How New Housing Design Champions Sustainability

There are many ways to make your current home more eco-friendly. For example, you could engage eco-friendly siding contractors to install sustainable siding. You could also engage a landscaper to create a xeriscape. Let’s explore how upgrading to a newly built property for your next home will incorporate sustainability into your lifestyle and support the green goals of the UK in the country’s journey to net zero.

With so many ways to make your existing home more sustainable, how much more sustainable can a new home be?

1. Energy efficiency

Whereas our traditional housing is some of the ‘leakiest’ in Europe, new homes in the UK are designed to be as energy efficient as possible. Since the 1980s, builders have been required to use cavity walls to create a barrier between the inside and outside, and this is complemented by improved insulation within the walls and roof and superior 21^st-century window glazing and framing. This means less energy is needed to heat the properties, and they stay warm for longer.

New builds also feature the latest appliances which are naturally more energy-efficient than their older counterparts. A clear example is induction hobs which work directly to minimise heat loss versus gas cookers with open flames. Even the lighting is more efficient as modern LEDs use equal energy to produce the same illumination levels for longer than incandescent bulbs.

2. Eco heating systems

As there will be a ban on gas boilers in new properties after 2024, houses are already being constructed to suit more eco-friendly heating systems. Electric boilers are a common gas alternative, and as 40% of the National Grid supply now comes from clean sources this is an ever-greener option. Condensing boilers are also being used as a simple upgrade: these models capture would-be-wasted water vapour and transfer the heat to the radiators.

You can also find new houses with the latest green heating systems fitted, or design your own to your specifications for optimum efficiency. Solar panels can be effective anywhere with a good amount of daylight – not necessarily sunshine! Air-source or ground-source heat pumps are more costly but completely renewable and will put you at the forefront of home heating technology. These require electricity to run, but that can come from a green source.

3. Building practices

Fuelled by the commitment to be a carbon-neutral country by 2050, the UK government is focusing on making the construction of properties more sustainable as well. The built industry (including construction) currently contributes 25% of the nation’s total gas emissions, but new building practices seek to reduce that figure, and the high levels of waste involved in building. 

There has been a rise in using recycled materials to help preserve natural resources and limit what goes to landfill. This ranges from recycled aggregates for concrete or decorative stonework such as pebbled driveways to reclaimed wood or steel for foundations and frames. Builders are also encouraged to take timber from forests certified as meeting the standards of the FSC or PEFC.

Traditional construction sites are also rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Modular building – where components are made in one place and shipped together to be assembled – is becoming more common, reducing the CO2 needed for production and transport and minimising air and noise pollution to boot.