ecofirst Consult

The Knockroon development is in East Ayrshire, and Ecofirst Consult has advised on sustainability and renewable energy opportunities for the whole development, comprising hundreds of new homes. The settlement forms a key part of a regional long term plan for sustainable growth for East Ayrshire. The new community will be built as a resource efficient ‘walkable neighbourhood’, rather than a car dependent one, with a mix of types and sizes of housing. It will include sustainable urban drainage, renewable energy, local food strategies, natural landscaping and architecture based upon precedent from towns in the Ayrshire region. This project has recently been selected by the Scottish government for support under the SSCI initiative, of which Knockroon will be one of 11 exemplar projects in Scotland.

Ecofirst Consult has recently helped frame the Sustainability Strategy for approximately two thousand new homes for the next phases of Poundbury, the urban extension to Dorchester. The sustainability strategy has explored a range of renewable energy options at both a district and micro scale. Buildings at Poundbury are famous for their traditional design, and the next phases will have a new emphasis favouring passive design solutions. The brief involved an assessment of future planning legislation timetables related to sustainability and renewable energy, including the Code for Sustainable Homes and the changing Building Regulations.

Ecofirst Consult has developed a sustainability & renewable energy strategy for a prestigious design for a new country house in Solihull by Robert Adam Architects, who have designed some of the best known new country houses in the UK. Our understanding of how to marry traditional architecture with passive design and renewable energy technologies played a key part of what was a successful planning application. The home is well orientated for solar gain, and will be highly insulated and airtight, allowing for the introduction of a ground heat pump for hot water and heating. Other micro renewable technologies are currently under consideration for the generation of electricity.

A recent domestic housing project has been the total refurbishment of a large period house in Clevedon near Bristol, where Ecofirst Consult has advised the owners on a Low & Zero Carbon energy strategy that included an assessment of the possible retrospective passive insulation and air tightness measures. Having first established the viability of passive measures, we went on to explore the viability and suitability of either a ground-source Heat Pump, or biomass boiler connected to Solar Thermal panels for heat, and whether a Photovoltaic panel system or wind turbine is suitable for electricity generation. Payback, energy reduction measures and carbon emission reduction have all been important aspects of the consultancy.

We have consulted for the sustainable house builder ZeroC on their first mid scale district heating system for a development in Poundbury. The system involves an underground pipework system supplying heat from a 100 kW KWB wood pellet boiler housed in a small plant room, including a fuel store. Simple heat meters in each dwelling cylinder cupboard record heat used by residents.