The small development of five energy efficient family homes has been built by Oaklee Homes Group and is the first social housing scheme in Northern Ireland to be built to 'passive house' standard. The scheme will be used to provide practical learning for future social housing developments.
The 'passive house' concept is based on minimizing heat loss and maximizing heat gain with much reduced traditional heating and cooling systems. In the three and four bedroom properties, a heat exchanger re-circulates warm air throughout the building and is supplemented by heating from a total of only three conventional radiators. The result will be much reduced energy costs for tenants.
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Minister for Social Development Minister McCausland was at the official launch. He said: "Northern Ireland suffers from the highest level of fuel poverty in the United Kingdom with households here spending significantly more of their disposable income on energy costs. My department is committed to reducing energy inefficiency as one way of driving down on fuel poverty. For social housing tenants, in particular, rising energy costs can have a disproportionately devastating effect and I want to do all I can to make sure that people do not have to make the hard choice between eating and heating.
“Social housing here is already at a high standard, but I want to ensure that we are concentrating on those elements that will make the most impact on energy efficiency. This latest initiative will provide valuable learning as we look to make the best choices for social housing going forward."
(CD)
