The environment is a key priority for most firms these days and some are making it a cornerstone of their business.

A good example is Stewart Milne Timber Systems, winner of the environment prize at last year's Oxfordshire Business Awards.

The Witney-based timber frame house builder took the honour for its use of sustainably sourced wood as well as the overall green nature of its product which boosts energy efficiency continuously.

It has also had a carbon audit carried out on its entire operation which allowed to it to make major cost savings on wasted heat and it is also looking at using wood chippings, formerly a waste product, to be used as a source of fuel, potentially saving £50,000 a year.

But the company which set up in Witney in 2002 as the first English offshoot of the Scottish housebuilder, is not exactly resting on its laurels following last year's success.

It has just produced the UK's first commercially viable "zero carbon" house which will be put on display at a leading exhibition in June.

Managers say the building, which will have a timber frame construction as well as a host of environmentally friendly features, fits with Chancellor Gordon Brown's aim that all new homes should be zero carbon within a decade.

The groundbreaking property scores five stars on the Government's new Code for Sustanable Homes - the highest rating currently possible for houses that can be built in large quantities.

While six stars means a property is totally zero carbon, it is still 100 per cent greener than current building regulations dictate.

Stewart Dalgarno, managing director of the Witney factory, said: "This will be the first commercially attractive "zero carbon" house for volume builders.

"We expect up to 25 per cent of our output will be houses of this type in the near future.

"Economics and the environmental aims of the Government are now the key drivers for construction and house building and we are ideally suited to operate within those parameters."

The property will be constructed in Witney with windows installed ready to be lifted into place on site.

Features will include three wind turbines, solar panels and a water recycling system.

Glenn Allison, managing director of the Stewart Milne Group, added: "The single biggest impact on our business will be climate change and we felt we should take an industry lead by building a commercially viable house that reflected the Government's objective to achieve zero carbon houses within a decade."

The house will be launched at BRE's modern methods of construction showcase event, Offsite 2007, at Watford in June.

Stewart Milne is predicting another record year with more jobs set to be created. It is forecast that turnover at the site for this year will soar by 23 per cent to £34m. The company expects to take staff numbers to 200 by the end of 2007, up from the current 163.

The Witney operation produces a home every 45 minutes from its assembly line which will lead to a total of 3,400 by the end of the business year in 2007.

Recent orders have included 38 Houses for the Cottsway Housing Association in North East Carterton, 29 houses and apartments for the Sovereign Housing Association at Madley Park, Witney and 21 apartments in Kidlington for local builder J.A. Pye.

Mr Dalgarno said: "We have moved smoothly from a start-up operation to becoming a significant employer in the area and we are ideally placed geographically and logistically to continue growing our market share in the south of England and Wales."

Significantly, Stewart Milne Timber Systems has entered the 2007 Oxfordshire Business Awards in the Innovation and Building Services categories.

Mr Dalgarno added: "Entering the awards concentrated our minds and I would encourage anyone else out there to have a go."

n Entries for the Oxfordshire Business Awards 2007 have now closed. Further details on this year's competition will be covered in next month's In Business