Green Home Prototypes Completed in York

Another big step forward has been taken in terms of making the UK a more eco-friendly place. This is because the construction of two prototype eco-friendly homes have been completed at a site in York. The green homes themselves were build by the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust. The two houses are meant to demonstrate some of the sustainable technology and building practices that will be used in the company’s planned Derwenthorpe development.

This Derwenthorpe development is due to get underway next year. It will see the construction of some 540 new homes built on York’s eastern outskirts. However, this brings up a good question: What makes these homes so eco-friendly in the first place?

First of all, reports show that it features solar panels on the roof, meaning that the house gets some of its power from sunlight. Also, “sandwich panels’ are in the walls to help increase insulation. On top of all of this, it features an air filtering system that reduces the need to open windows to let in fresh air. When people open up windows, it lets heat escape the house, which wastes energy. However, it has also been noted that these new homes have an underground tank in the garden for storing rainwater. This rainwater then gets recycled and can be used in the house’s plumbing system.

These are just a few of the features that make these new homes so eco-friendly. Although just a few homes being this eco-frinedly does not change much, the hope is that other builders will get on board with this idea. If whole communities could be made up of these eco-friendly homes then the UK could really cut down on its amount of CO2 emissions.