ECO Homes Assessments

EcoHomes is a credit-based environmental rating scheme, which is voluntary at present in the UK and designed to be used against new dwellings as well as major refurbishment projects. The environmental standards required exceed those imposed by building control to make any home built against EcoHomes superior in many ways, ensuring that the sustainability of house building is maintained. Many of the issues listed below are voluntary ensuring EcoHomes is flexible enough to be tailored towards a particular development or market.

 

EcoHomes assessments can be carried out at any stage during the development, design stage and post construction. However, it is recommended that the assessment be carried out as early as possible to minimize the need for any retrospective action to reach the rating required.

 

The categories that are assessed are:

 

• Energy
• Transport
• Pollution
• Materials
• Water
• Ecology
• Health and wellbeing
• Management.

 

The credits are awarded according to performance. A set of environmental weightings for each category are used to allow the scores to be added together to produce a single, overall score. The site is then rated according to the following scale, as there are no mandatory requirements in EcoHomes the credits can be gained from any category to reach the required environmental rating.

EcoHomes Rating	Corresponding Score
Pass	36
Good	48
Very Good	58
Excellent	70

The credits aim to consider the concern of climate change, resource use and the impact on wildlife and balance that with the requirement for new housing that maintains a good quality of life for the occupants with a safe and healthy internal environment.

 

The Government has announced that all new dwellings in England will require a rating in accordance with the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) from May 2008.  EcoHomes will remain as an assessment method for new dwellings in Wales and Scotland, and for refurbishments in England.  BRE advise that it will also apply to dwellings for which funding was in place based on EcoHomes prior to May 2008, even if the planning process is still underway. 

 

EcoHomes assessments are carried out and presented as a single report at any time during the build, and are site-specific whereas the Code is dwelling-type specific.  This means that, although the credit system for CSH has many similarities with EcoHomes, direct comparison between Code and EcoHomes ratings can be misleading.  Energist can guide you through the differences between the two assessment systems.

 

 

Enviko can provide the full range of advisory services and technology provision to suit your development’s requirements. For an informal discussion email or call our Technical Director on +44 (0)783 7081720.