An award winning Norfolk social housing association has been given the go-ahead to build a new eco-friendly array of dwellings in the village of Outwell, Kings Lynn.
Hastoe Housing Association, in conjunction with Norfolk based building consultancy Ingleton Wood and contractor EN Suiter, have already been granted a section 106 for the 15-unit PassivHaus build off Birdbeck Drive. Plans have been submitted for a pre-commencement application, after which, work is planned to start in the new year.
In 2011, Hastoe Housing Association opened the UK’s first accredited rural affordable housing PassivHaus scheme at Wimbish in Essex. The company has gone on to build several other schemes of this nature, such as in Ditchingham, Norfolk, demonstrating a commitment to sustainable building and achieving Code for Sustainable Homes at Level 4 or higher.
James Evans, associate architect, who is leading the design and build project on behalf of Ingleton Wood, and who is studying to become a certified PassivHaus designer, said: “This is a great project for us to work on with Hastoe. Passivhaus, while a relatively new concept in the UK, will over the next few years become the benchmark for sustainable house building. It brings very low running costs to its future residents whilst avoiding the inevitable energy price hikes.
“Whilst there have been some delays through planning, the 12-month build programme should be underway in January 2014.”
Kevin Hartnett, Business Development Director at Hastoe added: “Passivhaus is the common-sense approach to delivering well-designed, green and energy efficient homes, especially in rural areas where fuel poverty is highly significant. We are very pleased to be embarking on this new development in Outwell, where local private rents and home ownership can be out of reach for some families.”
Ingleton Wood have specific expertise in this sector as James Evans and Andrew Collett are both soon to become accredited PassivHaus designers, accredited by the BRE, whilst partner Jon Boon is a Code for Sustainable Homes, BREEAM and PassivHaus assessor.
PassivHaus is the leading standard in energy saving in buildings worldwide. It refers to a rigorous, voluntary, standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint. PassivHaus buildings require little energy for space heating or cooling, amounting to more than a 75% reduction in comparison to UK building regulations.
