Littledales Park – Hartford’s first carbon neutral development

Hartford has its first CarbonNeutral development. Developer Hillcrest Homes has been working with leading full service carbon management organisation The CarbonNeutral Company, to calculate the amount of CO2 that will be emitted during the construction of its Littledales Park development, off Chester Road in Hartford.

After over a century of abuse we are living in a fragile and rapidly deteriorating climate. Climate change is recognised as probably the biggest threat faced by our society but it’s everyone’s responsibility to pay back what he or she takes from the planet in addition to making long-term lifestyle changes.

As well as looking at ways of reducing these CO2 emissions, such as using local material suppliers and reducing waste, Hillcrest has offset its unavoidable emissions by supporting two sustainability projects in the UK and abroad that save 1 tonne of CO2 for every tonne it generates.

Hillcrest Homes supports the principle of making buildings more energy efficient and, where possible, includes a number of energy saving features into its properties, including underfloor heating, mega-flow pressurised water systems and, most recently, water reducing valves which limit the amount of water pushed through the taps without limiting the pressure.

Hillcrest Managing Director, Mike Kennedy says; “We work hard to meet the increasing need for high standard new and energy efficient homes but also recognise what it is costing the environment for us to do so.

“Unfortunately at the moment, it is not economically viable for developers to install every environmentally friendly product on the market and many of them are untested,” Mike adds, “Maintenance is also an issue with recent reports showing that an investment of £15,600 on geothermal, micro-generation and solar panels would deliver a £271 saving per annum on energy costs, therefore taking the homeowner 57 years to get a return on their initial investment. We’re unsure of the benefit they would bring to our customers long term. “

Hillcrest is investing two projects. The first of these is the Te Apiti Windfarm, located in the North Island of New Zealand, which accommodates 55 wind turbines each producing up to 1.65MW of electricity, enough individually to operate 900 average homes or 45,000 average homes in total.

The second project is a reforestation project at the Hendre Ddu Woodland in the heart of the Snowdonia National Park. It has consistently been developed since medieval times, first for agricultural purposes and later for slate quarrying. Hillcrest is supporting The CarbonNeutral Company and its planting partners with a replanting programme, which will reinstate the site back to natural forests.

Concludes Mike; “Our investment in these projects is just the beginning. We hope to offer many more initiatives on future developments.”

Littledales Park is a delightful development of thirty six properties in the tree-lined grounds of historic Sandiway Cottage. In addition to the restoration and conversion of the Cottage, the development will offer a choice of two bedroom apartments, five bedroom semi-detached homes and four, five and six bedroom detached homes.

For further information, visit hillcresthomes.com.