are helping to tackle climate change – Nottinghamshire Live

Talk about eco homes and some may expect to see unusual designs and baffling heating systems. But the reality is quite different. We take a look at some of Nottinghams greener homes

When The Hockerton Housing Project started life nearly 25 years ago the techniques they were using in their earth sheltered homes on the outskirts of Southwell were ground-breaking - installing wind turbines, solar PVs, recycling waste material.

It may have taken many years, but the systems and principles of the project - building homes that use minimal energy and have little environmental impact - are finally spreading.

Private owners, builders and councils around the country are adopting various eco measures for some of their latest projects. Air and ground source heat pumps, high levels of insulation and solar panels are just some of the features that are now increasingly being used in Nottinghamshire homes.

The City Council has already installed solar panels on more than 4,000 council houses and has plans to roll-out the pioneering Dutch housing system, Energiesprong, to create net zero carbon homes. The plan proposes to make use of untapped heat from water in disused local mines, look into ways to ensure new buildings have sustainability features and aims for high energy efficiency standards for homes on council land.

While the council has its sights on tackling climate change - based on its pilot scheme in Sneinton of 10 refurbished homes - over at Blueprints Trent Basin site, private ownership low energy homes are being built alongside a Community Energy project - a pioneering renewable energy storage system.

The project team, which includes a large consortium headed by the University of Nottingham, created what is the largest Tesla community battery in Europe and the first in the UK.

The responsible developer anticipates using other technologies in its forthcoming project, The Elms, where it aims to include air source heat pumps (a heating system that draws warmth from the air). The firm is also currently researching the possibility and feasibility of building Carbon Positive Homes.

Nottingham based modular house builder, Positive Homes has launched its latest development of energy efficient new homes at The Newlands in Fernwood, Newark.

Nine, three-bed modular houses, all with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of A are currently being built. These homes will have solar panels, LED lighting, high levels of insulation and mechanical ventilation as standard.

Manufactured off site in a factory, the modules are delivered to the development, lifted into position and then joined up with the other modules and roofed, laying the guttering and commissioning the power services inside.

Build time is much quicker on a site of this type. For instance, modules were delivered to the Newark site on Monday, January 13, 2020 and the firm aims for a mid-February completion.

Martin Valentine, CEO of Positive Homes said: "We are passionate about building energy efficient, sensibly priced homes at a time when the climate change agenda is at the forefront of everyones minds.

"These new builds in Newark, like all our houses, are a revolutionary design that will not only help save money, but also make a perfect home for first time buyers hoping to get onto the property ladder."

A mid-terrace is priced at 175,000 and end-terrace at 180,000.

But eco saving measures arent restricted to new build homes. Theres a wave of homes in Nottingham undergoing eco retro fits.

Gil Schalom, principal at GSD Architecture, which specialises in ecoficient design, has turned older housing stock into Passive, near Passive and energy efficient homes.

A Passive house (or Passivhaus) is an ultra-low energy building that requires little energy for space heating or cooling. It is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency.

Gil says that many people, when looking to improve or extend their existing home, regardless of its age, are now very conscious of both the environmental and monetary benefits of doing this sustainably.

He says that even if they cant afford to carry out a whole renovation project at one time, they are looking to carry out stepped renovation. Taking a fabric first approach, and making sure each step is to the best standard possible before embarking on the next element, when they have perhaps saved up another pot of money.

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With clients across the county and beyond he has undertaken renovation to a near passive house level in West Bridgford and a Certified Passive House renovation in Cheshire.

One West Bridgford homeowner, who had commissioned Gil to extend as well as undertake a whole house energy refit, added what Gil calls The icing on the cake - a green roof. A living roof planted with sedum and native flowers and herbs.

Home owner Tim Saunders said: We have always wanted to have a warm, cosy and energy efficient home, with low energy bills and to be able to power it using renewable energy at least in part, so that is what we set out to achieve working with Gil.

"We already had solar panels and the opportunity to secure some grant funding, which was available at the time, kickstarted us into getting the insulation installed and that was also the perfect time to replace the ageing windows with new triple glazed ones.

"Gil then drew up very detailed plans for the extension to provide a larger kitchen and dining room space which we did to a very high standard of energy efficiency working with experienced builders to provide a very comfortable home."

A mechanical ventilation and heat recovery was also included in this deep energy efficient retrofit.

Tim added: "The green roof over the extension is ever changing with each season providing year round interest, it slows the runoff of rainwater and is awash with bees in the warmer months this was the perfect opportunity to create my own piece of wildlife habitat."

These homes are only a snapshot of what is changing in the housing industry right now and potentially there are exciting innovations innovations and changes ahead as technologies become more available and affordable.

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The homes in Nottingham that are helping to tackle climate change - Nottinghamshire Live