In 2003 Cornwall Rural Housing Association obtained a Housing Corporation Innovation and Good Practice Grant to commission ZEDfactory Ltd to “develop a blueprint/prototype design and principles for an affordable, sustainable, carbon neutral house that can be replicated on rural sites throughout Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.”

The project has sought to achieve this brief by producing two designs that address the need for affordable housing, combat fuel poverty and reduce the environmental impacts of the homes and associated lifestyles to a truly sustainable level. The project
also aims to use materials, components and labour that are most easily available within Cornwall, thus supporting the local economy and also making long term maintenance contracts more practical and cost effective.