Last updated at 15:21, Thursday, 04 December 2008

WILL 2009 be the year that the people of the North-East stop blowing hot and cold on the issue of “sustainable” homes?

Could we finally come round to the idea that we owe it to the Earth – and our pockets – to consider solar panels, wind turbines, heating from the soil and walls made from polystyrene?

Two years ago the green spirit was flourishing in the UK, with a survey suggesting that so-called ‘eco-homes’ would appeal to 85 per cent of Britons.

The ‘Changing Face of Britain’ report revealed that 59 per cent of homebuyers particularly warmed to solar panels, and 40 per cent took on board the notion of the ‘carbon neutral’ home.

A further 32 per cent would opt for a timber-framed property, and 33 per cent said they would like a house made entirely from local materials to cut delivery miles.

Here in the North-East we showed even greater commitment to the sustainable lifestyle. Perhaps echoing a folk memory of life in a bastle – with the family living above the cattle on the ground floor – 18 per cent of those questioned said they would consider a house with livestock.

This surge in eco-consciousness came at the right time, just when Prime Minister Gordon Brown was proposing to build 240,000 new homes “in places and ways that respect our green spaces and the environment” and ensure that all new homes will be carbon-zero by 2016.

But if we were keen to be green in 2007, the fervour had faded by 2008.

With the credit crunch looming, a new report showed that eco-homes and energy saving now turned us right off – especially in the North where up to 400,000 homes are thought to be under-insulated, because we can’t see the point in splashing hard-earned cash on fibreglass up in the loft.

But there are a few Northern eco-warriors about, prophesying that in a few years we will all come round to their point of view.

Among them are the team at a Riding Mill family firm called South Close Developments (SCD)

This is a true family firm, employing dad, mum, daughter and two sons of the clan Rosby.

Eric Rosby founded the firm in 1994 as a private development company operating in and around Tynedale. His wife Chrissie is company secretary. Sons Ben and Sam are project manager and apprentice joiner respectively, and daughter Jennie Mosley is business development manager.

They maintain that SCD is the only company in the North-East to specialise in construction using the revolutionary low-energy building system called ICF (insulated concrete form).

It’s a dull name for an exciting idea – using interlocking polystyrene building blocks which are then filled with concrete to make a strong and well-insulated sandwich.

The system was developed in Germany as a direct response to the threat of global warming, and has become a popular way of building on the continent.

But in the UK we have been slower to warm to polystyrene buildings, despite evidence that they are quick to construct, easy to adapt to design quirks, and improve the energy efficiency of a building by impressive ratios.

SCD has used the polystyrene system to build Tyne Green Mews in Hexham, a development of 18 flats, phase one of which has recently gone on the market.

The scheme at Tyne Green led to changes within SCD itself. Such was the level of interest in the new building technique that the company set up a new eco-friendly arm called SCD Ecohomes earlier this year.

“The service is proving to be a great success and we are now building two developments of eco-friendly social housing for Blyth Valley Borough Council, with many other exciting opportunities in the pipeline,” said Jennie.

“The Blyth properties are all built in the new building system and all include solar panelling, rainwater harvesting systems, and specialist sustainable heating and lighting systems.

“And they are all being built to level three of the Government’s new 'Code for Sustainable Homes'.

“We are one of the first companies in the North-East to actually build in-line with the new code,” said Jennie.

“It seems we are one of the few lucky companies within the building industry that are expanding in the current climate – thanks to the new code and growing public awareness of the need for sustainable living.”

l For more information contact jennie.mosley@southclosedevelopments .co.uk or log on to www.scd-ecohomes.co.uk

First published at 13:11, Thursday, 04 December 2008
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk