[[Building Construction]] [[Building Services]] [[Environmental Design]] [[Landscape]] [[Professional Practice]] [[Research, Analysis & Citations]] [[Structures]] [[ARCHITECTURE]] [[Buildings and [[Structures]]]] [[Cycle]] [[Dwelling]] [[Early]] [[EcoHomes]] [[Solar]] [[Sustainable]] [[wiki-architecture]] # EcoHomes EcoHomes was an environmental rating scheme for homes in the United Kingdom. It was the domestic version of the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method BREEAM, which could also be applied to a variety of non-residential buildings. It was replaced by the Code for Sustainable Homes in April 2008. EcoHomes Assessments fall under one of four versions, Pre-2002, 2003, 2005 or the final 2006 version. It was not possible to compare homes built under one revision of the standard with homes built under another. EcoHomes 2006 In particular, the 2006 version of EcoHomes increased the standards for energy efficiency, following the 2006 revisions energy efficiency requirements of the Building Regulations. It also incorporated a number of other changes. Under the scheme, credits were first given for standards reached in the following areas: Energy Ene 1 – Dwelling Emission Rate Ene 2 – Building fabric Ene 3 – Drying space Ene 4 – Ecolabelled goods Ene 5 – Internal lighting Ene 6 – External lighting Transport Tra 1 – Public transport Tra 2 – Cycle storage Tra 3 – Local amenities Tra 4 – Home office Pollution Pol 1 – Insulant GWP Pol 2 – NOx emissions Pol 3 – Reduction of surface runoff Pol 4 – Renewable and low emission energy source Pol 5 – Flood risk Materials Mat 1 – Environmental impact of materials Mat 2 – Responsible sourcing of materials: basic building elements Mat 3 – Responsible sourcing of materials: finishing elements Mat 4 – Recycling facilities Water Wat 1 – Internal potable water use Wat 2 – External potable water use Land Use and Ecology Eco 1 – Ecological value of site Eco 2 – Ecological enhancement Eco 3 – Protection of ecological features Eco 4 – Change of ecological value of site Eco 5 – Building Footprint Health and Wellbeing Hea 1 – Daylighting Hea 2 – Sound insulation Hea 3 – Private space Management Man 1 – Home user guide Man 2 – Considerate constructors Man 3 – Construction site impacts Man 4 – Security A weighting system is then used to designate the home as Pass, Good, Very Good, or Excellent. All homes funded by the Housing Corporation or by English Partnerships were required to meet the 2006 Very Good standard. Previously a Good designation sufficed. It was expected that this requirement would be replaced by compliance with the Government's Code for Sustainable Homes. Criticisms EcoHomes was criticised by some for getting the balance wrong between the various elements, and for valuing low embodied energy over the whole life performance of the building. Early versions were criticised for allowing illogical trading-off between areas of the standards, so that, for example, homes with poor energy efficiency standards could still receive a high designation. EcoHomes for refurbishment EcoHomes could also be used for major refurbishments such as conversion projects and change of use and was specified for these types of projects, in the interim, whilst the BREEAM Domestic Refurbishment scheme was being developed. Since the start of the Domestic Refurbishment scheme, EcoHomes for Refurbishment registrations ended on 1 July 2012 and for transitional purposes, officially expired on 1 July 2014. This applied to the whole of the UK, including Scotland. See also Association for Environment Conscious Building Earthship Biotecture Energy efficiency in British housing [[Environmental Design]] Geosolar Good Homes Alliance Green building Offgassing Sustainable development Sustainable design Compare to- LEED in the United States and Canada References External links EcoHomes Low carbon in Highlands Solar and Wind Energy Resources Earthship Biotecture: Super EcoHomes, Completely Sustainable and Independent The Home User Guide Green Homes using Carbon Offsets Carbon Reductive Eco Homes Recent changes to BREEAM 2008 (video), A technical presentation on implications for the built environment Vietnam Eco Homes News Spring 2006, Green Building Press, Discontent over the Code for Sustainable Development