Sustainable construction Guidelines for Planning
Sustainable Construction Guidelines for Planning for filling in
the Sustainable Construction Checklist
This guide aims to provide a brief introduction to sustainable
design principles related to climate change and is linked to the
Council’s Sustainable Construction Checklist
(see downloadable Checklist to the right). The
checklist should be submitted with all full or outline planning
applications from 1 February 2008. This is not mandatory and will
not affect the registration or refusal of any planning application,
but it will indicate clearly to the Council what positive design
measures have been incorporated into development
proposals.
The Guidelines and Checklist are for:
· Developers, including home owners, submitting planning
applications in the region.
· Development control officers assessing planning applications
and engaging in pre-application discussions.
Bath & North East Somerset Council is committed to
delivering sustainable development in the region. It requires
principles addressing climate change to be designed into schemes
from the outset in order to achieve development that:
· Has little or no contribution to carbon dioxide emissions and
climate related risks in the locality.
· Adopts features that increase resilience and adaptability to
changes in climate that are expected over the lifetime of the
development.
These two objectives can be tackled through decisions in the
design process and should follow on from establishing whether the
site is in an area at risk from current or future climate change
impacts such as flooding, wind damage, land erosion or water
shortages. Relevant design considerations are included in the
checklist as energy efficient design, energy consumption, water,
construction materials, transport and the historic and natural
environment.
Each checklist question is derived from ‘The Planning Response
to Climate Change: Advice on Better Practice’ document published by
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (now the Department for
Communities and Local Government) in September 2004. The relevant
extract of this document is repeated below to put the checklist
questions into context. Detailed technical queries can be directed
to the relevant organisations listed at the end of this guidance
document where there is also a glossary of selected
terms.
1. Assessing risk
Does the development potentially increase climate-related
risks in the locality in terms of:
• Increased surface water run-off.
• Causing changes to the flood or groundwater regimes
elsewhere.
• Increased pressure for new or enhanced flood or coastal
defence measures.
• Loss of tree cover that provides wind protection or
shade.
• Fragmentation and vulnerability of habitats.
• Increased pressure for water resources.
2. Design Considerations – adaptation
Has the development adopted features that increase
resilience/adaptability to climate impacts:
Flood risk and heavy rain events e.g.
• Incorporating landscape features to absorb floodwater
in larger developments.
• Specifying Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems
(SUDS).
• Ensuring building services are sited above potential
flood levels.
• Increasing resistance of building envelopes to
penetration by driving rain.
Drought and extreme heat e.g.
• Specifying water recycling and rainwater collection
features (only in developments where maintenance and safety issues
can be addressed).
• Incorporating passive ventilation and greater thermal
mass.
• Incorporating shading into landscaping and design of
open public spaces.
• Incorporating features which prevent excessive solar
gain e.g. light shelves.
• Connecting to district cooling systems where
available.
Storms and strong winds e.g.
• Design to reduce aerodynamic loads.
• Incorporating landscaping to provide protection/shelter
from prevailing winds.
Emergency planning e.g.
• Access for emergency vehicles.
3. Design considerations – mitigating greenhouse gas
emissions
Has the development adopted features that mitigate greenhouse
gas emissions in terms of:
Energy efficiency e.g.
• Orientating buildings and laying out site to optimise
passive solar gain.
• Incorporating passive solar design features.
• Balancing compact built forms with solar access to
reduce heat loss.
• Utilising passive ventilation as opposed to mechanical
air conditioning.
Minimising waste and choice of materials e.g.
• Making provision for the storage and collection of
recyclable materials.
• Specifying low embodied energy materials from
sustainable sources.
• Specifying materials from local sources and
suppliers.
Use of sustainable energy sources e.g.
• Incorporating renewable energy technologies or making
provision for later incorporation into the building.
• Adopting high density, mixed-use to enable the
incorporation of sustainable energy supply such as biomass-fired
CHP and district heating/cooling.
Water efficiency e.g.
• Specifying water efficient appliances and fittings such
as showers, dual flush toilets.
• Promoting rainwater collection for outside uses such as
watering gardens and landscaping.
• Promoting the recycling of grey water in larger
buildings where maintenance and safety issues can be addressed.
• Incorporating onsite water treatment
Transport emissions e.g.
• Ensuring good access for pedestrians and to public
transport, cycle paths.
• Provision of cycle storage/parking facilities.
• Travel Plans for new commercial developments.
• Contributions to public transport provision through
planning obligations and agreements.
Glossary of selected terms:
Passive solar gain: Heat and light from the
sun
Passive ventilation: Natural ventilation
methods. For example this can be achieved using windows or stack
ventilation shafts.
Thermal Mass: Material that absorbs and stores
heat during sunny periods when the heat is not desirable in the
living space of a building, and then releases the heat during
overcast periods or during the night, when the heat is
desirable.
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems or SUDS:
techniques to effectively manage drainage at source including dry
ditches (swales), detention/attenuation ponds, and integrated
constructed wetlands, all of which aim to detain run-off and
release it slowly into watercourses or to the ground. Source
control techniques are also popular - such as the use of porous
paving and 'green roofs' which allow rainwater to drain through and
be re-used.
Embodied energy: the total energy that can be
attributed to bringing an item to its existing state including the
energy needed for procuring raw materials, manufacture, transport,
construction, maintenance and repair.
Sustainable: meeting the needs of the present
without compromising future needs.
Renewable Energy: any naturally occurring and
theoretically inexhaustible source of energy, such as biomass,
solar, wind, tidal, wave, and hydroelectric power, that is not
derived from fossil or nuclear fuel.
Combined Heat and Power or CHP: a
fuel-efficient energy technology that, unlike conventional forms of
power generation, utilises the by-product heat that is normally
wasted to the environment. CHP can increase the overall efficiency
of fuel use and because it often supplies electricity locally, CHP
can also avoid losses in transmission and distribution.
