Choice Housing’s pioneering energy efficient housing development; Killynure Green has won an Action Renewable award for best planning for a renewable energy project.
Choice Housing’s pioneering energy efficient housing development; Killynure Green has won an Action Renewable award for best planning for a renewable energy project.
Killynure Green is the first housing scheme in Northern Ireland designed to achieve Level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, and one of the largest schemes of this kind in the U.K.
Instrumental to the success of the housing project was community engagement and Choice involved the local community from the offset to promote the housing scheme and gain awareness within the local community. As part of the community engagement, Choice organised and ran regular meetings with local communities, including communication with local residents’ groups during the planning process and throughout the construction phase. A play space was developed within the original design and was central to the housing scheme from which pupils from the local Primary School ran a competition to name the play space “Green Oak Park”.
Killynure Green can be classed as “Zero Carbon” and incorporates energy efficient building fabric including the ‘Fabric First’ approach and provision of renewable technologies such as PV solar panels and mechanical heat recovery ventilation systems which will reduce running costs of the property for tenants and rain water harvesting which will assist in water conservation.
This unique development was handed over to tenants in October 2015 and is the largest social housing development built in Carryduff for several decades, meeting vital housing need.
Brian Rankin, Choice Energy Manager commented, “Choice are delighted to win this top industry award for best planning for a renewable project. Killynure Green is a truly unique housing development in Northern Ireland and has been designed to show how higher standards can be achieved without taking a radical approach to construction, which Choice hope can inspire future housing developments”.
