Is This What You Want From Housebuilders?

In this week’s Home Energy episode we revisit a rather sunny day in Wales!
In 2020 Robert visited Parc Eirin, a housing development in Tonyrefail, Wales, where developers Sero were building 225 eco-homes.
This pioneering development is 100% gas free, with each house having solar PV built in, batteries and ground source heating.
This really is how houses should be being built now, providing long term energy cost savings as well as having a positive impact on the environment.
We're hoping to return to Parc Eirin for an update, so do keep an eye out for that future episode.
Please do SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & SHARE if you want to see more Home Energy episodes.
To find out more about Sero Homes head here: www.serohomes.com/
Technologies include Sonnen (electricity storage), Mixergy (thermal storage) & Kensa (ground source heat pump):
Sonnen - sonnenbatterie.co.uk/
Mixergy - www.mixergy.co.uk/
Kensa - www.kensaheatpumps.com/
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:11 Sero’s vision of the Future
2:09 Technology Overview
3:12 Changing Behaviour
4:51 Construction Costs
6:55 Heat from 170 meters down
9:30 Becoming Net Zero
12:06 a completely different home
12:52 What are the benefits?
13:31 part of the Energy Grid
14:42 No retrofit pain
15:59 The Building Energy Engine
18:42 Reduce, Balance, Generate
20:05 Outro

[@judebrown4103]

We have potential development near us which, naturally nobody wants. I went to the viewing of their plans with the purpose of plugging this method of building. To my astonishment the chap knew of Fully Charged and took notes of my description of this episode. They had planned to be as sustainable as possible but seemed really interested in finding out more. As an ex-sales person I pointed out that if they developed like this it would be their best promotion of their project and would be more likely to get permission. Really hope the guy was genuine. 🤞I'm going to share this again. Cheers Robert. 👍

[@ramblerandy2397]

Well done. Love it when people genuinely spread the sustainable message further.

[@judebrown4103]

@@ramblerandy2397 ah, thanks for the encouragement. Sadly people just see the negatives in new housing creating traffic etc but these guys are trying to mitigate it by working with road management, bus companies, public health putting in doctors surgery, building retirement living and more. I just think well people, you keep having kids, ,they have a tendency to grow up and want to live in their home village! They're gonna need houses and at least this way they won't have enormous utility bills or be polluting their environment.

[@gordonmackenzie4512]

Google, Zero C Tornagrain. A development that started a few years ago. Now proposed to be 5000 homes. Sustainable building, insulation, solar, full fibre etc etc

[@ramblerandy2397]

@@judebrown4103 My pleasure. It really is heart warming to hear of ordinary people making a difference. 👍

[@judebrown4103]

@@gordonmackenzie4512 ooh thank you, I'll do that. Can't remember which channel it was but there is another article on a different developer. (possibly another FC show or derivative thereof) They were building completely off grid with additionally their own grey water filtration etc. I wonder if that is this company or yet another, it's very exciting isn't it? I'm off to have a look...👍 😊

[@NSBarnett]

Fascinating! Please go back after residents have had a couple of winters there, show them this video, and ask them to say what has worked and what needs more thought.

[@laurencemorgan2277]

Hi all. My daughter and her family live in one of these houses and I have to say they are amazing. And with £40 PM electric bills for a young family of 4 and a currently a hybrid car thrown in with that as well. It's a dream to have bills so low.

[@rberridge69]

I'm a corporate residential investment advisor and I specialise in eco-houses. I'm very excited to be visiting my friends at Sero at their zero-carbon Aspen Grove scheme of 214 homes in December. I'll report back for anyone who's interested.

[@paulruffy8389]

Tag me plz!

[@jason8966]

Dark black clouds one moment, clear blue skies with sunny scenes the other. Yup, Wales alright

[@marvintpandroid2213]

You got the one day a year of welsh weather without rain, congratulations.

[@jameslewis2635]

Is that like the one day of the year when there is no rain or snow in Scotland or the one day per year some stuck-up Tory doesn't screw over the nation in England? Okay, I'll admit that one day in England never actually happens.

[@pauladams1829]

Moving to a sustainable future isn't about missing out on anything but doing things better.

[@jameslewis2635]

The people behind this project have the right idea. In times like these where the average house price is well above £200,000 in many areas, an extra £20,000 on the initial purchase cost is a relatively small ammount when you are talking about mortgage payments in comparison to the ever rising costs of gas and electricity in traditional homes. Now we need to see something like this brought in to convert existing properties to similar specifications.

[@rhysllwydlewis]

We didn't pay any extra for the added technology it was paid for through a welsh government grant on all property's, very fortunate.

[@teranova5566]

@@rhysllwydlewis How much have you paid and for how big house?

[@rhysllwydlewis]

@@user-nu1vn3yy9s There are open green spaces and with trees on all walkways with plants and shrubs around all the house front, have a look for Parc Eirin Garden Village, when it's complete it should be "ECO" friendly.

[@mervynmorris613]

They should all be facing south and be solar passive. I've built my house in Australia facing north, with eaves that shade the windows in summer when the sun is high in the sky and let the sun in in the winter when the sun is lower. Just doing that means that it hardly needs any heating and, more importantly in Australia, it doesn't need air conditioning.

[@Rich.enDorseit]

Shame a follow up wasn't added to this repost. I hope a follow up is coming soon. Some interviews with the new residents would be great

[@Charlie-UK]

Great program Robert. Nice to see renewable technologies finally making there way into Affordable housing...

[@markbrowning9363]

For new houses i think architects need to start designing for renewable energy, roof design/orientation for solar , placement of dormer windows to not impact solar panel usage, incorporate a plant room

[@CastleKnight7]

The plant room would definitely be a good idea.

[@frankjenkins6627]

Isn’t that the plant room inside the front door ? Water tank shoe box groundsource heat pump batteries etc

[@rogerhudson9732]

British planners know nothing about solar orientation, just cramming in 'boxes' on small footprints.

[@peterbsimkins]

Fantastic report I want to live there! I find it so frustrating that the town where I live in South Leicestershire we have had hundreds of new builds with hundreds more planned. NONE of them have any additional renewable technologies other than the basic legal environmental requirements 😡

[@kassistwisted]

I know you know this, Robert, but we're doing exactly that in the Netherlands. You can no longer build new houses with gas boilers. So all the new construction here has solar panel rooves and heat pumps. It's glorious! It makes me wish I could buy a new house. But, alas, I am a renter and I have to wait until my landlord is required to replace our boiler in 2026.

[@andrewgalloway9766]

he wont be they are still allowed to sell new gas boilers till 2035 and with an average fifteen year life span they intend supplying nat gas til 2050 as it will take till then to change out grid pobably longer and to mine and construct batteries for the world to rely on green energy at current capacity is estimated to take 400 years yes 400 years allowing for continued developement .

[@peteramey9385]

Brilliant. This should be a standard in all new builds. Electric heat pumps, solar, battery storage and EV chargers.

[@neo1267]

I totally agree. All homes should be built like this.

[@schrodingerscat1863]

It's all down to cost, developers build to maximise their profit margins to if they are forced to install all this expensive green stuff they cut corners elsewhere. It's all down to simple economics, mortgages are getting more expensive so house prices are being driven down at the same time basic building costs are rising quickly so don't expect to see these expensive extras on new builds any time soon.

[@blackcoffeeandbooks8884]

This looks very lovely, you can already see the future of housing here. I would love to buy a house like this!

[@rhysllwydlewis]

Great video but this is old footage from the fully charged show, I've lived at Parc Eirin for 8 months and my house isn't even built here.

[@deansh8506]

Does it matter? 😂 Anyway how are you getting on with your house?

[@rhysllwydlewis]

@@deansh8506 It's great, very very cheap running costs, Just £40 for electricity, no gas and overall good quality.

[@deansh8506]

@@rhysllwydlewis great. I live just around the corner from you and put up 5.6kWp worth of solar on the roof and alot of batteries. Best thing I ever done!

[@johneric98]

Does that include a service fee?

[@NSHarrison]

I really really hope that the governments in each of the cities where the fully charged live shows will be coming to next year are taking notice of this kind of activity and the benefits that can be derived from building like this.

[@garyheavens2389]

Great Video. It would be nice if all new houses were built this way. Unfortunately unless the government change the building Regulations builders will still do the bare minimum they have to, to get their houses built.

[@magnesium_subsoil_94]

I love how he said we don’t want a bunch of homes that look the same md that people should be able to cherish their homes. Wish we had this kind of visual variety in the US

[@sahhull]

My home was built before the USA was a country.

[@grahamsneddon2797]

As someone who worked in the housing industry until 10yrs ago(retired) its not architect's who need to change but the MDs and technical directors of major house builders as they are only focused on short term gains to satisfy the city of London and their share price and their at times obscene bonus packages

[@daler2577]

As usual great video....... As I'm sure some of you eagle-eyed viewers would notice that the porch light kept going on and off during the interview....😎

[@gerry343]

Its a subliminal message in Morse code.

[@Bobrogers99]

The erratic porch light doesn't bode well for all of the high-tech electronics.

[@igavinwood]

I hope this vid is shared and watched everywhere. Inspiring, joined up, simple message that cuts through to the core of what is needed to succeed in reducing our carbon footprint while having a modern lifestyle. Really well done.

[@EugeneLambert]

Great to revisit this episode. As Robert said in the vid, this is how housing has to be done going forward. I hope that Sero Homes become a household name on the back of their innovation, and also - a shout out to their spokesman who was one of the most articulate people Robert has ever interviewed!

[@rushja]

Great to see. Why isn't this the standard way of building now? This should be normal but unfortunately I see a lot of new builds with chimneys and no solar. Should be illegal really.

[@rushja]

@N P who's we? Telford, there's a development there in the north on an old factory site and most of the houses have chimneys

[@dalroth10]

What a brilliant video of a fantastic development of new, exceptional homes. What is being done at Parc Eirin should become the template for new Planning and Building Regulations if the UK is to get anywhere near the net zero aims it has committed to. I think most potential buyers would recognise that whilst the initial purchase price of their home might be a few thousand pounds more, the amount they would save in energy costs in the first few years would pay for it. From then on they're in profit in a warm, comfortable, environmentally friendly, cheap to run home. I also reckon the resale values of these homes will be higher too.

[@Loopyengineeringco]

Fantastic. Bulk pricing on PV is so cheap already, and when you can add it to the mortgage cost it's basically negligible. GSHP too is much cheaper when done at the beginning, especially when multiple properties can share 1 borehole etc. Just hoping the centralised 'smart' management fees aren't going to be too expensive that they turn people against projects like this.

[@SmartMart1658]

All new homes should be like this.

[@donincognito189]

I'm a big fan of recycling, so it's great to see Robert recycling this video.

[@SeemsLegal]

Every new housing development needs to be like this. Fantastic work.

[@telocity]

Just biked past a new development here in Sothern California. Giant homes of 3 different models and to make it less cookie cutter they rotated the houses a bit. Of course this means the homes ,which came with a bit of solar panels and Water heating panels, have some panels facing North or East or West depending on how they rotated that model. Brilliant! Boggles the mind!

[@David-bl1bt]

I have recently placed a reservation on a new build "eco" home. Although not perfect, the builder has made some efforts to make it more efficient. It is very well insulated and has solar panels and electric underfloor heating. No gas to the property which for me, having had a career solely within the gas industry, was a hard pill to swallow. Something that my new home also incorporates which strangely is very rarely or never mentioned, and is not mentioned in this video either, is MVHR (mechanical ventilation heat recovery). As home efficiency is focused upon insulation values and elimination of drafts ventilation needs to be addressed. MVHR systems provide many unrealised benefits other than providing adequate ventilation, such as the elimination of condensation which in turn prevents mould growth (a hot topic here in the UK currently due to a toddler dying due to lung infection caused by a damp home full if mould growth), removes stale air from the home including cooking smells, CO2 & germs emitted by our breathing, carbon monoxide emitted from fossil fuelled appliances such as a gas hob ir open fire foe example. All are extracted from every room in the house to the outside and replenished by fresh air from outside if the home. The transmission ov viruses and germs are considerably reduced too. Additionally the heat contained in the extracted air is removed and transferred to the incoming air. The system is 90% efficient at heat transfer. Fresh air that enters the house if filtered, thus removing external contaminants and allergens such as pollen which induces hay fever for example. As there us no need to open windows for ventilation, there is no ingress of these external contaminants, no ingress if noise and no loss if heat. I find it astonishing that these MVHR systems aren't given publicity in programmes such as these that are promoting sustainability, energy efficiency and well-being, and the lack of home builders and architects to not giving give due consideration to such systems as part of the "eco" credentials of properties. Come on Robert, promote the full eco story please.

[@SolisNotSolis]

All well and good, but electric is still 4x the price of gas per kWh and solar generates least at the time of peak demand, i.e. dark, cold winters day..

[@David-bl1bt]

@@SolisNotSolis ...don't forget to factor in that electricity is 100% efficient, for 1kw purchased you get 1kw of heat...not so with gas. The typical efficiency of a gas boiler is 60-70% When solar is producing electricity it is reducing the demand for electricity you need from the grid. If you also have a storage battery this is charged by solar for use when solar is not available eg. During the evening or charged from the grid at off peak times at a considerably less cost per kW hour. If you have an electric car this can be charged by solar and at off peak rates making the running costs considerably less than a petrol or diesel car, so these savings should also be factored-in. Then of course there is the bonus that you are not spewing carcinogenic toxins into the atmosphere for people to injest into their lungs that future generations will be thankful for.

[@paulruffy8389]

David - Where have you purchased plz? What development?

[@audigex]

We bought a new build earlier this year (2022). No EV charger (although they're now mandatory since this summer, at least), no option for a heat pump/solar panels/battery (even as a paid extra), and certainly not included as standard, and even worse, we aren't even allowed to add our own solar panels for 5 years!

[@TheAegisClaw]

Looks like the usual new build postage stamp sized gardens.

[@moony2703]

Interesting building mantra, really liked heading the thinking behind sustainable design not being just about the solar panels when it comes to the roof etc. but also taking into account the feeling of home etc. as well to ensure the house is around long term. Also really like how reduce is at the top, basically make sure everything is energy efficient so it’s not causing issues later.

[@inspiringengineer]

Brings a new meaning to the term 'power house' :)

[@pinkelephants1421]

Brilliant! One thing that should have been addressed was the impermeability of the driveways & carparking. I'm quite surprised that this wasn't addressed at the planning stages - particularly in soggy Wales - as, as far as I know, you're not supposed to install an impermeable driveway as part of future flood management in the face of climate change without express permission from your local authority and this is supposed to (only) be allowed on the basis of disability access. From memory, this was introduced several years ago on a UK-wide basis. I also noticed that in some cases the asphalt footpath ran right up against the houses leaving potential for rising damp in the future instead of leaving a small gap for drainage. This might sound as though I'm nitpicking but we're regularly seeing the horrendous & costly flooding impacts people are experiencing in their homes of increasingly climate change induced heavy rainfall in Wales, sometimes repeatedly within a 6-24mth period and this is projected to worsen over time. Insurance could well become unaffordable or even inaccessible to some property owners due to flooding risks so anything we can do to assist with drainage & water sequestration really matters; well designed & built infrastructure has a huge impact. Other than that, the developers have done a wonderful job.

[@WilliamJamesGibbs]

They have most likely built attenuation into the schemes in the form of underground crates that slowly infiltrate beneath the hardstanding and or swales/ponds at the periphery of the site.

[@pinkelephants1421]

@@WilliamJamesGibbs Hopefully, yes.

[@sauvant]

Loved the Reduce Balance Generate mantra. Any chance Fully Charged can do a feature on batteries without solar. Current challenges for tariffs for non-EV owners and wondering whether cheap rate nighttime tariffs have a guaranteed future.

[@frejaresund3770]

I have been enjoyed, so thank you for delivering.

[@terryrigden4860]

Absolutely the way to go, now we need to persuade the rest of the house building industry to do likewise

[@awilliams8888]

Brilliant!! Take note national house builders!!

[@gingerninja7187]

Hi great video, yes all houses should be built like this ,it’s future proofing,and taking the pressure of anyone buying or renting, by cutting the fuel bills ,and of course, all the nasty emissions, I see the local council, when they build new homes they install solar, but unfortunately this isn’t to benefit the tenants, it’s to make the council more money, or on communal accommodation, they use the solar to reduce the overall running cost ,🤷‍♂️

[@johnshafer7214]

Wow, this is amazing and simple.

[@Daniel-jm5hd]

Every new home needs to follow this approach. The only thing missing is a parking space and ev charger because people's transport habits are not going to change overnight and encouraging ev use is much better than another street full of fossil fuel burning 4x4s.

[@xyredmax]

A real shame that most of the incoming electrical cables are pissed! Put that on the snagging list - If I was looking to buy one of these houses, I would be thinking what else have they bodged. Great to see some affordable eco homes being built

[@ericvet8b]

Great as a reminder video for many people. But I would love for you guys to go back to those places to see how people are living in them and how much are saving.

[@DavidKnowles0]

He said on Twitter that he trying to do such a video. Unfortunately we may want it but if everyone camera shy it might not be possible.

[@sylvainjamais904]

Nice to see. None of the development near me in East Cambs are like that such a shame. There was a mention of tricky retrofits, I'd like to see more videos about that. I'm in a retroft situation and I'd really like to know what to expect.

[@geoffh2760]

This is the same video that went out on the Full Charged Show channel in Aug 2020... The socially distanced interviews gave it away. It would have been nice to see an update now that - presumably - the project is finished.

[@johnnymonsters9717]

I hope to do this in the states one day

[@ferkeap]

Groundsourced, nice. One thing you need multiplex homes, to use less surface for more people.!

[@patrickmckowen2999]

Yes, should be done everywhere 👍

[@ShortVersion1]

It's smart to reupload these videos, they've only become more relevant in the last two years!

[@idea2outcome]

Great video and love the housing concept. It’s such a pity that they decided to install half the expected PV array and half the necessary battery storage. Must have been a financial decision that the homeowners will pay for later.

[@mrmawson2438]

Great video mate

[@johneric98]

You need to also say that by having more insulation, better windows, and no drafts/no leaking in of the outside air, the home is more comfortable.

[@chrisshave7129]

Thanks for another good news story vid Robert! I'm still frustrated by the narrative (that seems to be everywhere not just by this developer) about cost and how much cheaper this house is to run on energy. Yes ..... the cost of energy is a hot topic right now but until we change the narrative (YT all the way to local and central Goverment policy) to the co2>climate cost instead of the wallet cost, we just won't get peoples mindsets in the right place to change en mass.

[@effervescence5664]

I loved this site, the installation is really well done regards the re-newables. What I discovered when I looked into them as they're built to the same less than ideal British Standards which are so far behind the rest of Europe and now even the USA and Canada. Great estate but the UK needs a revamp of building envelope design.

[@jamesbarker7145]

It's good to see the tech and insulation used in these (which should be a bare minimum for ALL new housing) but it looks like your standard low density, car-centric estate, which we don't need any more of.

[@bobabout256]

This is truly a great initiative very well done to all involved. However, Seeing as the government has sanctioned the mass building of housing stock to “stimulate” the economy, right across the country, the least they can do is make property developers build in these features on any new development. I live near the the “wonderland” / cutting edge city of Milton Keynes and development is rampant. Unfortunately, the profit motive of property developers and for many of the major, their connections in high places, allows them to put up substandard, undersized, badly located, poorly infra-structured boxes. MAKE THIS MANDATORY FOR NEW BUILDS.

[@douggray169]

excellent video, great ideas

[@philh9421]

There’s a really interesting development near St Austell - West Carclaze - no gas, solar, air sourced heat pumps…

[@wino99999]

5:43 need to sort out that outside light keep coming on!

[@andyw6026]

I'm a convert since the "fuel crisis". We're lucky enough to be able to afford to have 3.6kW of solar, 8.5kW battery, Zappi and 2 electric cars. Compared to the same level of use and mileage last year, on the exact same fuel tariff (with Octopus - who are ground-breaking), we saved ~£270 just from mid-Sept to mid-Oct, when you take into account home electricity savings, export of spare electricity to the grid at premium prices and charging cars from home (instead of buying diesel). And that is on a tarif paying 19 pence per kWh. If we were paying 35 pence a kWh (which many are), it would have been closer to £350 - in ONE MONTH!

[@briankavanagh7191]

Andy, how long before your investment is paying for itself?

[@teranova5566]

Do not lie to people because someone can make bad decisions I have Octopus Economy7 tariff and I pay in day 44.347p/kWh. I am installing 4,14 kWp PV system - 12 panels G9 Qcell 345W. It can generate only 150 kWh/month during winter. You can save on that only 66.52 GBP/month in winter.

[@scottwills4698]

There is a cost saving to not connecting gas. I’ve heard it said it’s circa £2m to connect to mains gas per estate. If that’s true and there are 200 houses on the estate that’s £10k per house saving!

[@sirpatmcc]

It’s about time too, it’s taken long enough. Very new home should have them.

[@David-bl1bt]

Interesting to observe @4:12 that the external light by the front door was operating....in the daylight!😵‍💫 I guess it doesn't matter, as it will be powered by the solar panels 🤔

[@MePeterNicholls]

The house designs are so…. Unimaginative. I love Scandinavian homes, this old style of British home has had its day surely?

[@pepermintpilot1694]

Live on the hill just up from here. I knew about the PV and Battery's installed in these homes, but the GSHP was news to me. Don't like the fact that an outside entity control's my daily usage of power though. Here comes "Big Brother". I have 10.5kW of PV and 64kW of battery storage also having a ASHP this year. Best thing is I control it.

[@Naultarous]

I'd like a house like that!

[@andysmith9913]

Great idea building new homes like this, should have happened years ago. I wonder if they will ever get around to retro fitting social/council homes. I would love to be gas free but I rent.

[@AmosMoses777]

There are quite a few sustainable council development around the country. It's in their interests to provides homes with low running costs because they know that the people in them will be on lower incomes. Big developers don't care so much about that. There's a social housing development being permitted at the moment in Cambridge which aims at full passivehaus standard.

[@Poetjanstie]

Yes, yes and yes again! More, more, more and faster please

[@rngalston]

Love it!

[@deansh8506]

Rob I live just around the corner you could have popped in for a cup of tea 😂 On another note - The first ripple energy wind turbine is just a mile down the road too...

[@MrCarnivoure]

Yes, missed opportunity now for last couple of years with new developments where they didn't take advantage of energy efficient housing right from the get go. Now with energy crisis , people took lifetime mortgages with traditional gas heating and many may loose their houses as mortgages going up as well 😳

[@knowledgebyte]

They’re a gnats-whisker away in the US and Holland of 3D printing small and affordable housing using waste products like wood materials from sawmills. Brick building will therefore end and builders will be forced to use modern materials that have little need for concrete and old building techniques. I’m about to design my own house and will be looking at printing modules you can snap together. Hof Haus are another good example of sustainable building.

[@BombatGeneral]

So so important to our future, the biggest hurdle as you identified is how do we differentiate and incentivise these properties over older, or inadequate properties. I can now afford a property with the recent fall in prices for my family after years of saving sadly most new builds do not reflect this standard. I found what was classified as ‘affordable’ wasn’t for me as a 30 year old on a decent salary. I’d be interested in knowing what they are priced at.

[@jamesdubben3687]

When you can say "I don't have a gas bill, I don't have gasoline costs." It's, as you say, Brilliant!

[@thepete129]

Not mentioning any names (Redrow) my house is currently being built , you can option any upgrade you like whether it’s kitchens plug sockets better windows but for for love nor money they would not install solar. I even asked them if they could at least fun the cables and ducting so that when I install it myself on completion it will be easier for the pg installer They refused. The only reason I got for this because they’re worried about the athletics of the estate criminal really.

[@DavidKnowles0]

Have you made sure they haven't stuck a covenant on it preventing changes to the outward appearance of the property until after the construction of the estate is completed?

[@thepete129]

@@DavidKnowles0 no good point the site office haven’t, I expect they will leave the solicitors to cover that off with me .

[@jrisner6535]

I thought I'd seen this before!

[@davidfellowes1628]

The question you are asking the Building industry and every facet of it is why they are so slow at coming forward? Five years after the Grenfell fire, which at the time was obviously negligent, still nothing has been done to rectify all those other similar buildings, nor to change and modernise the practices of the overall building industry. And, why it is so hard to get comprehensive good advice, rather than an array of conmen selling only one dubious part of a solution. Madness, sheer madness. And at the same time insane that the state allows such affairs to persist. Go overseas, there are many many examples of how best to proceed in the publics interests.

[@robinbennett5994]

You're right, but this is the 'shilling green products' channel, aimed at the mass-market instead of us energy nerds. The rants are only on the original Fully Charged channel. I would love to hear answers to all those questions, but I suspect it's "the Tories".

[@robertsprigge5535]

Having just listened to the 203rd episode, having already racked-up 100 hours of listening time, of the excellent BBC Podcast, 'The Grenfell Tower enquiry' I agree. Even the police are now saying they'll wait for the final report in a year's time before prosecuting anyone! In previous episodes, you can hear the various Coroners' reports which, if enacted, could have made a major difference to the outcome. The financial folk don't count future energy saving for the resident, just the cost of construction, i.e. an extra £20k🙁 I want to get the example in this video into phase 2 of our Neighbourhood plan to give it legal status.

[@truenorthjess]

Do the appliances also have flood monitoring? I'd run my dishwasher overnight, but I worry about flooding. If there was an auto shut-off and alarm incase of flood I'd be happy to let my dishwasher come on overnight.

[@briannewman6216]

How hard is it to design a roof that allows for the efficient installation of solar panels so that the solar panels are optimised for power production?

[@tonyclark5854]

You would think if the builders were to there to show off there newly built houses, that the electricity companies outside service boxes would have doors on, to prevent rain from faulting the electric service equipment inside ? Plus the electric service cable entry ducting could of been installed vertically straight 😮

[@malcolmbennett4325]

Just one observation, how do you charge your EV if you own the mid terraced house. The one they are standing outside in this video, without running the charging cable across the pavement?

[@paulburrows1076]

Easy way to create a better home tax system is it use the EPC rating value and the rateable value in a calculation to tax energy in a way that favours those who have more efficient homes and don’t waste energy or burn fossil fuel. It also looks after the low income group living smaller accommodation.

[@immers2410]

How is the cost of running the heat pump shared between the 3 houses?

[@TomTom-cm2oq]

I would love an illustration of the cost of this home 5 years ago. How much more expensive was it? Which tech DIDN'T we have? Would it have paid off back then? If all the answers are positive, then why is this only happening now?

[@Oppledom]

With 3 phase power, does it make it more challenging to self consume electricity? Are the PV only on one phase? and if so maybe some of the other appliances or the car is on a different phase. Maybe the car is the only 3 phase. Not an electrical engineer so quite curious, did read a paper about self consumption of PV in Denmark Smart homes and they came across this issue.

[@78bookem]

I am doing exactly the same In renovating my 1920s house. However it’s taken over 2 years and costs have spiralled.

[@MRSCAREY1962]

Repeat of the 2020 but no update - where's the update? How do residents feel? Have they benefitted from this in ways they did not expect? I want an update!!

[@shoelessjoe428]

Wow. Would love a house with ground source heat pump. How on earth do they drill to a depth of 170 m. That blows my mind.

[@peterjol]

I really like Jaque Fresco's the founder of the venus projects views on designing and planning for sustainable, easily replicable, circular cities...we do it very haphazardly with projects like this ..but his way of thinking is to look at the planning for humans living sustainability on this planet in it's entirety. I wish more people could open their minds up to thinking bigger like him.

[@alanmuncaster7357]

Yes this is the way we should be building houses. But... down here in Dorset there is one developer who adds a covenant preventing the owners installing PV panels unless they and the neighbours agree. Such a short sighted approach.

[@AA-lc6yi]

As amazing as these houses are, it seems a bit daft to still install a copper phone line (2:06, the wee grey boxes on the front) when the move to fibre is happening anyway. Very cool houses though, good to see things are changing.

[@stefanweilhartner4415]

now imagine using much cheaper sodium batteries and solar panels with added perovskite layers to get from 20 to 30% efficiency for the same price. this way you have enough energy for charging the car too.

[@MarkWoodrow00]

I'm not sure I'm keen on a third party turning my stuff on and off. For sure send me a notification or let me set my water to be "Eco Optimised" when I want it. Love the idea of three phase. My 9 year old house doesn't even have power to the garage as it's remote. on a shared access drive.

[@jannovotny6244]

I think the general idea is that you set things like heat pump, water heater, etc on "auto", which you can obviously always override. I don't have the option to have someone do that for me, and a significant effort went into home automation, so that a water heater heats primarily from solar, if that's not enough, then off-peak hours, but only if the battery is already depleted, because I don't want to use the battery for hot water... It is really difficult to do by oneself...

[@MarkWoodrow00]

@@jannovotny6244 for sure that's how I hope it would work. But increasingly nowadays we are not allowed to control our own products.

[@KellyS_77]

I'm sure. I don't want it at all. My house (I paid for it) my solar (i paid for it) my battery (I paid for it). It's MY power! I'll do what I want to with it, thanks :D

[@andyhamilton5926]

Great video, and definitely the right direction for the future. Unfortunately, until the big-volume cookie-cutter builders are FORCED to build to a decent standard by IMMEDIATE REGULATORY ENHANCEMENTS, the UK will still suffer from the poorest quality housing for the masses. These big-volume builders continuously lobby the government to avoid any improvements in what they need to build, which is shameful. Mediocrity is what the regs call for and that's what gets built and it's the only choice for most people. Dreadful situation. Only small-volume builders can do a better job at the moment. Government needs a kick up the a*s as it will help the planet, the occupants, and their carbon targets.

[@celt1578]

What about transport infrastructure? Is it well connected by cycling, walking and public transport routes? That will have a huge impact on the carbon footprint of the development.

[@CastleKnight7]

Would be nice to see more trees, shrubs and plants in this development.

[@kmturley1]

17:25 Great initiative....shame they left a hole in the front door 😜