GTC
CGI of Cosmeston Farm
Cosmeston Farm: Putting the infrastructure in place for net zero homes
The UK’ s largest net zero carbon housing development is putting integrated energy and utility infrastructure at the heart of its approach. GTC explains how collaboration with Barratt Redrow is helping turn net zero ambitions into a practical, scalable reality.
A development with a bigger ambition
As the housebuilding industry moves towards increasingly ambitious carbon reduction targets, the focus is shifting from individual technologies to how entire developments can operate more efficiently.
Cosmeston Farm in the Vale of Glamorgan provides an important case study. Being delivered by Barratt Redrow, the 576- home development is set to become the UK’ s largest net zero carbon housing development, alongside a new primary school, extensive green space and active travel infrastructure.
For GTC, the project demonstrates how the utility infrastructure behind a new development can play a much greater role in achieving its environmental ambitions.
GTC has been appointed to deliver the development’ s Smart Home energy and utility infrastructure, bringing together heating, electricity, water, renewable generation, energy storage and smart controls as an integrated system.
Moving beyond the individual home
One of the key challenges in delivering low-carbon housing at scale is that technologies cannot be considered in isolation.
At Cosmeston Farm, GTC is deploying a networked ground source heat pump solution, using shared boreholes as a source of low-carbon heat. Each home will be fitted with a Kensa Shoebox heat pump, alongside solar photovoltaic panels, battery storage and smart controls.
GTC will also own and operate the electricity and water networks serving the development.
The result is an approach that looks beyond simply connecting homes to existing infrastructure. Instead, the infrastructure has been considered as part of the overall energy strategy for the community.
This distinction is increasingly important as electricity demand grows. Heat pumps, electric vehicles and other forms of electrification will place additional pressure on the electricity network, making the way energy is generated, stored and consumed within developments increasingly significant.
Making energy work smarter
The combination of renewable generation, battery storage and smart controls at Cosmeston is designed to help homes make better use of the energy they generate.
Solar generation can be stored in batteries rather than exported immediately, while smart controls can help manage when energy is consumed. In turn, this can help reduce peak demand and potentially enable residents to benefit from different electricity tariffs.
For GTC, this represents an important evolution in the role of utility infrastructure.
Rather than simply providing the
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