Local developer wins national award for sustainable homes built in the Cotswolds
Tim McGrath has won a Local Authority Building Control Award (LABC) - Best small housing development 2021 for his development of three houses at Lyncroft, Perrotts Brook
Cllr Juliet Layton, Cabinet Member for Development Management and Licensing, has said: “Many congratulations to Tim McGrath for winning this prestigious National Award for a Small Development.
“We were proud to nominate this development for the LABC award to showcase how sustainable homes can be built. It absolutely aligns with our ambitions that all new developments across the Cotswolds use sustainable building methods and aim to be as close to net zero carbon as possible.”
This project has committed to ensuring the three new homes are carbon neutral and made use of local materials and labour where possible. Lyncroft House has achieved an Energy Performance Certificate rating 109/100 which combined with feed-in tariff scheme and renewable heat incentive mean there is no energy cost over the year. The development has also installed additional electrical vehicle charging points providing sufficient power to drive over 12,000 miles.
The timber frames used in the building were made locally to help speed up the building process and provide optimal insulation and airtightness levels, minimise thermal bridging and offer a very comfortable living atmosphere. Cotswold District Council’s Building Control team ensured that all the materials used performed as they should.
To ensure the buildings fitted into the contours of the natural landscape an overall site strategy was followed. This project attracted lots of attention from passers-by and the first sale was made in June last year.
Andy Jones, Building Control Service Leader, said: “This was a great project to be involved with. It shows how innovative design and a flexible approach to building control can make a big difference and help create 3 modern sustainable homes for the future.”
Every year LABC hold regional awards for building projects, the winners of the regional awards go through to the national awards. Cotswold District Council Building Control have regularly nominated projects for awards in recent years and have been successful with a number of nominated projects winning the regional nomination to be put forward to the national awards.
Tim McGrath, winner of LABC national award, said: “For over 25 years, I have been interested in energy efficiency, and renewables and held a belief that we need scientific solutions to help us solve the approaching energy crisis. I have built several A-rated housing projects before. This time, as I planned to live in one of the houses, I wanted to push to the limit of commercial viability, although the technology used still has to be cost-effective.
“I am very proud to have the project recognised and receive this award. I hope it reflects a national recognition that we need to be building better homes. When accounting for savings in reduced running costs and not just focussing on purchase price. Energy efficiency is the future, making houses that are more comfortable to live in, saving money as well as helping reduce our impact on the planet.”