STEWART MILNE GROUP and Gleeson Developments Ltd. have made a shortlist of five organisations to build a 450-home zero carbon development in Peterborough as part of English Partnerships’ Carbon Challenge.

The joint venture between Stewart Milne Group and Gleeson Developments Ltd. brings two of the industry’s leading companies together again, combining their extensive experience for the Peterborough scheme.

The short-listing follows Stewart Milne Group’s pioneering work in producing the UK’s first five-star house, the Sigma Home, which meets the Government’s “Code for Sustainable Homes”, as well as Gleeson Developments Ltd’s own experience of compiling the first Carbon Challenge bid for Hanham Hall along with the Stewart Milne Group, in which they were also shortlisted.

Steve Peters, Managing Director (Southern region) at Gleeson Developments Ltd. said: “We have learnt a great deal from the Hanham Hall project bid and see this as an opportunity to refine our proposition, designs and cost efficiency. We feel the joint venture with Stewart Milne Group is an extremely strong proposition to deliver Level 6 homes for Peterborough.”

The Carbon Challenge site is part of the regeneration of the South Bank of the River Nene in Peterborough, which in turn is part of an overall billion-pound transformation of the city being led by urban regeneration company Opportunity Peterborough.

The five shortlisted candidates will now be invited to submit a more detailed response. This will include a target of the Government’s highest standards for building ‘green’ homes – the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6, which can be achieved by reducing carbon emissions, incorporating features to reduce water usage and energy consumption, minimising waste, and increasing biodiversity. The Carbon Challenge also calls on developers to demonstrate that environmentally friendly homes can be combined with cutting edge high quality building design while remaining affordable and economically viable on a commercial scale.

John Slater, Stewart Milne Group Managing Director – Homes, said: “We are delighted to have made the shortlist for this project as it underpins our commitment to sustainable homes and our continual expansion in England. This project will benefit from our Sigma Home R+D investment, which has entered the detailed post occupancy and monitoring stages. We have arranged for a family to live in the Sigma Home and during this time there will be extensive building performance monitoring undertaken. This is thought to be an industry first and will provide hard factual data on what it is like to live in a sustainable home and also how the new technologies perform. Overall we expect this will enhance our joint design and build processes for the Peterborough submission, in partnership with Gleeson Developments”

The final decision on selection is expected in the next few months.