A new eco-friendly development in the village of Elmswell is being hailed as one of the UK's premier green housing sites.

The £4.5 million community is set for completion in March and will reportedly come close to Level 6 of the government's Code for Sustainable Homes - making them almost entirely zero carbon.

Each of the 26 homes in the development has been built with energy-saving natural resources including hemp and lime spray in a bid to insulate the dwellings, thereby shoring up heat retention and curtailing energy usage.

In addition to having a positive impact on the environment the properties will offer homeowners significant financial savings on fuel bills, prompting the Suffolk Preservation Society to say they set a "national benchmark" for future developments.

Speaking to the Bury Free Press, Peter Dow, clerk at Elmswell Parish Council, added: "What is being demonstrated here is the kind of development we need to be building if we are to survive on this planet. We can't keep building two up, two downs that leak energy."

The government has set a target of making all new homes zero carbon by 2016.


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Author:  Joanne McCabe

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