HOUSEBUILDER Esh Group has launched a development of revolutionary Cumbrian eco-homes that set new standards in energy efficiency. 

The first five Trivselhus properties at Garth House Gardens, off Greenfield Lane in Brampton, have gone on sale at prices from £575,000. For that, buyers get a four or five-bedroomed detached house that is so efficient their energy bills will be near zero. All have gardens, garages, and upwards of 2,116sq ft of internal floorspace.

Normally, Esh says, a home of that would consume £1,600 worth of gas and electricity per year. A show house will open to the public this weekend. Esh is building another three homes in Wetheral and is planning 16 at Langwathby in the Eden Valley.

Colin Willetts, sales director at Trivselhus by Esh, said: “We hope there’s a big enough market for the Trivselhus. Our aim is to grow the brand and to be building 50 of these houses a year across Cumbria, the north east and Yorkshire. 

“You pay a premium for living in a house like this but over time there will be huge savings, not just on energy but on maintenance too.” 

He added: “We’ve had quite a lot of interest ahead of the open weekend. It’s a house people want to see.” Trivselhus by Esh is a partnership between Esh Group, which bought Border Construction of Carlisle last year, and the Swedish firm Södra.

Södra makes the timber-framed homes in sections, which are assembled on site by Esh in as little as 16 days. The frame is made of panels with high levels of insulation, an air-tight membrane and triple-glazed windows. 

A heat-recovery system extracts warm, moist air from kitchens and bathrooms and passes it through a heat exchanger to help heat living areas and bedrooms.

A wet underfloor heating system warms the ground floor while radiators heat upstairs. An air-source heat pump feeds both systems. The Trivselhus also features low-energy lighting and A-rated energy-efficient appliances. Air-tight, glazed steel front and rear doors open outwards to maintain protection against the wind.

And roof-mounted solar panels generate electricity with any surplus sold to the National Grid.