Eco-village get energy heating and hot water

Gledhill supplies Barratt's EcoSmart Show Village in Chorley with alternative energy heating and hot water.

Blackpool-based Gledhill Water Storage was in attendance at the launch of Barratt Homes' flagship eco-village last month as the key supplier of alternative energies heating and hot water.

The first project of its kind by a major UK housebuilder, Barratt's EcoSmart Show Village in Chorley was officially launched to an audience of housing industry professionals, and Gledhill took its place as the developer's choice partner in the provision of energy efficient heating and hot water.

Gledhill's entire range of alternative energy appliances have been installed at the development, using solar power, ground source heat pumps and micro Combined Heat and Power (mCHP) in conjunction with an intelligent thermal store to provide both space heating and mains pressure hot water.

The show village comprises seven environmentally-friendly family houses and Gledhill has acted as a consultant in its establishment, advising Barratt on how best to integrate the alternative energies into homes in order to maximise the efficiency and performance of domestic heating and hot water systems.

The homes will now spend up to 18 months being independently assessed before being sold, although experts already predict that harmful carbon emissions from the homes could be reduced by over 16 tonnes per year and annual fuel bills cut by up to a third.

The EcoSmart Village will be open to homebuyers, schools and the housing industry to allow visitors to fully appreciate how a major housebuilder like Barratt can work with key suppliers like Gledhill in order to confront the challenge of climate change.

Barratt Group Chief Executive David Pretty said: "The key issue for us is how to harness renewable energy as effectively as possible.

Everyone is attracted to green features but there's very little information available about the actual costs and benefits involved in buying and installing them in conventional housing.

The show village will enable us to accurately assess those costs and benefits and also find out what potential homebuyers really think".

Gledhill Chairman Houghton Gledhill said: "We have been delighted to work with Barratt on this flagship eco development.

The use of efficient alternative energies is no longer an option but a necessity, and this flagship project will hopefully encourage more UK housebuilders to integrate new sources of energy into homes to provide energy saving heating and hot water.

"At Gledhill we have developed the only appliance that has been designed to optimise the input from alternative energies, guaranteeing homeowners the maximum performance from their heating and hot water performance and the most cost effective way to go green".

Gledhill's alternative energies appliances include the BoilerMate Sol for use with solar power, BoilerMate HP for use with Ground Source Heat Pumps, and BoilerMate mCHP for efficient use of micro Combined Heat and Power.

All incorporate an advanced thermal store in order to provide both space heating and hot water to the home, and each has accurate digital sensors and a sophisticated control programme dedicated to optimising the usage of each energy source.

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