After planning permission was granted, construction began.
Now the 'Good Homes Alliance' are planning a visit to Cornwall, for an assessment of what is being billed as a 'zero-carbon village'.
The village's buildings are being constructed under the protocol of 'Green Building', meaning that their production will have to be energy efficient and sustainable.
Indeed the houses are being developed using recovered timber and Cornish slate from local sources, all of which are deemed sustainable themselves. Clay, too, will be one of the main materials used for construction.
There is also a stipulation on the project that carbon emission offsetting cannot be used to achieve the aim; the production and construction of the site must be done with a zero emissions output.
In all, the village will contain 6 houses, 19 units - small sections of one larger building - and 13 one or two bedroom apartments.
There will also be communal spaces developed for all those who reside in the village.
A similar project in Bristol is coming to the final planning stages.
Headed by the 'English Partnerships', who sanctioned a competition for the contract to build the zero carbon villages, the site is planned to have 150 homes.
Those in contention on the competition's shortlist are: Barrat homes with HTA, Edward Ware Homes with Acanthus Ferguson Mann Architechts, Taylor Wimpey with Broadway Malyan, Places for People with PRP architects, Artisan H with Feilden Clegg Bradley, and Urban Splash South West.
The winner of the competition - as well as gaining the contract for the construction of the homes - will also win the 'Carbon Challenge' award, devised and officiated by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Indeed the winner of this year's award will be the inaugural winner of the 'Carbon Challenge'.
On top of the Bristol and Cornwall projects, there are plans for another 5 villages nationwide. The move is taken on the back of the recent statistic that 27% of the U.K's annual carbon emissions come from its households. And with plans to lower Britain's carbon emissions by 60% come the year 2050, the zero-carbon villages in Cornwall and Bristol could prove to be valuable blueprints for green building and sustainable energy.
The suggestion marks a growing concern for the U.K's future energy efficiency levels, and one that has included potential plans for electric cars and new solar and wind farms.
Some experts are suggesting that this growing conciousness could spark a boom in employment and finance.
Earlier this month the 'Environmental change Institute', situated at Oxford University, predicted that green building would generate up to £6.5 billion for the building market. And - if proposals for the recent 'Green New Deal' are accepted and legitimised by the government - green building could create a substantial number of jobs, too.
Many, then, will view the successes and failures of the Cornwall and Bristol zero carbon villages as the first example of the government's new green agenda. If they are to succeed, it can spur the production of similar sites across the country; failure could mean a rethink of current proposals and systems.
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Posted under Environmental News, House & Home
This post was written by Chris Woolfrey on July 30, 2008