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A student from the University of Surrey has helped design a ‘zero bills home’ while completing his doctorate in sustainability.

Rehan Khodabuccus, 35, from Earlswood , has been working on the ground- breaking project for five years while working for ZEDfactory, a company focusing on zero-carbon design and development.

The house is built on a superinsulated concrete foundation which prevents heat from escaping during the winter months.

It has superinsultated cladding, triple glazing and lowers heat demand so effectively that only a tiny pump is needed to provide hot water.

The roof has a solar power system that provides electricity and the layout of the house allows natural daylight to flood in, so the occupants can avoid using electric lights during the day.

The house is estimated to cost £1,350 per m2 to build and the structure means that one floor can be built in two days, reducing the carbon emissions of construction.

The house is due to go on display as one of 96 show homes for a zero bills development in Essex.

Mr Khodabuccus said: “What we are trying to do is tackle climate change, fuel poverty and the rising cost of living. People have energy bills because they need energy, not because it is something they enjoy. It is about changing people’s thinking. You are not just a consumer of energy, you are a producer and a consumer of energy.”

The project focuses on simplifying zero carbon homes to make them even more cost-effective and more appealing to the commercial market.

Mr Kodabuccus said: “There is nothing you have to really change in order to live in one of these homes. They are beautiful homes with large windows. A lot of light comes through.

“The controlled ventilation systems provides a very healthy indoor environment with a lot of exchange of fresh air.”

The project eliminates bills by producing energy through solar panels on the roof as well as utilising the feed-in-tariff, a government scheme which pays households to generate their own power, leading to the home having zero net annual energy bills.

In case the feed-in tariff is shut down by the government, a battery storage system is installed in the house to store energy.

A spokesman for the university said: “The University of Surrey’s Centre for Environmental Strategy is recognised as world leading in their approach to lifecycle thinking, ecological economics and industry collaboration.

“For 25 years they’ve helped companies tap into the best of academic knowledge with practical approaches to sustainability issues.

“This is just one of the examples from the practitioner doctorate programmes where academia and industry are working together to provide a lasting legacy of work.”