Pioneering couple reveal plans for Partridge Green ‘eco home’

Stephen and Sarah Brewer, who live near Partridge Green, are currently seeking plannning permission for the venture from Horsham District Council.

They want to demolish a garage and garden buildings at their property and build a ‘green’ carbon-neutral, three-bed detached house where they could ‘live into old age.’

They say the house would be a highly insulated green oak frame construction and include solar panels, a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system, grey water recovery and off-grid sewage system, an air-sourced heat pump, electric car and bike charging points - along with a lift, wet room and wheelchair-access entry in anticipation of possible future needs.

Stephen, 67, who ran his own carpentry business before retirement, said: “This is not a house of the future. It is a house of today.

“Climate change is irrefutable. If you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”

Both he and his wife Sarah, 55, said they were always amazed that when seeing new estates “there is not a single solar panel or any green measures.”

They want to create their new home as a ‘sustainable, carbon-negative, passive, eco house with a traditional Sussex cottage appearance, by utilising a combination of the latest green technologies that are available today, both in its construction and habitation.’

They added:“When built this house will be a pioneering, flagship, eco home within the area demonstrating how we can all play a part in reducing our impact on the planet.

“By building homes that demand minimal energy use and therefore create minimal carbon impact, we can all reduce our CO2 emissions and achieve sustainable living.”

They added: “We firmly believe that if all concerned collectively work together, ie planners and builders, all new houses can be built to this standard going forward.

“We can all cohesively play a part in helping to keep climate change under control whilst all living independently and securely for life in our own homes.”

Stephen said that they planned to fund the project, if given planning consent, by selling their current seven-bedroom home on the site.