North Ayrshire Council includes two futuristic homes in new £3.7m development

Two ‘sustainable demonstrator’ homes have been built in Irvine to showcase how homes of the future might look like.The initiative comes as part of North Ayrshire Council’s newest housing development at Dickson Drive in Irvine.The local authority said that the homes set a ‘benchmark’ for building sustainable properties at a local and national level through the meeting of the highest sustainable ratings.The £3.7 million Dickson Drive development, built by Ashleigh (Scotland) Ltd and supported by a £1.4 million Scottish Government grant, delivered 24 two and three-bedroom homes (including the two ‘homes of the future’).The two homes of the future features solar PV panels and electric vehicle charging points; triple-glazed windows; paint made using natural products which are non-toxic and friendly to the environment; a full house ventilation system; a Smart Home LED lighting system which allows for full control of lights using a voice activated assistant app; and a high performance, water-efficient toilet;Smart window blinds which can be controlled with a finger swipe or by voice command will also be included as well as high-efficiency extractor fans; a sunup heating and hot water system which uses inorganic, non-toxic, non-flammable materials to store and release thermal energy on demand; and water butts to gather rainwater from the roof and gutters which can be used for activities such as car washing or watering the garden.