last updated 29th Oct 04
by 4ecotips.com

Yorklake Homes has been working with award-winning Bill Dunster Architects to design and build the first ZED Apartments at Tomlin's Grove, Bow in Central London. The ZED concept saves the buyer major costs in energy bills and provides a great living environment.

ZED stands for Zero Energy (fossil) Development. Designed to minimise the amount of fossil fuel energy used, a ZED aims to be carbon neutral,
balancing energy from renewable sources with usage from main supplies. Using cutting edge technology, walls are super-insulated with 300mm insulation, windows are triple glazed and a wood pellet burning boiler provides inexpensive domestic hot water. Designed to be air tight to Scandinavian standards, the apartments use a wind cowl and heat exchanger which reduces heat losses from ventilation to a minimum.

The installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells provides an apartment
with its own environment friendly electricity. Supplementary electricity
generated from PV solar cells can also be sold back to electricity suppliers at a green tariff rate. It’s just like running the meter backwards! So energy bills are a fraction of those of similar houses without these advanced features.

With prices starting at £185,000 it is hardly surprising that only one of
the four apartments is still available.