Merton Rise: Allocated parcel for sustainable homes

To promote sustainable development HCC allocated a parcel of the Merton Rise development to be a pathfinder scheme at the leading edge of eco construction to help inform future developments.

The recently issued Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) is aiming for zero carbon development by 2013/16 but the County is applying Level 5 of the CSH to a number of dwellings in the parcel with the aim of achieving zero CO2 emissions now.

There will be major savings in water and energy including:

• 100% improvement on energy and carbon dioxide emissions over the current Building Regulations

• Each dwelling will be designed to use no more than 80 litres of potable water per person per day

• They will maximize insulation, air tightness and high specification windows together with optimizing natural light and ventilation

Other items to help reach Code level 5 may include –

• Solar water heating which can supply 50% of hot water

• Photovoltaic’s using solar energy to produce electricity

• Biomass heating and combined heat and power for space heating and hot water which will be fuelled from sustainable resources such as willow, woodchips etc

• Ground source heat pumps to help convert low grade thermal energy from the ground

For further information on the development, please visit the next page.