Energy, Sustainability and Carbon – Page 11

All-electric new homes and the gas connection decision

Leaving gas out of a new housing scheme is a design decision that has to be evidenced at application stage. Here is what councils expect to see.

Energy masterplanning across a phased site

An energy strategy written at outline stage will be obsolete before the last phase is built. Here is what to fix at outline, what to leave open, and how to draft conditions that survive the programme.

External wall insulation in a conservation area

Class A withdraws cladding rights on article 2(3) land, so solid wall insulation in a conservation area needs planning permission. Here is what the detailing, the moisture evidence and the heritage case have to show.

Biosolar roofs: combining panels and green roof

A green roof and a solar array share one build-up, one structure and one maintenance regime, so the two specifications have to be written as one.

Hydrogen ready heating and what planning can require

Planning conditions cannot require a building to burn a fuel that is not delivered to it, which limits what a hydrogen ready claim is worth at application stage.

Post-occupancy reporting conditions on major schemes

Reporting actual energy use after handover sounds simple until you find the building has no sub-metering that separates what you agreed to report.

MEES and EPC ratings on a conversion scheme

A conversion can be consented, built and still be hard to let. Where the minimum energy efficiency standard bites, and the design choices that decide the rating.

Why energy statements moved away from gas CHP

Gas CHP only saves carbon when grid electricity is far dirtier than gas. Once the factors fell, the arithmetic inverted. What to propose now and how to vary old conditions.

Wind energy and the community support test in England

Onshore wind once had to show community backing and a site identified in a plan. Those tests have gone, but the consultation record still decides most applications.

Electric vehicle charging standards in local plans

Part S and local parking standards produce different charging numbers on the same scheme. How to reconcile them before the electrical design is fixed.

Heat pumps in flats: acoustics and plant space at scale

At scale the heat pump question is where the units go and how loud the array is at night. How the three system architectures differ on planning grounds.

Overheating assessments on a constrained urban site

TM59 and Approved Document O assume a free running strategy that constrained urban sites cannot deliver. The design moves that pass, and the ones that only look like they do.

Embodied carbon benchmarks and how to present them

The same building produces very different embodied carbon figures depending on modules counted and floor area used. How to normalise, compare fairly and report it.

Drafting carbon conditions that can actually be discharged

Most carbon conditions fail at discharge because the metric was never pinned down or the evidence does not exist for that building. Fix the wording before the decision notice is issued.

Solar and heat pumps on a listed building: consent tests

Consent for renewables on a listed building is decided on reversibility and harm to special interest, not on carbon saved. The design hierarchy that gets approvals, and the four patterns that get refused.

Solar farms on best and most versatile land

Grades 1, 2 and 3a are best and most versatile. The published maps do not split Grade 3, which is why a site specific survey settles most solar applications.

Ground source boreholes: licences, permits and programme

Planning is rarely the obstacle for ground source heat pumps. Abstraction licensing, groundwater permits and drilling consents are what govern the programme.

Heat network zoning and the connection requirement

Inside a designated zone, connection becomes an obligation rather than a preference. Where no pipe exists yet, safeguarding has to be physical, not written.

BREEAM credits realistically available at planning stage

Site selection, accessibility, ecology and drainage decide most of a BREEAM score before any product is specified. The procurement credits are the ones that slip.

TM59 against Approved Document O: which applies

Part O is checked by building control against prescribed inputs. TM59 is the method planning authorities reference, often with future weather. Build one model and run it twice.

Pre-redevelopment audits and reuse targets

Most pre-redevelopment audits arrive after the demolition package is priced, so they record what was thrown away. Run the audit while the design is still moving and the targets become real.

Whole life carbon modules A to C explained

A carbon figure means nothing until you know its scope. What modules A, B, C and D cover, and which assumptions a reviewer should test first.

SAP outputs an energy statement has to show

Part L 2021 sets three targets per dwelling, not one. What the energy statement has to report, how carbon factors changed the answer, and the checks officers run.