An affordable housing scheme that will provide future lessons for eco-development has started on site in Mansfield.

Three special eco-friendly houses are being built within an existing site at Blake Street. Owned by Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA), one of the houses will eventually be their first carbon-zero home.

The project has been supported by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Mansfield District Council (MDC). The three houses will be built to levels four, five and six of the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH). Level Six is the highest possible rating creating a zero-carbon home. The land has been gifted to NCHA by Mansfield District Council.

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By building the houses across three levels, NCHA hopes to demonstrate the pros and cons of increased construction costs against energy saving costs for the future tenants. The different levels of houses will be built with increasing levels of insulation, solar photovoltaic cells, mechanical heat recovery and ventilation systems, and rainwater harvesting.

Work has commenced on site and Councillor Heather Henshaw, Portfolio Holder for Housing at MDC said: "I am thrilled that the Council has been able to support such an innovative new housing project in Mansfield. This puts us at the forefront of environmentally sustainable house-building. As well as being beneficial to the environment, the scheme should also lead to major reductions in the cost of living for the tenants there."

(CD/GK)