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Xantium in the M.E.N July 08

Zero carbon breakthrough

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In Manchester one man is confident of being the first mainstream developer to achieve the holy grail of zero carbon emissions from a building.

The carbon zero quest has become something of a mission for builder Martin Moylan who for the last 12 years has built schemes around the M60 but this will be his first foray into the city centre.

He said: "Lots of developers are saying it cannot be done but with that attitude nothing would ever be done! But wehave a responsibility to build homes that have minimum impact on the environment.

"I feel so strongly about this that we will be sacrificing profit in order to make it happen. Because when it has been done once others will hopefully follow and costs will comedown."

The site for Xantium on Mason Street just off Rochdale Road is already cleared and Moylan now has the nod to build 61 apartments, 49 of them two beds, above 7,000sqft of commercial space. There will, somewhat in contradiction to the green credentials, be 29 car parking spaces, althoughway outnumbered by the 122 cycle spaces tucked in next to the recycling stores and the composting bin.

He is pledging that the construction will be as environmentally friendly as possible re-using materials on site and using a lot of local off-site construction to increase efficiency and cut down waste. While some of the technology, like the bio fuel and biomass heating systems, the solarpanels, air heat recoveryand grey water harvesting are already sourced he is still researching other products.

He said: "We want to make this the most energy efficient building we possibly can but not in a mean way. "So while there will be tiles on the floor it will not be Travertine brought from Turkey they will be ceramics made in the UK from recycled clay.

"And we are really fortunate that a lot of work with renewablesis being done here in theNorth West - it just needs tobe discovered and used."

One of the great complaints of apartment living is the lack of outside space so the architects, Makin Architecture, have designed each apartmentto have its own sort of ‘wintergarden' a large outside covered terrace area which becomes an outside room.

Moylan said: "This is notjust a ledge for a table andchairs. They will be placeswhere you can grow yourherbs and your tomatoes, sling a hammock and use as an outsideroom all year round."

He also believes that thecurrent uncertainty in the market is making people demand more from developers and view where they live in the long term.

He said: "People are very positive about the green agenda. They are aware not only about rising fuel costs but about their individual impact on the environment and want to reduce it."

The solar panels will power the communal lighting, biomass the underfloor heating, using your shower water to flush the loo and gathering rain water to water your plants will all cut down on costs. So too does the fact that the windows are all owned by the individual residents which will reduce the service charge.

So whats the initial outlay? Moylan is quoting £150,000 for a one bedroom apartmentbut at 670sq ft they are the size of most two beds in the city. Two beds will come in at around £225,000.