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Ecos Homes (Ltd) wins golden national acclaim

Ecos Homes has won Gold for Best Sustainable Development of the year at The Daily Telegraph, What House? Awards 2006 - considered the Oscars of the house building industry.

Ecos Homes completed the first stage of its sustainable development, Great Bow Yard in Langport, Somerset, a year ago and has since sold every one of the 12 eco-home properties.

The awards ceremony was held in London on Friday 17th November, where Matt Stevens, the England Rugby Prop, presented Stuart Black, Chairman of Ecos Homes, with the award.

Stuart Black comments: “On behalf of everyone who has worked towards achieving the high standards we set at Great Bow Yard, I would like to say thank you to The Daily Telegraph for the award - it is a great honour to receive national recognition and we are extremely proud. Ecos Homes aims to demonstrate in real life terms the potential and practicalities of a new ecological approach to building and living sustainably. Our vision is to continue to show sustainable design and construction in practice, persuade planners, builders, developers and estate agents of its practicality, and prove that it meets a real, and as yet unsatisfied, demand from house buyers.”

Ecos Homes was set up in 2002 by the Ecos Trust with support from private investors. Ecos Homes gives equal weight to environmental and social issues, as well as competing within the commercial market place. Great Bow Yard is a unique mixed-use waterfront development of 12 eco-homes and a Grade II listed warehouse, currently being sympathetically restored to provide serviced offices, workshops and a bistro with gallery space.

Professional architects, surveyors and property journalists were among the judges of The Daily Telegraph, What House? Awards 2006 and the subsequent report written to outline the achievements of the winners include the following comments: “Ecos Homes (Ltd) has pulled no punches on its site at Great Bow Yard, in Langport, Somerset and fully deserves the Gold award. The whole design too makes its environmental credentials very clear without shouting eco-warrior. This scheme is a watershed, appealing to the increasingly demanding homebuyer who wants green but also wants all the conveniences we have come to expect from new homes. This sector of the market is more than a niche and Great Bow Yard meets its needs with style.”

All the properties have been carefully designed by architects Stride Treglown of Bristol with engineers Ellis and Moore and were built by Russell Construction of Clevedon. The houses maximise the use of sustainably sourced materials, minimising the impact on the environment and avoiding toxic chemicals commonly found in new houses. They are energy efficient at their core, insulated and soundproofed far above normal standards for UK construction and incorporate renewable energy sources and energy-saving devices. There are sunspaces in the properties to improve environmental performance and rainwater collectors on the roofs for grey water re-cycling.

Developed in a rural location with views over the Somerset Levels and River Parrett, the properties are light, spacious and have significantly lower running costs than conventional houses. The show home at the development was designed using eco-friendly products and materials, and is an ideal representation of how homes can not only be built sustainably, but also furnished with sustainably sourced timber furniture and surfaces, organic fabrics, low energy lighting, natural flooring and eco-friendly paints.

Stuart Black continues: “As well as the urgent need to kerb global warming, there are other equally important parts of sustainable construction that make it so important, including indoor air quality, rural housing needs and the use of local labour and materials. Great Bow Yard is the first of many projects headed by Ecos Homes that aims to set the standard for sustainable building, and we welcome planners, builders, local authorities and anyone wanting to learn more about sustainable building to be in touch. Our next projects are in Stawell near Street in Somerset and in Bridport, Dorset where we will build on our experience from Great Bow Yard.”