A housing scheme insulated with STYROFOAM™-A has won a Green Apple Environment Award after competing against more than 500 other nominations.

The scheme at Wimbish, Essex, has already won the residential category of the first ever UK Passivhaus Awards. Its developers - Hastoe Housing Association - will be presented with this latest Award at a glittering presentation ceremony in the House of Commons.

The Wimbish Passivhaus project is a scheme of 14 dwellings which delivers extremely low fuel bills and has minimal carbon emissions. It was the first rural affordable housing development in the UK to achieve Passivhaus certification.

"We are very pleased to have won a Green Apple award, which is a great accolade," said Hastoe Chief Executive, Sue Chalkley. "We are committed to developing homes to this high standard which provide a very real solution to the serious and growing problem of rural fuel poverty, whilst also protecting the climate. Winning this award is testament to the quality of our Passivhaus homes and the hard work of all involved."

The Green Apple Awards began in 1994 and are organised by The Green Organisation, a non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising and promoting environmental best practice. Judges are drawn from the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institution for Wastes Management and other independent bodies.

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"We are really proud that the innovative Wimbish Passivhaus scheme has been recognised by The Green Apple Environment Award," added Chris Parsons from Parsons and Whittley Architects, the architects for the development.

"The project was challenging both technically and strategically, but working with the dedicated development team at Hastoe Housing Association ensured that the attention to detail required by the methodology was carried out right through the project. The post occupancy monitoring is demonstrating very real energy and fuel cost savings for the tenants and occupiers."

The buildings were insulated below the concrete floor slabs with STYROFOAM-A insulation FLOORMATE™ 300-A from Dow Building Solutions, a method which is becoming recognized as a highly effective way of insulating residential buildings.

"We're continuing to see interest from architects and developers in building methods such as Passivhaus, but it requires a different way of thinking when it comes to maximizing the thermal performance of the building fabric," explained Matthew Dyke, Account Manager for Dow Building Solutions.

"Installing insulation below the slab helps to avoid thermal bridges at floor and wall junctions and makes the most of precious internal space. It’s great to see the residents of this scheme benefiting from the forward thinking approach of people who are committed to creating a blueprint for more sustainable construction, and to see it receiving such high profile recognition in the industry."

To find out more about the Wimbish Passivhaus development visit www.wimbishpassivhaus.com. For details on stockists of FLOORMATE 300-A and other insulation products, contact Dow Building Solutions by email on [email protected] and one of the account managers will be in touch, or visit www.styrofoam.co.uk.