Developing a 'sustainable community' that will help people live in new ways and in new homes to meet the challenge of climate change.  

As part of the Scottish Government’s agenda for achieving their ambitious carbon reduction targets, the Ladyfield Project in Dumfries, part of the Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative, seeks to move forward our understanding of how the built environment must develop to meet the challenges imposed on us by climate change.  With these ambitions in mind we need to understand how communities, particularly new communities, must adapt and evolve towards a new low carbon future.

The Ladyfield project will involve close collaboration with local government and community representatives. It will demonstrate how a truly sustainable urban development provides improved quality of life, lower carbon emissions, and a sense of harmony with the surrounding environment.  

 A sustainable community is much more than efficient use of renewable technologies and smart low energy building design. It also emphasises key social dimensions such as safety, equity, access and community life.  Building on lessons learned from previous projects in the UK, Ladyfield will explore opportunities for reducing overall carbon emissions through innovative building and infrastructure design and fully integrated service provision, in addition to extensive use of vernacular building methodology and materials.