With triple-glazed windows, solar panels, and enough insulation to keep the North Pole warm, does this terraced house herald the future of green living? Reporter Matthew Jenkin finds out.

A QUIET suburban street is the location of a house which is leading the way in reducing domestic carbon emissions.

The 1930s terraced house, in Court Farm Road, Mottingham, has been refurbished using innovative technology to reduce carbon emissions by up to 80 per cent.

But this isn’t the brain child of an over-zealous green campaigner, but housing association The Hyde Group’s experiment to help its tenants cut fuel costs while also helping the environment.

The £90,000 project took three months to complete and includes triple-glazed windows with insulated frames, insulated walls inside and out, and rooftop solar panels to harness the suns rays all day long.

But Hyde are keen to stress that this house is for the average family living in social housing and the experiences of the tenants living there will be closely monitored.

A housing association spokesman said: “A single mother with two children will move into the property once the details have been finalised.

“We picked this family because even though they have an interest in helping the environment they are not heavily involved in campaigning and are just a typical family.

Hyde hopes the three-bedroom house will act as an example of what can be achieved in reducing emissions.

The spokesman said: “This is an experiment to see what’s feasible and it’s going to be very interesting to see what happens.

“Experts believe refurbishing existing homes like this could save up to 15 times more carbon by 2050 than that achieved through proposed demolition and new build.

“This will have a major impact on the UK’s efforts to reduce carbon output.

“It will also hopefully provide the tenant with fantastic savings of about £600 a year on fuel bills and we will monitor its success over the next two years.”

The results of the project will determine what innovations might be rolled out in the 40,000 properties currently run by the housing association.

MP for Milton Keynes Dr Pyllis Starkey is chairman of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee which is responsible for investigating the impact existing houses have on climate change.

She attended the official launch of the house on October 23 and said: “Much more needs to be done to encourage energy saving in our homes.

“That is why I am pleased to see The Hyde Group taking a lead in the critical work to make our existing homes more energy efficient.

“Projects like this will help lead the way for both social housing and the private rented sector and ensure that tackling climate change in existing homes remains high on the housing agenda.”