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Acknowledging that sustainable development can reduce vulnerability to climate change, the Sowerby Gateway team has invested substantially in a detailed study to produce a cohesive sustainability and energy strategy. It is designed to achieve the right balance between economic, environmental and social development by:

• minimising consumption of, and eliminating waste of, finite resources such as energy from fossil fuels
• using limited resources such as water as efficiently as possible and eliminating waste
• minimising the impact buildings and the activities within them have on the environment

To ensure that the development is as environmentally friendly as possible, all the Sowerby Gateway homes will be graded Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 – a first for Hambleton District.

The Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) measures the sustainability of a home against nine design categories:

• Energy & CO2 emissions
• Water
• Materials
• Surface water run-off
• Waste
• Pollution
• Health & wellbeing
• Management
• Ecology

Each category includes a number of issues which have a potential impact on the environment and these are assessed against a performance target to be awarded one or more credits. The performance targets are more demanding than the minimum standard needed to satisfy building regulations and other legislation.

They represent good or best practice, are technically feasible and can be delivered by the building industry.

Sowerby Gateway homes will be constructed to meet this best practice, ensuring the building fabric, heating and ventilation systems are as efficient as possible and renewable energy solutions, i.e. solar panels, are installed. Efficient water and waste management systems will be put in place and each home will be heated using a high efficiency gas condensing boiler.

This will substantially reduce the impact each home has on the environment – a typical dwelling in the UK emits 2,000kg of CO2 a year. A home that is at CfSH Level 4 reduces its CO2 emissions by 44%.