A NORTH-EAST company has become one of the first to be awarded a recently introduced accreditation which recognises efforts to make housing more environmentally-friendly.

Management and cost consultants Faithful and Gould, which works in the social housing sector, has earned the Eco Homes designation, developed for the housing sector by the Building Research Establishment.

It is a method of evaluating the environmental impact of developments and takes into account everything from energy usage and pollution to the type of materials used and local ecology.

The designation is important because within the social housing market, housing association schemes receive funding based on their Eco Homes rating.

Mike Torpey, senior quantity surveyor with Faithful and Gould, said: "ECO Homes balances the need to produce high quality dwellings against the concerns of climate change, use of resources and the impact on wildlife."

Faithful and Gould, part of the WS Atkins Group, works for most of the region's registered social landlords, including Newcastle and Whitley Housing Trust, Tynedale Housing, Durham Aged Miners and Tees Valley Housing Group.

Published: 03/02/2004