The guide was prepared by the Centre for Research in the Built Environment, part of the Welsh School of Architecture (WSA), and commissioned by WWF Cymru. It addresses such challenges as minimising waste and carbon emissions and looks at the issues involved in making homes more efficient in terms of their use of, energy, water and materials.

Included in this research are good examples of housing developments built to high environmental standards in Wales.

One example is the Plas y Môr building at Burry Port. This innovative care home has many energy efficient features - properly integrated into the design from the start to ensure affordability - which result in cost savings for the home over the long term.

Another example is in Butetown, Cardiff where solar thermal panels and flax roof insulation have been used on a new housing estate. This estate demonstrates what can be achieved by incorporating sustainability principles at a local Government level.

"If our homes in Wales are designed, delivered and occupied more sustainably then we are helping to address climate change, species loss and deforestation. The way we choose to live our lives in Wales impacts upon these global issues." said Haf Roberts, Policy Officer for WWF Cymru.

"Currently, our demands in Wales on the natural environment are excessive, in fact if everyone lived in the world as we do we would need nearly three planets to satisfy our lifestyles."