Ballyconnelly Developments of Greenock has been awarded one of Scotland's highest property awards for demonstrating that super energy-efficient, stylish family homes can be built for the highly affordable price tag of £150,000.

At the hotly-contested Herald Property Awards for Scotland 2008 on September 11, Ballyconnelly's Managing Director Pol Stewart picked up top honours from Janette Harkess, Deputy Editor of The Herald, in the 'Best High Performance' category for the company's Enkelt Living brand of sustainable three-bedroom family homes in Dunoon.

Exactly 95% of the materials used in the build are based on recycled products, or provided by forests managed by the Forest Stewardship Council. The carbon footprint created by the construction process will be offset by planting trees to soak up unavoidable C02 emissions from the transportation of materials to site.

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Professor James Sommerville, Chair of the Judging Panel for The Herald's Property Awards for Scotland 2008 said: "Enkelt Living was described as a 'breath of fresh air' by our panel. This is an excellent example of a sustainable home, with strong recycling policies, minimum construction waste and an efficient heat recovery system. Workers on the site are re-trained IBM employees from the local area."

Scandinavian-inspired Enkelt Living homes come equipped with a whole host of energy-saving features, fitted as standard. These include heat recovery units, thermal barriers, automated smart electricity meters, high tech Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS) and low maintenance roof tiles. As a result, heating bills should be, on average, approximately 80% lower than for a conventionally-built home of comparable size.

Pol Stewart, Managing Director of Ballyconnelly Developments is a professional engineer and Norwegian speaker, and commented: "The Ballyconnelly team is firmly focused on selling affordable, desirable, energy-efficient homes for the future. We are absolutely delighted that our three-year investment programme to create the Enkelt Living brand has beaten the best in the business and been recognised with this prestigious award.

"I am delighted for the whole team, who have worked so hard to realise the dream of bringing quality, sustainably-built home ownership within reach of many families who have been priced out of the market."

(GK/JM)