Total Rethink

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high, and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it”

– Michelangelo

It is time for a total rethink of how we buy homes. Together with the cost of energy, food, clothing and education it is now almost impossible for the average family to afford to buy a home. Everyone is focusing on the cost of the house, but there is little we can do about the average cost of a £250k house, so we need to look at making savings in other areas. We can’t do without food or clothes, so what we are left with is the cost of energy and fossil fuels. If we remove this significant cost and invest it we can reduce the cost of the home, and for a £300k or less property it can be paid for by the invested savings.

“An additional two billion people will need housing by 2030”
Over that same time period, the global middle class will increase to nearly five billion people. Property developers need to keep pace with population growth. We can find solutions that make shelter more accessible around the world. This is how the world advances” – CME Group.

The Perfect Storm

We are all experiencing a perfect storm of crises:
• Cost of living crisis
• Housing affordability crisis
• Energy crisis
• Pensions crisis
• Not least a climate crisis

There is one solution to all of these. It is a zero energy house which pays for itself using the money saved from energy and fossil fuel from house and car, invested over the mortgage term.
• The cost of living is reduced with an interest only mortgage.
• Housing affordability costs are halved
• Energy is free from the sun
• £600 per month savings to direct to your pension
• If everyone purchased a zero energy home then we could effectively increase our average earnings of £25k a year by 50%

More environmental benefits of an ecocity home

• Encouraging biodiversity
• Following the circular economy (Ellen McArthur Foundation)
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• 90% of development on brownfield land
• Lean construction techniques with less waste and more efficient use of materials
• Community involvement and planning gain to provide community facilities
• No tropical hardwoods
• Forrest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified timber from sustainable sources
• Low CO2 cement
• Green steel using solar to melt scrap
• Long life – loose fit – designing buildings to last for 1000 years means we don’t need to waste vast resources demolishing and rebuilding every 70 years

Embodied Energy of Materials

As well as having homes which do not use energy, and which power our electric cars at Ecocity we have looked at the embodied energy in the materials used in the production of the homes and have chosen those which have used less energy and CO2 in their make-up. We use low CO2 cement, green steel, timber, recycled plastic, and bricks.

The 15 Minute City

We believe that the future of cities is rooted in the past. The walking city where everything you need is in a compact, beautiful neighbourhood like the arrondissements in Paris, and the urban quarters and villages of London. They foster a more sustainable and higher quality of life with less dependence on the car and its associated negative impacts.