£1.1bn deal aims for thousands of zero-carbon homes
BSR says the new deal is set to be “a massive coup for the green building industry,” in the wake of last years scrapping of both the zero-carbon homes standard and the Green Deal.
Barcelona Housing Systems (BHS), the new carbon neutral housing solution from WElink Energy and CNBM, aims to create zero-carbon, zero-waste and water-efficient buildings, with the buildings also featuring rooftop solar panels, energy storage and waste-to-energy technology.
CNBM and WElink, which have initially committed £800m to deliver the first 8,000 BHS housing units in the UK, hope to complete the first phase of development, which involves the construction of 4,000 units, by 2018, while Barry O'Neill, chief executive of WElink, believes that the BHS housing solution could be rolled out on a larger scale if demand proves high.
“Given the scalability of our BHS solution and the near-zero energy buildings that are constructed in combination with the engineering, financial and strategic support of our Chinese partners, we believe we can expand rapidly to fulfil the appetite for the development of affordable housing in the UK," he said.
Angus MacDonald, managing director at British Solar Renewables, added: "The opportunity could not be better timed in terms of the government's goals, our country's low-carbon policy commitment and our growing need for more affordable homes. It will create a significant number of jobs in the development of this next generation of energy-efficient housing".
WElink and CNBM are already working together to deliver more than 30,000 BHS homes in Spain, Croatia and Chile.
