Sustainable luxury: 6 eco-friendly features in Brookworth Homes

From electric vehicles to the growing circular economy of re-using and recycling products, we’re all more conscious about the environmental impact of our spending than ever before. This extends to our choices around buying a new build luxury home.

According to data from analysts Knight Frank, almost three quarters (72%) of UK homeowners see the energy efficiency of their home as important. Sustainable, eco-friendly homes are better for the planet, efficient to run, and ready to hold value as new environmental regulations come into play. 

At Brookworth Homes, we share our customers’ commitment to thinking sustainably in everything we do. When you choose Brookworth, you’re choosing a property that combines comfort and luxury with green features, renewable energy sources, and eco-friendly design. It’s just one part of the Brookworth Difference: our commitment to care and consideration in every choice, for a level of quality and luxury you can feel in every moment.

1. Increase efficiency with exceptional insulation

Effective insulation is a fundamental part of making a home energy efficient. From loft space to wall cavities, insulation allows you to control temperatures and maintain comfort through every season – without the cost and emissions of constantly running your heating and cooling.

At Brookworth Homes, we build superior insulation into the fabric of every one of our properties. Cavity walls are filled with high-quality beads, which are up to 20% more efficient than fibre insulation. This is combined with our emphasis on the very best materials and adhesives, so you can avoid heat loss, lower your utility bills, and reduce energy consumption.

2. Reduce energy consumption with LED lighting

Recent years have seen a significant shift to LED lighting in everything from car headlights to our homes. We’re proud to be at the forefront of this important change to more sustainable lighting, with LED lights as standard throughout every Brookworth Home.

Compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, LED lights consume less power and last longer. Where traditional bulbs may last around 2000 hours, the average LED bulb has a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours – this translates to around a decade of normal use.

3. Take control with smart home technology

In part, an eco-friendly home is one designed for sustainability from the earliest phases of development. However, we all have a role to play in protecting the world around us by changing our own habits and behaviours. That’s where our industry leading smart home technology comes in: innovative tools to use lighting, temperature control, and energy more efficiently.

Your Brookworth home includes two key technologies:

Control4: your smart home operating system, available on both touchscreen displays and a smartphone app

Lutron: controls and automation for smart lighting and blinds

Working together, these platforms can help you reduce your emissions through automation. Lighting can be automatically turned on when it’s required – then automatically turned off when you leave your home. Similarly, you can control your thermostat from anywhere, so you can return to a warm home without leaving the heating on all day. All with endless personalisation to suit the way you want your home to work.

4. Distribute heat evenly with underfloor heating

A standard feature in new Brookworth homes, underfloor heating is one of those rare inclusions that’s responsible and luxurious at the same time. 

Underfloor heating distributes warmth evenly throughout your home or a given space, leading to improved comfort and fewer hot spots from radiators. But this distributed approach is also more energy efficient than traditional heating systems, which tend to lead to high levels of heat loss into the environment. This results in higher energy bills and emissions.

Experts estimate that underfloor heating uses as much as 40% less energy than a radiator, providing pipework has been carefully designed to maximise performance.

5. Heat sustainably with air source heat pumps

Air source heat pumps take in heat from the air outside your property, increase its temperature, and use it to heat the water circuit inside your home. This is a great way to reduce your carbon emissions and lower your energy bills. Underfloor heating takes these benefits even further, reducing the workload on your air source heat pump and helping to distribute heat evenly throughout your space. 

As the government moves to eliminate gas boilers from new build homes, we’re going further to maximise efficiency in our developments. Many of Brookworth’s newer properties include A+++ rated air source heat pumps for the ultimate in efficiency and emissions reduction. 

6. Harness clean energy with solar panels

Where the orientation of your home allows for optimal placement, Brookworth developments include solar panels to capture clean energy from sunlight. This significantly reduces your reliance on the grid and, ultimately, your dependence on fossil fuels. 

With continued increases in energy costs, solar panels lead to measurable savings, too. The Independent estimates that homeowners could save as much as £610 a year on energy bills – but this is only possible with considered design that accounts for the location and environmental conditions of your home.

In addition, solar energy increases your resilience and energy independence. With innovations like battery storage, you can effectively power your home even when the grid goes down and sunlight is unavailable.

Creating a complete sustainability ecosystem

From smart home technology to underfloor heating, there are numerous innovations that will help everyone behave more sustainably and move away from fossil fuels. What sets a Brookworth home apart is our ability to bring all these features together to reduce your emissions and environmental impact on multiple fronts at once.

This is perhaps best seen in the Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) our new developments consistently achieve. Our latest developments have received the coveted A rating thanks to strategically placed solar panels, while B ratings are commonplace across our portfolio.

That’s the Brookworth Difference: luxury properties that are designed with real care and attention, from energy-saving features as standard to best-in-class underfloor heating, solar panels, and smart home features.

Ready to find your dream home with Brookworth? Explore our developments to see what makes us different--and how we can help make the experience of buying a new build home frustration-free.