New buildings in Wales will be expected to raise their sustainability standards and include renewable and low carbon energy technologies, such as solar panels and combined heat and power, as part of tough new planning policies to tackle climate change.
The move is part of a two-pronged announcement to tackle climate change through the design of new buildings and efficiency of existing houses in Wales that will be announced by Environment, Sustainability and Housing Minister Jane Davidson today (Thursday, 3 July).
The second part of Ms Davidson’s announcement was the launch of an advice booklet to help householders improve the energy efficiency of existing homes and help them cut fuel bills at a time of rising costs. Ms Davidson said:
Rising fuel bills affect us all – and these two steps by the Assembly Government are practical ways forward to help keep costs down and reduce our carbon footprint.
The 'Improving your Home - A Climate Change Guide' gives practical carbon and bill cutting advice to people making improvements to their homes, such as building conservatories or converting lofts into extra living space. It will help make existing homes more fuel efficient and more resilient to the effects of climate change and rising fuel costs.
And for new buildings Ms Davidson unveiled further consultation on changes to Planning Policy Wales to tackle climate change at the inaugural Wales Planning Conference in Cardiff, organised by the Royal Town Planning Institute Cymru.
The proposals set expected minimum national standards for the sustainability of buildings and for the incorporation of renewable and low carbon energy technologies.
Wales is the only UK country to use the planning system to set a national minimum standard for the sustainability of new buildings and the only one to combine this with a standard for the incorporation of renewable and low carbon energy sources.
The proposed policies would expect a minimum standard for homes based on the Code for Sustainable Homes, and on the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Scheme (BREEAM) for other buildings. This standard will initially be set at Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3 for housing and BREEAM 'Very Good' for other buildings. It is intended that the policy will commence in April 2009.
Ms Davidson said:
This policy will ensure that there is a level playing field across Wales and avoid the unnecessary burden for each local planning authority to devise, justify and propose similar policies to improve the sustainability of new buildings in their Local Development Plan (LDP).
She added that the planning system also needed to do more to encourage the take-up of new renewable energy technologies.
This is why we are proposing a national minimum requirement for major development proposals to incorporate renewable and low carbon sources which equates to 10% of the regulated emissions. This is in addition to the energy efficiency measures expected by our sustainable building standard.
The policy focuses on carbon reduction where both renewable energy technologies such as solar panels, and low carbon sources such as combined heat and power schemes, can help reduce the carbon footprint of new developments in Wales.
On certain sites there may be opportunities for standards higher than the national minimum to be achieved. The third part of the policy allows a local planning authority to do this.
The Minister said the Assembly Government also recognised opportunities for the existing stock to help tackle climate change, particularly as it makes a very significant contribution to carbon emissions in Wales.
During the past year local planning authorities in Wales received over 13,000 householder applications. These include substantial alterations and improvements, such as extensions, porches and garage conversions. She said:
This is a prime example of where we can influence people who are improving their home to think about how those changes can be made in a way which helps tackle climate change.
With the help of the Design Commission for Wales, the Energy Saving Trust, and the Welsh Local Government Association, the 'Improving your Home - A Climate Change Guide' details 10 common projects that a householder may carry out to improve their home. Alongside these projects are a number of measures that can be undertaken to respond to climate change in the most effective way. Ms Davidson added:
For example, when a householder is thinking of adding an extension to their home I want to encourage them to think about the orientation of the extension to reduce carbon emissions, and also to think about the materials that they use to ensure they are resilient to flooding.
There also may be opportunities to improve the fabric of the existing building at the same time, for example by upgrading insulation or installing a more efficient heating system.
It is these small measures and changes in how people think about improving their home, that can go a long way to reducing carbon emissions and making sure that the existing stock can be resilient to climate change.
