Springfield Properties, a private Scottish housebuilder, has introduced its latest environmental initiative, which includes the installation of cabling for electric car charging points in its new houses. It is one of the first in the UK to make the infrastructure for vehicle charging a standard feature in its future properties.
The 7KW cabling will be installed in the most practical point of the new-built home. The first ones to benefit from this green initiative will be the people in Bertha Park, a 3,000 homes community project planned for the outskirts of Perth. The village is located close to the A9, where Scotland’s first Electric Highway will be created.
Springfield Properties has released some other environmental features, such as the use of sustainable materials in the construction of its timber-frame homes, the offering of solar photovoltaic panels as an extra, and the installation of smart, energy efficient hybrid boilers.
“At Springfield, exploring new ways to protect the environment has been a focus of ours for many years and installing the infrastructure for electric car charge points in our homes was the next logical step for our customers,” said Innes Smith, Chief Executive of Springfield Properties. “Internally, we have also implemented a number of green policies across our offices, such as no longer using disposable plastic cups and installing electric car charging points at our Larbert base,” added her.
According to the Scottish Government, by 2032 all new vehicles sold in the country will be electric, so having charging points already installed in houses offers customers exactly what they need.
“The ability to charge electric vehicles at home helps reduce barriers to ownership. With Scotland already leading the way with sales of electric and alternative fuelled vehicles rising faster than the rest of the UK, this is another positive step by industry in support of our vision to phase out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032,” said Humza Yousaf, Scottish Government Minister of Transport.