RESIDENTS LOVE THEIR NEW
GREEN HOMES
Brighter Horizons, the charitable
development subsidiary company of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing
(RBH) recently welcomed residents to new ‘green’ homes on Dover St,
Rochdale. Chief Executive of RBH Gareth Swarbrick
said: “We are particularly pleased to have completed what is
essentially our first new build ‘green scheme’ using the latest in
sustainable building techniques.”
The company has built six two-bedroom
bungalows on a disused former play area supported by £360,000 grant
funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
Deborah McLaughlin, Regional Director North
West of the HCA, said: “It’s great that we have been able to
support this scheme which provides affordable homes of high
environmental standards.”
Dover St was designed by Pozzoni architects to
achieve Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 which includes Insulated
Concrete Formwork (ICF) Technology – where twin-walled
expanded polystyrene panels are built up to create the walls of the
property. This formwork is then filled with ready mix concrete and
is quick and easy to build and efficient to run for the
householder.
Gareth Swarbrick added: “The sustainable
features used in these homes will reduce energy bills for the
tenants - and with rising utility prices this is becoming an
important element of new build.”
The bungalows have solar panels installed on
the roof which warm up the hot water system. They have also been
fitted with a super efficient boiler, which is used to make the
water even hotter for when solar energy is not available.
Jean and Ray Helm who have been married for 46
years never dreamt of leaving their previous house but due to
difficulties walking up and down the stairs, the doctor advised a
bungalow would better suit their needs.
“It is so quiet and peaceful in this area,”
Jean said. “This bungalow is ideal for us. The bedrooms
are really spacious and the patio and garden is a real sun
trap.”
Despite only being in the house for a couple
of months Jean and Ray have already noticed they are not using as
much energy.
“I’ve already noticed that the solar panels
are heating up the water and my first gas bill was actually a
pleasant surprise,” they said.
A Rain Water Harvesting System collects
rainwater and stores it in the ground then uses it to flush the
toilet in the property and to supply the outside tap. The
properties have been fitted with flow-restricted taps in the
bathroom and the shower has a reduced flow rate. The toilet also
has a dual flush. These features typically reduce water usage by
approximately 30% and will help to save money.
The bungalows are also installed with a unit
in the loft that ventilates the entire home, extracting moist stale
air and at the same time introducing filtered fresh air. This
system provides balanced ventilation which means there is no need
to open windows, and so reduces noise pollution from outside and
improves security. By recovering heat from the extracted air and
re-introducing it in to the property, the unit actually saves heat
and therefore saves money too.
Councillor Jacqui Beswick, Cabinet member for
Performance and Partnerships said:
“The Dover Street scheme has brought
significant investment into the Rochdale Township and provided much
needed new energy efficient bungalow accommodation for rent. The
scheme is also an excellent example of partnership working between
the Council and RBH to deliver the regeneration of a disused play
area site”.