For example, BRE Innovation Park Watford features eight of the world's most sustainable houses built to Code for Sustainable Homes standards, plus a health centre of the future, a refurbished Victorian Terrace and over 400 different construction innovations and emerging technologies. It also includes a state-of-the art community landscape design.

The buildings and key features on the Park currently include:

Visitor Centre - access information on all the buildings and products, and see a range of new designs and technologies.

Barratt Green House - the first house to be built by a mainstream house builder, the Green House achieves Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Cub House - this ultra-modern and highly sustainable modular home is suitable for both social and private housing applications.

Hanson EcoHouse - built using traditional materials and assembled according to the best modern methods of construction principles.

Osborne House - shows that high quality, sustainable housing can be delivered affordably and in volume.

The Prince’s Natural House - a simple, low-tech and easy-to-build way for volume house builders who are seeking to meet increasingly stringent low carbon targets for new homes.

Renewable House - illustrates how hemp, wood, wool and other renewable materials provide excellent options for constructing low carbon, practical and affordable modern housing.

Sigma Home - test run by a family to obtain a ‘real' perspective on living in a home constructed for sustainability using the latest technologies.

Victorian Terrace - a 'hard-to-treat' single-brick Victorian stable block has been transformed into three energy-efficient terraced homes.

Willmott Dixon Healthcare Campus - points to a new age of healthcare that helps people to manage their conditions more independently either at health clinics or in their homes.

Landscape - demonstrates the role of landscape design, not only in creating great places to live, but also in providing energy, waste and water management.