UK housebuilders The Berkeley Group and Telford Homes, respectively have committed to increase the sustainability of its homes and business operations, and to design and construct schemes to reduce its environmental impact. In a progressive move, all Berkeley sites seeking planning permission after the 1 January 2008 will commit to certifying all new homes (excluding refurbishments) to Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

The pledge commits Berkeley to: reducing the carbon emissions of the homes built by The Berkeley Group by 25 per cent (compared to 2006 Building Regulations); reducing the water consumption of the homes it builds to 105/litres/person per day – a 30 per cent reduction from the average consumption in the UK; reducing by 50 per cent waste sent to landfill by 2010 based on its 2007/08 baseline.

Yvette Cooper MP, Minister for Housing, commented: “The Government has set a target for all new homes to be zero carbon by 2016. We need a revolution in the way housebuilders design and construct homes. It’s great to see Berkeley setting high standards in advance of our new targets and I hope this encourages the rest of the industry to follow suit.”

Tony Pidgley, group managing director, Berkeley said: “As Berkeley is an urban regenerator, the importance of sustainability is at the forefront of all that we do in creating new communities and bringing life back to neglected parts of our cities. We have invested in the latest technology and expertise to meet not only our present, but also our future, responsibilities to our customers and to the community as a whole.”

Elsewhere, Telford Homes has initiated a policy document that sets out standards for its sub-contractors and suppliers. The manifesto focuses not only on features the company is fitting in its developments, such as biomass boilers, solar panels and water-saving devices, but also focuses on sourcing sustainable construction materials and recycling waste.

This environmental commitment runs through all phases of construction. For example, all the crushed concrete from the former college buildings at Queen Mary’s Gate is being re-used for new roads and infrastructure on the same site. On sites where biomass boilers will be utilised, such as at OneStratford, unused timber is chipped for fuel to provide heating and hot water for the apartments. Once the building is occupied, wood pellets from managed forests will fuel the system.

“Waste management is an important aspect of energy efficient house building, to which Telford Homes is committed as part of our overall environmental strategy,” said Chris Dreher, commercial director of Telford Homes’ Alto division. “The efficient use of resources are key considerations for a sustainable housebuilder – it’s not just about fitting headline-grabbing solar panels and wind turbines.”

As well as installing biomass boilers across its schemes, ground source heat pumps and high-performance glazing systems are utilised to minimise energy-loss. Internal features to increase energy efficiency and to help reduce energy bills, as well as residents’ carbon footprint, include low energy light fittings, dual-flush toilets, aerators on taps and flow restrictors on showers as water saving measures.

Future innovations being explored include aerofoil shaped buildings to incorporate wind turbines, full elevations of solar panels that blend with the facade and an innovative structural timber panel system, which dramatically reduces the carbon footprint of the building.

Mark Duffield, Technical Director of Telford Homes’ Metro division, says this is an exciting time in house building: “Having Government eco targets means all developers have to build more efficiently. This will drive the technology forward even faster, leading to new innovations and lower prices for the consumer. That’s got to be a good thing.”

The company’s commitment to the environment extends to the land surrounding developments too. A number of developments now incorporate indigenous planting as part of their ecological strategy. Bird and bat boxes have also been introduced to encourage urban wildlife in conjunction with ‘green’ and ‘brown’ roofs.