Project: Kirkby Stephen Housing Development

• Project Update October 2023: Despite recent national press coverage relating to the delivery of a solution for nutrient neutrality, restrictions remain on new build development in the Eden Valley. As a result, we have not been able to progress our exciting plans for the Kirkby Stephen site as we were unable to extend our agreement with the landowner. If you have a new build site that is not impacted by nutrient neutrality restrictions and are looking at options to develop innovative community owned low carbon heating solutions for that site, please get in touch with us.

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eQuality Homes has secured an option for land to build 22 low carbon homes in Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria.

The project will adopt the eQuality Heat approach to demonstrate the benefits of this approach in reducing carbon emissions and energy bills, whilst offering improved comfort levels within a high-quality living space.

Each home will have its own ground source heat pump, which will connect to a centrally owned ambient loop energy cluster, comprising boreholes and an estate-wide heat network.

The approach, which would be combined with on-site solar generation and battery storage, will take advantage of high efficiency and flexible low carbon technologies to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs for homeowners.

The boreholes, which represent a significant cost component within a ground source-based heating system, will be funded and owned separately to the energy system in the home, to reduce the upfront costs for the homeowners. By removing the upfront cost for the boreholes and replacing it with a modest annual standing charge, the scheme is seeking to demonstrate how low carbon infrastructure can be more readily built into our towns and villages without a placing prohibitive up-front-costs on homeowners.

By reducing the costs for low carbon heating, eQuality Homes aims to improve access to lower cost, lower carbon heating systems for communities across the UK.

The eQuality Heat approach also offers a number of additional benefits. Notably:

• Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are typically smaller than their main alternative – air source heat pumps (ASHPs).
• GSHP’s can be located internally or more effectively screened to reduce their visual and noise impacts then ASHPs.
• GSHP’s offer a more efficient and lower cost heating option in the very coldest weather than ASHP’s, which are having to work much harder to extract the heat from the very coldest air.

To find out more about eQuality Homes, click here.