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Energy-efficient home displayed at London trade show

03 March 2008

A home that can run for up to a year without relying on electricity supplied by National Grid was displayed in London this week, it has emerged.

According to the Guardian, the RuralZED home, which was constructed by zero-carbon architectural group ZEDfactory, has been constructed with energy-saving materials and gains heat through renewable sources, such as rooftop solar panels, wind turbines and a wood chip-fuelled biomass boiler for the winter months.

The manufacturers have claimed that it is the "most ecologically sound housing option to date", as the RuralZED home has been awarded with a Code 6 rating - the highest under the current code for sustainable buildings.

In addition, architect Bill Dunster claimed that the project is both commercially and financially viable to become a "serious" alternative to more traditional forms of housebuilding techniques.

The newspaper estimates that the a three-bedroom version of the carbon emission-free home would cost around £150,000, with the manufacturer suggesting that a RuralZED property would take around three weeks to construct.

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