A new social housing complex in Union Mills aims to exceed standards in energy efficiency - with heating being all-electric with no fossil fuels.

Braddan Commissioners’ £4.5m development, ’Mullen Doway’, will feature four apartment blocks with a mixture of one and two bed units.

Each will be highly insulated, tripled glazed, and won’t be heated by oil or gas, in a bid to reduce the carbon footprint of the new housing complex.The local authority says the ’top standard’ homes will save tenants money on energy bills and offset the impact on the environment.

The project by Cedar Developments has been hit by delays though, after design problems were identified over drainage, meaning construction is now 20-30 weeks behind schedule.

Commissioner John Quaye said: ’We hope the heating will only have to be used in the coldest months, in December and January, and the rest of the time they will be energy neutral.’

Meanwhile, developer Dandara says it is committed to meeting the government’s carbon neutral target for new-builds.

Technical director Darren Burns said: ’From initial design through to construction, environmental considerations are uppermost in our minds.

’We work closely with statutory authorities and our partners and suppliers to ensure all our developments achieve environmentally sustainable solutions, and take full advantage of currently available technology, infrastructure and components within the industry.

’We pride ourselves in that we are able to offer a proactive and sustainable approach to our building design solutions and construction processes, where energy measures within our new build properties have always tended towards exceeding minimum Building Regulation requirements, including the latest Building Regulation changes - which were brought into force in January of this year.

’We will continue to innovate to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the provision of new build solutions to meet the government’s climate change energy targets.’