"We developed these carbon zero homes from the design and development stage through to people living in them, " said Professor Mark Gillott, of the University's School of Architecture and Built Environment.

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Suburbs are so popular that about 84% of people in England now live in them, according to the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

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"Accrington itself is quite a distinct northern market town with an architecture and a built environment which reflects its heritage and its industrial heritage in particular, " he said.

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Harry Reeves is currently Deputy Director, Culture, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) where he has been responsible for policy on architecture and the built and historic environment since September 2004.

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The Danish Architecture Centre on the waterfront in the Christianshavn area focuses on design for the built environment and offers guided tours of changing exhibitions, with an emphasis on environmentally-sustainable architecture.

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Early in 2008, the Scottish government created a new Directorate for the Built Environment bringing together internal interests on planning, building standards and architecture with a view to greater co-ordination of policies.

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