Eco-friendly New Builds
With the built environment currently accounting for 40% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions*, our new build developments are striving to be as eco-friendly as possible. Russell Homes properties are built with efficiency at their heart to help homeowners to do their bit to help the
This includes retaining heat through above-average amounts of insulation and ensuring high levels of airtightness, conserving energy through the use of eco lighting and low-wattage long-life bulbs, and reducing fuel use with low carbon heating solutions.
Our new build homes are built to Energy Efficiency Grade A or B which, along with reducing your carbon footprint, also means a reduction in energy bills as less fuel is needed to heat the property. These strict building regulation standards which means lower bills for homeowners and the comfort of knowing you’re contributing less towards environmental pollution.
In fact the data is clear, new build is significantly more energy efficient. Research by the Home Builders Federation found that 80% of new build homes have the top Energy Performance Certificate Rating of A or B, compared to just 2.2% of older properties, saving buyers around £700 a year on their bills.
Outside the homes themselves, where possible, we create green open spaces and plant wildflowers across our developments in order to help support a diversity of wildlife including, crucially, bees which simply love a carpet of bright beautiful flowers.
The landscaping of our developments usually includes retaining and planting a lot of trees, which not only helps to protect the soil, provide natural habitats, and help to regenerate biodiversity, but also adds to the aesthetic appeal by creating a little oasis of greenery.
At Stubley Meadows in Littleborough, for example, we’ll be planting more than 120 new trees throughout the development and retaining all of the protected trees. While at Saltersford Gardens, in Cheshire we designed the development layout around the old oak trees which stood on the site long before we arrived.
And, as a responsible housebuilder, we have a commitment to replanting twice over for any trees which have to be felled as part of the construction project, and offset any environmental damage. With all of our developments, we work to find ways to build beautiful, environmentally friendly homes while doing what we can to help protect the environment.
- Figures from the UK Green Building Council