Pobl welcomes Welsh Government clean energy strategy

Under the proposals, announced on Monday morning by Julie James, Housing Minister, Julie James, houses built after 2025 will be more energy efficient, cheaper to run and produce up to 80% less CO2 emissions 

 Currently, housing accounts for 9% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Wales, according to official figures. 

Welsh Government is proposing the introduction of tough new standards on new homes, to be implemented in stages over the next five years, which include: 

• Improved energy efficiency from 2020 to cut carbon dioxide emissions from new dwellings by 37% 
• Phasing out the use of high-carbon fossil fuels 
• Improving energy efficiency by limiting heat loss and reducing the demand for heat 
• Improving air quality 

The Parc Eirin development at the head of the Ely Valley in RCT, is one that is already embracing new technology to lead the way, that when finished will meet many of the new exacting standards announced today. 

A partnership between Pobl Group, Tirion Homes, Sero Energy and Morganstone, the development will see 225 affordable homes built. The scheme has received £7m funding from the Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Programme and, when complete, will deliver low energy systems for the entire site via Sero Energy’s Home Energy Management service, helping to build a sustainable community.   

The homes at Parc Eirin won’t have any gas so they’ll have batteries, solar PVs, ground source heat pumps and super-fast car chargers. They will be extremely innovative and should significantly reduce the amount people spend on their bills. 

“These targets are incredibly ambitious but they are targets that need to be implemented following Welsh Government declaring a climate emergency. It means as an industry we’ve got to change the way we do things. We’ve got to decarbonise; we’ve got to be more energy efficient. “Parc Eirin is a fantastic scheme, which has benefited from Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Programme and all partners involved with the scheme are working to show that the technology which is available works, is efficient, can be rolled out at scale and is viable for the wider industry.” Rhys Parry, Director of Development (East) for Pobl Group

The initial phases will see 112 homes built for Pobl (private sale and shared ownership), with the remainder then intended to be rental homes managed by Tirion Homes. 

“New and existing housing contribute about a fifth of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. If we are to meet our ambitious target of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050, we need to take action now to make a significant step change to the way we heat and power our homes. “The new homes being built today will exist in 2050. Therefore, we must ensure the standards we set for these homes put us on the right path. This involves improving energy efficiency and moving to cleaner ways to heat our homes.” Welsh Government Housing Minister, Julie James