Buro Happold is employed as sustainable design consultants on this groundbreaking 26-home affordable housing scheme in Elmswell, Suffolk, which aims to achieve an EcoHomes Excellent rating and be an exemplar of cost-effective, sustainable design. Energy efficiency is optimised through heat recovery and highly insulated walls, helping the development meet its target of a 60% carbon emissions reduction compared to a regulations compliant building.

The houses are being built using an innovative material made up of a hemp and lime matrix, a solution that has good environmental, thermal and structural properties. Our consultants have developed an energy strategy that includes woodchip heating through a district heating network and rainwater collection in underground tanks, used for flushing toilets and watering gardens.