A timely new report, 'Volume - Delivering Sustainable Housing', has been published by the National Trust, Redrow Homes and Bryant Homes.
The report highlights the major obstacles which need to be overcome to make high environmental standards on volume housing building standard practice across the UK and ultimately reach the target of zero carbon new homes by 2016.
The findings of this report are based on the pioneering Stamford Brook housing development on National Trust land in Cheshire which has shown how traditional house building on a large scale can deliver high environmental standards, such as big reductions in water and energy consumption.
© National Trust
There is no renewable energy at Stamford Brook but through good quality design and construction techniques this project has demonstrated that traditional volume housing can be energy and water efficient, saving homeowners money as well as reducing their carbon footprint.
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Rob Jarman, Head of Sustainability and Environmental Practices at the National Trust, says:
'Stamford Brook is proof that a housing development can work when it combines the reality of commercial needs and a vision of better building in terms of environmental standards.
'The effectiveness of the partnership between a conservation charity, developers, a research body and the community has been the key to making this development work; something that we urgently need to see happening across the UK, in the rush to build new homes.'
Stamford Brook shows that it is possible to build energy efficient homes on a large scale. However, the results of monitoring work, led by Leeds Metropolitan University, highlights the need for the house building industry to make improvements in the way houses are designed and built.
© National Trust
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Malcolm Bell, Professor of Surveying and Sustainable Housing at Leeds Metropolitan University, who led the research team, comments:
'If the Government’s low carbon housing targets are to be achieved where it matters, on the ground, we must improve the whole production process and continually check that what we design in theory, is realised in practice. This will require considerable effort not only in design and construction but also in education and training so that the lessons from research are continually fed back to the industry.'
Mark Mainwaring, Director and General Manager of Bryant Homes North West, says:
'Stamford Brook has opened many people’s eyes to the energy efficiency gains that can be achieved with traditional cavity wall construction. A great deal can be achieved by the industry appreciating what is needed to deliver high standards of energy efficiency. In this way we can become a lot better at combining traditional building methods with innovative use of materials and practices.'
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© National Trust
One of the major challenges at Stamford Brook has been the lack of a supply chain capable of delivering products which meet the needs of building good quality housing with strong environmental standards and within the economic objectives of the commercial sector. There is especially a need to invest in skills and training in the industry that will help deliver the standards being designated by Government for carbon efficient homes.
Rob Jarman from the National Trust continues:
'A strong sense of direction from Government and wholehearted support from the construction industry is vital if we’re to achieve the target that all new homes should be zero carbon by 2016. Action is needed to bridge the gap between the aspirations of policy-makers to create a greener housing stock and the reality of what is happening in the construction industry where the supply chain cannot deliver the volume of sustainable products needed.'
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© National Trust
As well as the environmentally friendly houses, a very important part of the development has been to create a high quality environment for the people who live in them, neighbouring communities and for the wildlife that ought to be able to live there too. Whilst the development meets the Government’s requirements for high density housing to reduce land take, it has an unusually high proportion of its land ‘unbuilt’ – as green spaces with foot paths and cycle routes and wildlife corridors.
These form part of the Sustainable Urban Drainage System and have created space for nature to flourish, where original hedgerows have been maintained and native species have been prioritised in landscaping the site. The report reveals practical problems with the legal arrangements for managing Sustainable Urban Drainage systems, which risk obstructing their widespread use.
The jewel in the Stamford Brook project is the ‘new’ Sinderland Brook. The project has turned the previously canalised and straightened brook back into a meandering stream with its natural floodplain. This is the largest river restoration project in England, with 1.8km of ‘new’ stream.
The whole development has been designed to reduce flood risk in the area, to benefit existing neighbouring houses as well as ensure that the new houses will not flood. The design has used the climate change projections looking 100 years ahead, setting new standards in the way we plan for the future. Sinderland Brook now looks like less of a city sewer and more like a wild stream, with significant benefits for local people and wildlife. A survey just carried out by the Environment Agency has found evidence of rare water voles inhabiting the local area, possibly encouraged back by the improvement in the natural environment.
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