Oak Meadow is a neighbourhood of 35 cutting-edge eco-homes which it's hoped will become a template for rural social housing. The Devon and Cornwall Housing Association's development in South Molton has won several national awards for its innovative design. Oak Meadow is part of the association鈥檚 long term plans to develop green and affordable homes that are light and airy to live in, but also low maintenance and very energy efficient. The houses we live in are responsible for over a quarter of the country's carbon dioxide emissions - that's a massive proportion of the gas that causes climate change. In the South West of England there are around two million homes. The vast majority - including most of the 16,000 built last year - are leaking energy. That has a serious impact, both on the environment and the pockets of the people who live in them. Homes that require less energy and can be heated efficiently are less harmful to the planet. That's where the Oak Meadow development scores highly.
 | | Each home is fitted with energy saving devices |
The homes, built for local people, are fitted with the latest heat and energy saving devices together with the ultimate in water recycling. They have also been built using materials from renewable sources. The Smiles family have lived on the small estate since it was built and rarely need to switch on the central heating. That's because their home is incredibly energy efficient. The timber frame houses are stuffed full of insulation from floor to walls. "When you're talking about saving, the bills are much less," said Candy Smiles. "It recently went down to minus seven outside but it was 18 degrees in our living room. We don't put the heating on every day and we're just in short sleeves most of the time. "They are definitely the houses of the future and it would be nice to see many more of these sort of homes around." Architect David Gale has applied the latest eco thinking to these properties. They were designed to face south and south-west to make the best use of their position to maximise energy from the sun and alleviate cold winds. "In the private courtyards we've positioned the outside sheds so that they stop cold north easterly winds coming through," explained David. "So just by positioning the buildings carefully we can create a much more energy efficient space."
 | | The homes are triple glazed |
The list of environmentally friendly features is extensive - from triple glazing, solar panels and special cool larders to heat buffer zones and rain water toilets. An ingenious design of ventilated cool larder almost replaces the family fridge. The larder uses circulating cold air all year round, taken from the soil in the summer and the outside in winter. Even the landscape has been designed to high ecological standards, with corridors for wild animals and the creation of wildlife friendly habitats. Every home has private garden space, fruiting trees and Devon hedge banks. The Oak Meadow homes are also low maintenance. Sustainable building materials and surprisingly low-tech features are maximised so that the minimum energy is used in construction and ongoing use. And they are built to a much better performance than required under current building regulations. "Building regulations should be seen as a minimum to try and achieve," added Mr Gale. "The problem is most house builders see it as a maximum to achieve. Whereas here we have decided that is inappropriate, given the problems we have with the environment. "We need to be much more robust in the way we design buildings and they need to perform far, far better and need to be carbon neutral. "Now this prototype is in place, the opportunity exists to extend the benefits of its environmental and running costs elsewhere. "It does cost a bit more to build in this way because we've got more insulation, etc. But it costs hardly anything to run these buildings and that's where you get the money back. "You can have a healthy house which is built with sustainable materials in a sustainable way. It's economic as well, so an ordinary family on an ordinary budget can afford to live in it." The government says it wants more house builders to go as green as Oak Meadow and is trying to make sure that by 2016 all new homes are zero carbon. As things stand, most house builders have a long way to go. | 
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