House, The "Triangle", Howse Garden, off Northern Road, Swindon

Image: © Vieve Forward Taken: 13 Jun 2012

The "Triangle", Howse Garden, is a new and controversial housing development off Northern Road, Swindon. Built by Hab Oakus, the partnership between TV presenter Kevin McCloud's company Hab and housing group GreenSquare, it is an estate of 42 sustainable and "affordable" dwellings. http://www.haboakus.co.uk/triangle/ The houses were designed by Glenn Howells Architects and the development was supported with an investment of around £2.5 million from the Homes and Communities Agency and backed by £840,000 investment from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Low Carbon Investment Fund because of its use of environmentally-sustainable materials. According to the Hab Oakus website, http://www.haboakus.co.uk/triangletv.htm homes at The "Triangle" are designed to be super insulated – naturally warm in winter and cool in summer – and have a range of features that make them different from more ‘traditional’ homes including: air sourced heat pump; rain water harvesting and low water usage bathroom fittings; stack effect ventilation with chimney-style ventilation cowls; sheep’s wool loft insulation; triple glazed windows; bicycle storage built in to the front canopy of each house; and walls built from a hemp and lime wall thermal walling system that absorbs CO2 in its manufacture.

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