Bradford Council must be applauded for the construction of the first homes with a zero carbon dioxide emission in the county.

The 12 homes at Pavilion Gardens, West Bowling, are the most eco-friendly and green in West Yorkshire.

And the Council is rightly proud of this pioneering scheme.

The homes meet the highest level of the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes – level six.

The other 33 homes in the development also have very high environmentally-friendly standards.

These reach level four of the Government’s code.

As concerns continue to mount about the effects of carbon emissions, there is no doubt eco-friendly properties are the way forward.

However, this is a small number when set against the many ongoing housing projects that are under way in the district.

The challenge now is to ensure private as well as public developers look to this model.

There is obviously a cost to the technology involved in making these homes so eco-friendly, and it will be difficult for private homebuyers to reconcile that extra cost when getting on the housing ladder with the potential savings they may make in the long term – and the benefit to the environment.

But that is the task ahead for developers.

Credit where credit is due though; this is a significant development by the Council.

And although comparatively small in terms of size, it is a big breakthrough.

Hopefully, other private and social housing developers will look to this scheme as an example.