Sunny outlook for eco-friendly buyers

Britain's leading house builder, Barratt, has joined forces with Chesterfield's Lib Dem Borough Council to give new home-buyers the chance to help save the environment - and publicise their "green" conservation credentials at the same time.

Barratt East Midlands is constructing 283 new homes on the site of the former Chesterfield Cylinders factory at Derby Road, just outside Chesterfield town centre. Working in collaboration with the conservation-conscious Lib Dem Borough Council, the planning authority responsible for approving details of the new development, Barratt has agreed to equip ten per cent of the homes with solar panels, which will heat domestic water. It is the first time the home building company has built solar panels into new homes. As well as saving the occupants money, in the form of lower heating bills, the move will help preserve the Earth's environment by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that would have been produced by using alternative forms of energy such as gas or electricity.

To showcase the initiative, the 28 flats fitted with solar panels will be in a prominent position on the new development, alongside the Derby Road frontage and easily visible from the road.

Cllr Ray Russell, Lib Dem Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: "This is a revolutionary move, for a major house builder to fit solar panels as standard on some of their new homes. We are delighted that Barratt felt able to go along with our suggestions for these renewable energy installations. Here in Chesterfield we feel very strongly about the need to safeguard the environment for future generations. The Council already has many 'green' initiatives in place which play a part in reducing the greenhouse effect and depletion of the Earth's resources. They include commercial buildings with geothermal heating and cooling systems, which use the Earth as an energy store, instead of relying on energy created by burning fossil fuels; a sports centre and coach station with photovoltaic panels which convert sun power into electricity and community heating schemes which generate electricity whilst delivering heat at maximum efficiency to Council tenants and private households."

Barratt's East Midlands managing director, Kevin Broughton, said: "Barratt is the country's most forward thinking builder, especially when it comes to incorporating environmentally friendly features in our new homes. We have already improved our energy efficiency and insulation properties and now for the first time, we are building solar panels into these new apartments. Chesterfield Borough Council is also a leader in the field and we feel this is the ideal partnership."