Magherafelt firm Setanta Construction aims to revolutionise housing market

The company recently unveiled the construction of its 'SoLow'; pilot housingproject at its site in Magherafelt to a group of international delegates attending the 'Building a Sustainable Future'; conference in Northern Ireland and detailed their ambitious plans for growth within the energy efficient housing market.

As concerns about rising energy costs, climate change and affordable housing continues to mount, Setanta Construction has met the challenge head on by designing and completely manufacturing the first of its kind volumetric house constructed anywhere in Ireland to complete Passive House standards.

In comparison to conventional building techniques, a Passive build is designed and constructed to be highly energy efficient and is the gold standard when it comes to low energy eco homes.

Mark Gribbin, Director at Setanta Construction said: "Our newly launched 'SoLow' volumetric house aims to put energy performance at the heart of the housing market, delivering significant cost, time, health and environmental benefits for all.

"We’ve worked alongside industry experts in the design process including The Electric Storage Company to ensure outstanding functional performance throughout. Key components include 4kW of photo voltaic panels installed with an 11kw electric storage battery with heating and hot water provided by an integrated heat pump and ventilation system”.

Timescales are an important factor when it comes to any newbuild or development. Setanta’s versatile and cost-effective off-site method of construction allows them to deliver the highest quality energy efficient homes whilst minimising overall construction time and costs.

He said: “We want to maintain our lead position in the energy efficient housing market, and we’re committed to continuously refining and perfecting the production, processes and rollout of our bespoke off-site building concepts.

"The advantage of working with Setanta means that our housing components are built here at our factory before they are delivered and assembled to sites”.

He added: “Currently it takes just two weeks to construct our 'SoLow' passive house in the factory and it can be assembled onsite in just a few hours. In time we intend to scale up with plans for a new 30,000 sq ft factory underway, which will enable us to increase productivity to one fully completed house every day."