T w o A p p r o a c h e s t o D e v e l o p i n g L o w C a r b o n D w e l l i n g s
351
Figure 8: Perception of the influence of various factors in the development of the low carbon design
of the pilot project houses.
Obstacles to the Development of the Pilot Project
With regard to the perception of obstacles it is apparent that the approaches of the eco-
house and the pilot project produced quite distinct obstacles. In the case of the pilot
project, there was a considerable level of difference about perception of obstacles
among the development team based on each individual’s professional role within the
scheme (see Fig. 9). However, there was almost universal agreement that development
costs were the most significant obstacle, as detailed in the comment below:
“I'd say development costs are often an obstacle on all schemes that we deal
with. The problem we have, if I can elaborate on that, is that a lot of the land that
we source tends to come predominantly from the local authority - former garage
sites scrappy bits of land which have often not been developed for the reason
that from time when the local authority used to develop housing it was often
deemed to be undesirable. Consequently we have a lot of abnormal costs with
developing these sites.”
With regard to the eco-house development costs were also identified as an obstacle but
not to the same degree as the in pilot project (see Fig. 9). No doubt, part of the reason
why development costs were not seen as such a significant obstacle on this project was
because the designer/builder of the eco-house was able to draw on free and cheap
labour and materials, as explained below:
‘construction has been very cost-effective at approx. £60,000 to date (£30,000
per house) but there's a lot of free labour and time in that
…
I've found there is a
wealth of materials available free or cheap; my clay plaster was dug from a
neighbour's garden (about 10 tonnes of it!), there was some usable stone and
slate on site and freecycle and neighbours renovations have been a godsend -
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Budget
Availability of specialist components
Availability of local materials
BRE standards for CfSH
The local micro-climate
Building Regulations
Planning Regulations - National
Planning Regulations - Regional
How do you rate the influence of the following factors in the development of
the low carbon design of the pathfinder houses?
EcoHouse Respondent
Respondent 1
Respondent 2
Respondent 3
Respondent 4
Respondent 5
Respondent 6
Respondent 7
