Contents checklist for an energy statement

An energy statement contents checklist is useful because the document has a fixed logic. It follows the energy hierarchy, it compares the scheme against a building regulations baseline, and it reports the resulting reduction in regulated emissions. Everything else in it supports those three moves. Officers reading a hundred of these a year look for the same numbers in the same order, and a statement that buries them loses time at validation.

What goes wrong is usually arithmetic that cannot be traced. And the fix is dull: show the working. A statement giving a percentage improvement with no baseline figure, no intermediate stage and no modelling output attached is not a statement; it is a claim.

The baseline and which Building Regulations edition applies

Start by fixing the baseline, because every number that follows depends on it. State the edition of Approved Document L applied, the compliance route used, and the software and version used to model it.

For dwellings, the regulations set targets covering carbon emissions, primary energy and fabric energy efficiency, and the statement should report the scheme against each rather than against carbon alone. For non-domestic buildings the comparison is against a notional building generated by the modelling tool.

Three things to pin down in this section:

• the Approved Document L edition and transitional arrangements, where the application sits near a change in standards
• the baseline emission rate and primary energy figures for the notional building
• whether the Future Homes Standard timetable is relevant to the scheme's likely construction date, described as a forthcoming change rather than as current policy

Where local policy sets a percentage improvement over the regulations baseline, name the policy and quote the requirement. A statement that reports an improvement without saying which policy it answers forces the officer to work it out.

Demand reduction measures and the fabric case

The first stage of the hierarchy is using less energy. This is the section where the design actually changes, and it is the section most often written as a list of aspirations.

Report the fabric performance as specified values: U-values by element, thermal bridging approach with psi values or the accredited detail set used, air permeability target, glazing specification with g-values, and the ventilation strategy. Then show the modelled effect of those measures against the baseline, as a figure rather than a description.

Form factor deserves a sentence. A compact building with a good form factor achieves the same performance with less insulation and less cost than an articulated one, and where the planning design has produced a complicated envelope the statement should say what that costs the performance. Officers rarely ask, and the honest version is more useful to the client.

Overheating interacts here, since reducing heat loss raises the risk of overheating in summer, which is why the glazing and shading strategy has to be consistent with the Overheating Risk Assessment rather than written independently of it.

Efficient supply and heat network connection

The second stage covers supplying energy efficiently. In practice this means two questions: is there a heat network to connect to, and if not, is the site within an area identified for one.

Deal with it properly even where the answer is no. State whether a network exists within a stated distance, whether the authority has a heat network priority area or a published heat mapping study, and what the connection position is. Where connection is not currently possible, describe the provision made for future connection, which usually means space for a plant room, a defined route and a hydraulic arrangement that can accept a connection later.

Where a condition or planning obligation will require future connection, say so and set out what is being reserved. A statement that dismisses heat networks in one line invites a consultee response asking the question again.

Low carbon and renewable technologies

The third stage covers on-site renewable and low carbon supply. Report what is proposed, its capacity, and its modelled contribution, with the roof area available and the constraint that limits it.

A roof plan showing panel layout against plant, lift overruns, terraces, rooflights and any overshadowing from adjacent buildings is worth more than a paragraph of text. Where the array is smaller than the roof could take, name the constraint rather than leaving the officer to assume it was a cost decision.

Heat pump proposals need the noise position addressed at the same time, since external units near a boundary raise a separate assessment question. Where the scheme is large enough that plant noise matters, cross-refer to the acoustic work rather than asserting acceptability.

Reporting the regulated emissions reduction

This is the section officers read first, so give it a table and nothing else.

Report in the units the policy uses, state whether the figures are regulated emissions only, and attach the modelling output as an appendix with the input assumptions visible. Unregulated energy should be reported separately where policy requires it rather than blended into the headline figure.

One honest caveat belongs here. Modelled performance is not measured performance, and the gap between them is well documented in the field. A statement that acknowledges the point and describes the commissioning and handover measures proposed reads as more credible than one that does not.

Offset payments where policy requires them

Where local policy sets a net zero or percentage target and the scheme falls short on site, many authorities require a cash in lieu contribution for the residual emissions, calculated from a published carbon price over a stated number of years.

Set out the calculation in full: the residual regulated emissions, the price per tonne applied, the period, and the resulting sum. Name the policy and the guidance document the price comes from, and note that the price is reviewed periodically so the current figure should be confirmed with the authority.

The contribution is normally secured through a planning obligation. Say that, and say which mechanism is proposed, because the legal agreement drafting will follow the statement.

Overheating and the interaction with ventilation

Part O of the Building Regulations deals with overheating in new residential buildings, and planning officers increasingly ask how the energy strategy and the overheating strategy sit together.

The tension is real and worth stating plainly. Deep window reveals, external shading, smaller glazed areas on south and west elevations and openable windows all reduce overheating risk, and several of them affect the elevations the planning application is seeking consent for. Where the design relies on mechanical cooling, say so, because cooling adds regulated energy and some policies restrict it.

Acoustic constraints complicate it further, since a site requiring closed windows for noise cannot rely on opening them for cooling. Where that applies, the statement should describe the ventilation and cooling strategy that resolves it rather than leaving two documents contradicting each other. A consistency check across the whole submission, along the lines of an internal quality check before anything leaves the office, catches this before a consultee does.

Monitoring and reporting conditions

Some authorities, and the Greater London Authority for referable schemes, require post-construction reporting of actual energy performance. Where that applies, the statement should set out what will be monitored, for how long, and how it will be reported.

Expect a condition requiring as built modelling to be submitted and compared against the approved figures, and expect a planning obligation where an offset payment or a monitoring commitment is involved. Writing the mechanism into the statement at submission stage saves a round of correspondence.

The full Energy Statement sits alongside the Sustainability Statement and, on larger schemes, a Whole Life Carbon Assessment, which covers embodied emissions the energy statement does not reach. Keep the boundaries clear so the three documents do not report overlapping figures differently.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Approved Document L, Part O and local energy policy are all revised periodically, so check the current editions and the adopted policy requirements with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

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