Rexel UK sustainable home at BRE Innovation Park

The Sigma Home from Rexel Energy Solutions, in partnership with Stewart Milne Group, was originally built in June 2007 and has now been retrofitted by Rexel UK to showcase a real-life, energy efficient home environment.

Launching at INSITE11, this first phase of redevelopment features cutting-edge technology including LED lighting, an air-source heat pump, solar PV, solar inverters and voltage optimisation.

The house will also showcase electric vehicle (EV) chargers, which are featured to encourage developers to consider including them in future specifications.

Estimates vary, but the WWF and the Committee on Climate Change say that at least 1.7 million electric cars need to be on the UK's streets by 2020, and 6.6 million a decade later, if the country is to meet its climate change targets.

The house has been designed to show visitors to the park what they could achieve with readily available efficiency technologies.

The Sigma Home has previously been test run by a family to obtain a 'real' perspective on living in a home constructed for sustainability.

The BRE Innovation Park is a ground breaking demonstration development, designed to give a glimpse of how the future delivery of sustainable buildings and communities can be achieved.

It features eight of the world's most sustainable houses, a health centre of the future and a refurbished Victorian Terrace.

Collectively these projects demonstrate diverse and innovative approaches to sustainable design and construction.

They each share the common goal of having a low impact on the environment, but a high impact on the quality of life of building and community occupants and CO2 emissions reduction.