Eco Homes

Eleven Eco-Homes have been built in a joint venture by the Duchy of Cornwall and Cornhill Estates in Poundbury. The five houses and six apartments have all been built to the same standard where the average U value for the buildings is more than 30% better than standard building regulations.

Seven homes are open market and four are affordable (shared equity). All houses are rated as BREEAM (BRE's Environmental Assessment Method) EcoHomes Excellent and NHER (National Home Energy Rating) rating of 10.

The aims of this venture were:

To demonstrate that highly energy efficient sustainable homes can be commercially
viable for the volume house builder and can compete in the open market

To build commercially viable sustainable homes within the constraints of
traditional British architecture

To build commercially viable homes with running costs that are at least 50% lower
than the equivalent homes built to the 2006 Building Regulations standards.

In addition to this standard the five houses have the following energy saving and
environmental features:

Rainwater Harvesting and dual flush toilets - will reduce water bills by about 50%.
Water butts at the apartments will collect rainwater from the roof to supply the communal garden

Heat Recovery Ventilation - will take heat from air extracted from the kitchen and bathroom
and will be transferred to supply the main living rooms and bedrooms.

Sheep wool loft insulation - has the potential to last the lifetime of the building.

Extra thick walls with wide cavities for additional cavity insulation

Highly insulated floors

High performance timber windows and doors

Aluminium rainwater goods

Built from locally sourced materials wherever possible

Solid block construction to ensure the homes have thermal mass and do not suffer
from summer overheating

FSC timber throughout

Gardens to all units with drying facilities

Integrated waste recycling

Excellent natural lighting to all rooms

Bicycle stowage for all units

Adjacent to bus stop and within very short walking distance of local
facilities (schools/shop/pub/doctor’s surgery/dentist etc.)

“A” rated appliances in all homes

Class 1 flues for wood burning stoves

Orientation of three of these houses also allows for:

Solar Hot Water Heating - will supply approximately 70% of the annual hot water
demand for the houses

Photovoltaic Roof Tiles - (panel of 16 integrated photovoltaic tiles fitted to houses)
will provide at least one third of the annual electricity demand; this saves 412kg of
carbon dioxide per year