Clare Bull said the EcoHouse was just like a normal home

It contains hundreds of environmentally-friendly features including a solar thermal system which provides 50% of the energy needed for water heating.

The experience I had in the EcoHouse was fantastic. I'm very keen on environmental issues and really want to reduce my carbon footprint.

The EcoHouse is a showhome but I lived there is if it was my real house and it was inspiring to see how easy it was to live like this.

All the energy in the house was from an environmentally-friendly source. My previous house was not eco-friendly in any way and this was something I really wanted to learn about.

The thing about the EcoHouse is that it isn't that different from a normal house. Daily life isn't affected really because you are living in a way that helps the environment.

Compost toilet

If you walked around it you wouldn't realise you were in a home that wasn't normal. The heating is exactly the same as it would be and you control it in the same way, except it's coming from a renewable source.

There is a photovoltaic system and solar panels on the roof. The photovoltaic system uses energy from the sun to provide electricity and the solar panels heat water.

I never had any problem at all with the heating.

In the bathroom there is a compost toilet. Moisture and any smells are sucked away by a fan and the rest is kept in a container where it turns to dust.

I could see a future where homes like this are common Clare Bull Summit for 'greener' housing

Every three months or so you can empty the dust into your garden.

There are taps which immediately switch off when your hands are not under them so water is not wasted.

In the cupboard I had three bins. One for compost, one for recycling and a landfill bin. So it just meant you had to divide your rubbish up before throwing it away.

The only thing I would say is that the wind turbine on the roof was a bit noisy. I would recommend people think carefully where they put them if they buy one.

Overall living in the house was easy, apart from the visitors occasionally tramping through, as it was a showhome.

I could see a future where homes like this are common. But people will need to do much more even than this to help the environment.

Elizabeth Dunn, 31, a child mental health specialist, lives in a key worker housing association property in Brixton, south London, which was built to minimise carbon emissions.

It features a number of energy saving technologies including super-insulation, solar panels to provide hot water and a boiler that runs using non-fossil, renewable fuels.

I moved in to a one-bedroom ground floor flat in July. I'm paying a lot less because it's a housing association property.

There are solar panels on the roof and a wood-chip boiler which provides heating. Solar panels also provide electricity.

We have got triple-glazing and under floor heating. It is always lovely and warm in the flat which is one of the main things I would say.

'Easy and cheap'

I moved in because the whole building is carbon-neutral. We have a compost bin. You basically put all your vegetable waste on it and then put it in the garden.

There have been some problems with the wood-chip boiler which have been ongoing. We have been losing hot water.

But I think there are always going to be difficulties with any new system. Apart from that everything is fine.

We don't have carpets because of the under-floor heating. All the residents are happy with the development.