A design competition that will challenge entrants to build 70 of Northern Ireland's most energy efficient homes has been launched.

NI Social Development Minister, Margaret Ritchie, said the groundbreaking development of social and affordable homes, in Killynure near Carryduff, is being built to the Code 5 rating for Sustainable Homes.

This will be the first of its kind in Ireland and one of only a handful to achieve the Code 5 rating across the UK.

Speaking at the launch Minister Ritchie said: "When I launched the New Housing Agenda in 2008 I made it clear that, in addition to building more homes, we also needed to build more sustainable homes.

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"This latest initiative builds on the work already done over the past two years, and is a stepping-stone to achievement of zero carbon status.

"The technologies exist to deliver significant reductions in both our carbon footprint and energy bills. The challenge is to move forward and start producing this on a larger scale, with social and affordable housing leading the way."

The Minister added: "This ambitious and innovative design competition will harness the respective skills of the private and public sector, working together to deliver modern environmentally friendly housing."

The design competition initiative is a partnership between the Department for Social Development, the Housing Executive, Oaklee Housing Group and the Royal Society of Ulster Architects.

The competition will seek expressions of interest from architectural design teams with a view to starting construction work in spring 2011.

The Code 5 rating looks at factors such as energy and carbon emissions, water use, waste and pollution.

When complete the properties at the development will offer a much-reduced environmental impact and will benefit from substantially reduced energy bills.

(NS/BMcC)