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Eco Home

Residents of an eco-home development called Pavilion Gardens in Bradford received energy bills that were double the national average, over £900 per quarter. The homes were built to high eco-friendly standards but the heating systems, electric air source heat pump boilers, have had problems, causing the high bills. Bradford Council acknowledges the issues and promises to reimburse residents for excess costs and ensure future bills are lower, as they work with contractors to resolve the problems with the boilers. A critic argues that the UK government's focus on accrediting eco-homes based mainly on carbon footprint ignores whether the homes are desirable places to live or if residents can understand and use the technology effectively.

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Klover Ohrid
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290 views

Eco Home

Residents of an eco-home development called Pavilion Gardens in Bradford received energy bills that were double the national average, over £900 per quarter. The homes were built to high eco-friendly standards but the heating systems, electric air source heat pump boilers, have had problems, causing the high bills. Bradford Council acknowledges the issues and promises to reimburse residents for excess costs and ensure future bills are lower, as they work with contractors to resolve the problems with the boilers. A critic argues that the UK government's focus on accrediting eco-homes based mainly on carbon footprint ignores whether the homes are desirable places to live or if residents can understand and use the technology effectively.

Uploaded by

Klover Ohrid
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as ODT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2

Listen to a news report about eco-homes. Choose the correct answer.


1 What is the best headline for this story?
Eco-home residents see energy bills soar
Government pledges to construct more eco homes
Eco-home construction delayed by financial problems
Which of the following is NOT true of the Pavilion Gardens complex?
It was finished two years ago.
It comprises 45 homes.
It cost 6.5 million pounds to build.
James Farmers energy bill was
900 for 3 months
1600 for 3 months
1500 for 6 months
The company Lovell says that
these boilers have the cheapest running costs in Europe.
the energy bills are not their responsibility.
they were aware of problems with the equipment.
Bradford Council will
demand that the energy company reduces the bills.
find out why the bills are so high and try to lower them.
find alternative accommodation for the people of Pavilion Gardens.
Bradford Council have promised to
pay the residents bills in full.
give the residents some money back.
pay to replace the faulty boilers.
The editor of Build-It is critical about government accreditation schemes which
calculate a homes energy savings.
measure residents satisfaction.
value low construction costs above energy savings.
The critic disagrees with the governments pledge to build more eco-homes because
the homes are poorly designed.
the homes are too expensive to build.
the homes do not significantly cut energy use.

Newsreader:
Residents at a complex of new eco-homes, which was heralded as the most environmentally-friendly
housing development in the region when it was completed two years ago, have received energy bills
which are double the national average. The 45 homes, commissioned by Bradford Council,
constructed by the firm Lovell and managed by Yorkshire Housing, cost 5.6 million pounds of public
money, funded by Bradford Council and the Homes and Communities Agency. They were built to the
highest specifications of the Governments Code for Sustainable Homes, and incorporated a range of
eco-friendly features including super-insulation, solar panels, biomass boilers and heat-recycling
systems, which led the residents to believe that their bills would be considerably lower than usual.
Instead they were sent bills of over 900 per quarter. Resident James Farmer describes his
experiences.

Man:
We werent actually told that our bills would be lower, but with all this fancy eco stuff like solar
panels, and heat exhaust systems, you come to expect it. We couldnt believe it when we got a bill
for one and a half grand for half a year. Thats almost double what we paid in our last place. We had
to take a loan out to pay it. Everyone on the street is suffering. They want to move out. They cant
keep on living here with that sort of expense. But the council wont find them another place, and of
course no-one else wants to move in, in a hurry.
Newsreader:
A spokesman for the construction company Lovell admits that the supposedly eco-friendly devices
havent been working as well as they should be.
Construction worker:
The heating in the majority of these properties is provided by electric air source heat pump boilers.
These have the potential to be more efficient than conventional boilers, and have been used to great
effect throughout Europe. It would appear that there have been a number of problems with the
boilers in Pavilion Gardens, and the manufacturers have been called out on a number of occasions to
rectify the problems.
Newsreader:
Bradford Councils assistant director of Housing had this to say:
Council Spokesman:
We appreciate that residents of Pavilion Gardens are experiencing problems with energy usage and
billing. We appreciate that this is a serious problem, and we are working with the building contractor,
the energy company and managing agents to find a solution. We are confident that we will be able
to resolve these issues, and want to reassure residents that we will reimburse them for any costs
over and above the standard charge for their household. We will also do our best to ensure that
residents electricity bills are lower in future.
Newsreader:
The news comes at a time when governments are pledging to pump more money into constructing
homes that cut energy use. But critics argue that the governments standing is short-sighted. The
editor in chief of the online architectural magazine Build-It had this to say:
Critic:
Its all very well the government pouring more money into eco-homes, but the problem is, that
theyre basing the whole success of these schemes on a points system, whereby the houses are
accredited on how low their carbon footprint is. There is no attempt to qualify whether these are the
types of places where people want to live, or whether the technology used in them can be
understood or used effectively by the home-owners. And in my opinion, were going to see more and
more stories like this one as more shoddy eco-homes are shoved together by building companies,
rather than designed effectively by real architects.

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