A Sustainable Design Approach for The Octagon Group

Alasdair Galloway, Head of Design and Technical, looks at the latest environmentally conscious inclusions from The Octagon Group, and the importance of approaching sustainability within the industry.

“Across the board at Octagon, whether it be our Octagon speculative sites, Bespoke builds or Chancery Homes schemes, eco-friendly design is becoming increasingly more important. With progressive changes to legislation to meet the governments net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as well as Octagon’s approach to speculative builds, it’s important to remain in line with the latest demands and trends.”

“One of the most prominent ways that we are doing this is through renewable energy. Part of the process when looking at renewables is to evaluate which methods suit a particular site. For example, if we have a site where the geotechnical environment is suitable and the groundworks make it viable, a Ground Source Heat Pump is an extremely green way to heat a home.”

“More commonly used at Octagon are Air Source Heat Pumps, alongside PV panels as a valuable way to provide renewable energies on site. With new legislation, our designs must also focus on an approach that considers and quantifies solar gains, so we look at both ends of the spectrum. This ensures we’re not only being eco-friendly when heating homes, but also when cooling or simply ensuring they are not overheating. We also install Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems generally throughout – this ensures a healthy living environment with good background ventilation whilst minimizing heat loss, along with PV panels and flow restrictors where possible to reduce water waste.

Rainwater harvesting integrated into our sustainable drainage designs, high energy efficient fittings, and of course sourcing sustainable materials are also important considerations for both Octagon and our clients.”

“Biodiversity is another factor that we consider heavily in the design process. From native planting and wildflower gardens to bird nesting, bat boxes and reptile fencing, there is a real variety as to what we can do here, which we have been doing so for some time on many sites with huge success.”

“The installation of Electric Vehicle Car Charging points with every home is now standard across The Octagon Group – whether it be one of our Octagon Bespoke homes or larger flagship schemes.”

“Octagon continually review new technologies; we are currently installing new combined internal Air Source Heat Pumps and MVHR units on a speculative project to provide heating and hot water to the entire development.  On numerous Bespoke projects, we have installed Tesla Powerwalls, allowing the storage of energy created from PV panels to be used throughout the house or charging vehicles as and when needed.

There are many exciting developments being made in the field of green energy within the home, whether it be in relation to developments, in AI, or in compressed air or thermal energy storage. It’s exciting times ahead, with the progress of these technologies only speeding up as investment increases.”