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Eco/Sustainable Design

New extra care schemes will incorporate elements that reduce the impact of the building on the environment. Increasingly schemes will go beyond the basic requirements for planning purposes and aim to meet or exceed standards for sustainability and reduced carbon footprint.

Calling all Social Housing providers – do you know about the new standards and regulations and how they will impact on heat networks?

This Housing LIN guest blog by Sushma Maharaj, Consultant at Shakespeare Martineau, shares insights on a new set of consumer standards aimed at providing tenants with quality homes and services.

URBANAGE

Funded by the European Commission over three years, the URBANAGE project aimed to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of older people living in urban areas. This was achieved by creating and promoting age-friendly solutions and a set of tools with the goal of creating more inclusive, more resilient, age-friendly cities.

Taking a collaborative approach to design at The Courtyards in Preston

Written for the Housing LIN by David Magill, Associate at Levitt Bernstein, this case study explores 'The Courtyards', an extra care housing scheme in Ingol, Preston, which was recently shortlisted in the HAPPI category of the Housing Design Awards.

Grey going green? Longevity for our planet and people through Integrated Retirement Communities

Members of ARCO's expert Advisory Council came together to publish a report highlighting how the Integrated Retirement Community sector can tackle the Net Zero Carbon challenge.

Green Homes Report: What Buyers Want

Published by Shakespeare Martineau, this research reveals that green homes will have a significant influence on the UK reaching its net zero 2050 targets, but unless homeowners are happy to live in them, there will be little commercial benefit for housebuilders to construct them.

Melfield Gardens, Lewisham - an intergenerational housing scheme for older people and students, designed to a Passivhaus standard

This Housing LIN case study (no 163) explores Melfield Gardens in Lewisham. Winner of a 2021 Housing Design Awards, these 100% affordable homes for Phoenix Community Housing combine intergenerational living with HAPPI principles whilst targeting a highly sustainable Passivhaus standard.

Net Zero Carbon Toolkit

West Oxfordshire District Council has collaborated with Cotswold District Council and Forest of Dean District Council to produce a Net Zero Carbon Toolkit.

Building for a Healthy Life: Rochester Riverside - a Housing Design Award-winning development

This Housing LIN Case Study (No 159) captures the key design characteristics that establish a route to healthy, sustainable, and enjoyable home for all ages. It features this year's winning entry from the Housing Design Award's first-ever Building for a Healthy Life category.

Life after COVID-19. Collaboration for a Better Future - Tomorrow will be a Better Day

This blog by Paula Broadbent, Retirement Solutions Director Places & Communities at ENGIE UK & Ireland, sets out the twin challenges of our ageing population and climate change. She highlights the importance of maintaining vibrant communities that sustain our mental health and social wellbeing and current measures to keep our existing homes warm and good condition.

Warm Homes and a Safe Environment: How government and the housing sector can work together to tackle climate change

Produced by the Chartered Institute of Housing and Orbit Group, this briefing considers what the housing sector needs to undertake to lead the drive to tackle climate change and achieve the targets the government has set to reduce carbon emissions.

Designing healthier neighbourhoods: a systematic review of the impact of the neighbourhood design on health and wellbeing

This paper in Taylor & Francis’ online Cities & Health issue, maps the impact of the neighbourhood design on health and wellbeing and evaluate the quality of the evidence underpinning such associations.

Building for a Healthy Life

Building for a Healthy Life (BHL) is the latest edition of - and new name for - Building for Life 12. The new name reflects recent changes in legislation and BHL also recognises the findings of the three-year Healthy New Towns Programme led by NHS England and NHS Improvement.

Easi Guide to Passivhaus design

This guide by architects Levitt Bernstein, endorsed by The Passivhaus Trust, graphically sets out ten simple principles that form the foundations of good Passivhaus and zero carbon design

Small dementia design considerations for big impact: Sensitive design interventions for green spaces and dementia gardens

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that green space has a positive effect on dementia.

UK Housing: Fit for the Future?

This report, by the Committee on Climate Change and its Adaptation Committee, assesses whether the UK’s housing stock is adequately prepared for the challenges of climate change.

A 21st Century eco-almshouse: St. John’s Almshouses, Lichfield

A look at the award-winning St. John’s Almshouses, a new Passivhaus certified residential scheme for older people in Lichfield, completed in August 2017.

Going Green to Save Money - How Solar Panels can Reduce Costs

With rising energy costs and concerns about climate change, Roman Bielecki looks at a government subsidy that can help to save money and reduce fossil fuel use.

Costs and outcomes of improving population health through better social housing: a cohort study and economic analysis

This project, funded by Gentoo and Nottingham City Homes, sets out to determine the impact of warmth-related housing improvements on the health, well-being, and quality of life of families living in social housing.

Urban Heat: Developing the role of community groups in local climate resilience

This Policy Studies Institute report was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Using an action research approach, the project facilitated engagement of voluntary and community sector (VCS) groups...

The short-term health and psychosocial impacts of domestic energy efficiency investments in low-income areas: a controlled before and after study

This publication by Cardiff and Swansea University, funded by the NIHR Health Research Programme and supported by the Welsh government, reports on an evaluation of the Arbed phase 2 programme. The study...

Regenerating the Aylesbury: Inter-generational urban extra care housing

This Housing LIN Case Study no 126 focuses on a challenging intergenerational mix of housing on the Aylesbury Estate, Walworth, in south London, that requires progressive levels of privacy across shared...

Care provision fit for a future climate

How far are existing care homes and other care provision facilities fit for a future climate? This new JRF report by Oxford Brookes University and the Universities of Manchester and Lancaster, is one...

Warm homes for health briefing

This briefing by the University of Bangor reports on a research project undertaken with Gentoo in Sunderland to understand the impact that warmth-related housing improvements have on the health, well-being...

Boiler on Prescription

The report finds a 60% reduction in the number of GP appointments needed by patients taking part in the boiler on prescription trial in Sunderland between Gentoo and the local Clinical Commissioning...

The connected home: Designing and building technology into today's new homes

This NHBC guide describes the spectrum of connected homes (also known as 'smart homes'), from present technology to future applications. It gives guidance to designers and house builders on what they...

Places for all Ages: Designing the future Garden Village

This report introduces some thoughts on how Barratt, as a volume house builder, might go about delivering new settlements in the form of Garden Villages - places for all ages. To date, most major new...

The Circadian House: Hawkes House - Designing for Ageing

This Housing LIN Case Study no 112 is by Dean Hawkes, emeritus professor of architectural design at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University and an emeritus fellow of Darwin College, University...

Making Places: The Quality Design Guide

This guide by Great Places Housing Group aims to inform architects, consultants and contractors about their duty to create schemes which are a pleasure to live in, contribute to the local community and...

New Towns and Garden Cities: Lessons for Tomorrow

Drawing a selection of case studies from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, this TCA report looks at the transferable lessons from each for delivering a new generation of garden cities.

A Fresh Approach to Palliative Care - Sustainable Design

This Housing LIN Case Study no 109 looks at the development of St Michael's Hospice in Bartestree, Herefordshire, and how through sensitive and sustainable design a new vision of palliative care has...

Active by Design: Designing places for healthy lives - A short guide

This guide from Design Council CABE makes the case for taking action to tackle twenty-first century health problems through designing and managing places and buildings that encourage physical activity....

NHS Energy Efficiency Fund

This report by Cambridge University for the Department of Health provides results from NHS energy efficiency projects delivered through 2013-14 in England, funded through the Department of Health NHS...

Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics report 2015

This report analyses fuel poverty by the latest examining energy efficiency and dwelling characteristics while also examining the trends in household income and other characteristics relating to 2013,...

Maximising the Benefits of Passivhaus: A Guide to Supporting Older Occupants

This guide by the University of Manchester Institute for Collaboration on Ageing, Eastlands Homes and the Housing LIN is aimed at housing providers and architects. It provides recommendations on how...

Building Sustainable Homes

This report from the JRF looks at the opportunities and constraints for building sustainable homes. It highlights the organisational and structural constraints that prevent significant changes in the...

Building comfort for old age: Designing and managing thermal comfort in low carbon housing for older people

This briefing by a multi-institutional team, led by Professor Simon Guy, provides a summary of the findings derived from the project 'Conditioning Demand: Older People, Diversity and Thermal Experience'....

BREEAM: the Environmental Assessment Method for Buildings Around The World

BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has become...

Extra Care Housing: Designing, assessing and delivering sustainable homes

This Housing LIN Technical Brief No 4 sets out the current policy and legislative context for 'green' housing. It presents examples of Extra Care Housing and general needs housing developments and looks...

Eco Housing - taking extra care with environmentally friendly design

A Housing LIN Factsheet No13 that summarises some policy and legislative context for 'green' and 'intelligent' housing. It presents examples of Extra Care Housing and general needs housing developments...

Prince Charles House

The story of Prince Charles House, winner of the HAPPI design awards 2013, from the design to residents living in their new eco-friendly homes.