Tag Archives: Planning

London Plan carbon/energy consultations

Posted on January 5, 2021 by Admin

January 2021: A bit late highlighting – but there are two key GLA planning guidance document out for consultation, linked to new energy policies in the new 2020 London Plan. Both documents have a deadline for response of 15 January 2021.

Whole Life Carbon Assessments London Plan Guidance
This document provides advice on the preparation of Whole Life-Cycle Carbon Assessments, which are required for certain planning applications that measures the carbon emissions resulting from the materials, construction and the use of a building over its entire life, including its demolition and disposal. The consultation document is available here; respond via the following webpage.

The assessment should cover the development’s carbon emissions over its life-time, accounting for:

  • its operational carbon emissions (both regulated and unregulated)
  • its embodied carbon emissions
  • any future potential carbon emissions ‘benefits’, post ‘end of life’, including benefits from reuse and recycling of building structure and materials. See also London Plan Policy SI 7 ‘Reducing waste and supporting the circular economy’.
Continue reading…
Posted in News | Tagged , , | Comments Off on London Plan carbon/energy consultations

City Corporation introduces the world’s first development guidelines on thermal comfort

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Admin

15 December 2020: An interesting new initiative by the City of London who have issued planning guidance to developers on the impact of their developments on the immediate environment, which is particularly relevant to tall buildings which dominate the ‘square mile’. The press release sets out that the “‘Thermal Comfort Guidelines’ are believed to be the first of their kind globally, and will see data on wind, sunlight, temperature and humidity analysed on a seasonal level to predict how the microclimatic character of a place will feel to the public once a scheme is put in place. Tall and major building developers will be required to take account of the potential microclimate and thermal comfort impacts at an early stage in the design process.The analysis will allow for improvements to the quality of outdoor spaces within the Square Mile to better the health and wellbeing of residents, workers and visitors, as well as improving the experience of walking and cycling in the City.”

The guidance can be accessed here (direct download here). Some of the issues of tall buildings in London and their impact on the local environment have been highlighted over the past few years by Dr Julie Futcher and her ‘climate change walks’. More on Julie’s work here and here.

Posted in News | Tagged , , | Comments Off on City Corporation introduces the world’s first development guidelines on thermal comfort

Plans for fossil free Canada Water development

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Admin

11 December 2020: Article in Building magazine (and here) reporting that major developer British Land has said its £3.3bn mixed use Canada Water scheme will be fossil fuel free to help meet its target for a net zero carbon property portfolio by 2030. Encouragingly British Land’s Head of Development, Philip Tait, states that “improvements in heat pump technology meant it was easier for buildings to be all electric than when the buildings were designed four years ago.” Tait goes on to say that “Site-wide heat networks are a popular choice for large developments but Tait said he was wary about adopting one at Canada Water. Tait said: “It’s easy to say go for a centralised heating network. We don’t know if this is exactly the right thing to do yet. We want to keep things open and flexible to do the right thing as technology changes.”

The Canada Water scheme will eventually turn 53 acres of rundown land in south-east London into a new town centre and 3,000 homes. In February, it overcame the last major planning obstacle when London Mayor decided not to call it in. Further information on the energy strategy to be adopted for the site is set out in the Southwark Planning Committee report on the development from September 2019 – available here (see agenda item 5.1 main report) or directly here (see page 211 onwards).

Posted in News | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Plans for fossil free Canada Water development

Southwark Carbon Offset Fund

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Admin

December 2020: Southwark Council have published a webpage providing some background to their implementation of carbon offset payments as part of new housing planning applications submitted to the Council. See Zero carbon homes and the carbon offsetting fund.

Posted in News | Tagged , | Comments Off on Southwark Carbon Offset Fund

Is London up to the 2030 net-zero carbon challenge?

Posted on November 19, 2020 by Admin

19 November 2020: “During London Climate Action Week, Associate Architect, Michela Ravaglia, outlines London’s response to the Climate Emergency and questions whether enough is being done to achieve the city’s ambitious 2030 net zero carbon target.” Really helpful summary of new policy, reports and initiatives underway in London (and there is a going on at the moment!) with respect to planning and the development of zero carbon buildings – see the following article.

Posted in News | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Is London up to the 2030 net-zero carbon challenge?

Tower Hamlets School LED project

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Admin

21 August 2020: “Osmani Primary School in East London is set to realise a £7,700 saving on its annual energy bill thanks to making the switch to LED lighting“. Good to see this article in Electrical Review highlighting the work of Tower Hamlets council, using resource from the borough’s carbon offset fund: “The London Borough of Tower Hamlets supports schools in the borough to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their carbon emissions through its Carbon Offset Fund. This funding source provides the upfront capital for LED replacement projects, thereby allowing the school to repay the cost through the energy savings realised during the payback period.” Read the full article here.

Posted in News | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Tower Hamlets School LED project

The Role of Carbon Pricing

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Admin

June 2020: A consortium of five London boroughs, Barking and Dagenham, Ealing, Greenwich, Haringey, and Westminster have commissioned and recently published the following study: “Towards Net Zero Carbon Achieving greater carbon reductions on site: The role of carbon pricing“. This report seeks to review the current planning guidance from the GLA on Carbon Offsetting, and in particular the carbon offset price recommended in that guidance. This new study presents the rationale for this work as follows: “the current carbon offset price (£60-£95/tCO2) and requirement of a minimum 35% carbon reduction do not incentivise sufficient savings on site. This means that new buildings have substantially higher carbon emissions that they should.” The GLA’s 2018 guidance document sets out that “Currently, the GLA’s recommended price for offsetting carbon is £60 per tonne. This is a nationally recognised non-traded price of carbon and is also the Zero Carbon Hub price.” However, the guidance also recognises the need to review this offset price level and states “To assess whether this price continues to be appropriate the GLA commissioned AECOM to carry out a study of possible carbon offset prices, considering both published carbon prices and the cost of undertaking various carbon reduction projects in London… The new draft London Plan includes a new recommended carbon offset price of £95 per tonne which was tested as part of the viability assessment. This is intended to be the price (Local Planning Authorities) LPAs adopt, unless LPAs have set their own local price. The recommended GLA carbon offset price will be reviewed regularly.” (the new London Plan reference to £95/tonne is referenced as footnote 155 on page 384 of the London Plan 2020). Note – the option is available to boroughs to set their own offset price – but there needs to be some evidence to support any such price being set.

This new study by the London boroughs is an attempt to do this – and sets out the following: “We have undertaken extensive energy modelling on several typologies of buildings. Our calculations demonstrate that the decarbonisation of the electricity grid means that, for the same specifications, a greater improvement over Part L is achieved with no extra effort/cost (‘60% is the new 35%’). On this basis, and given the consensus on the need and benefit of a ‘fabric first’ approach and low carbon heat, our recommendations are:

  • To incentivise on-site savings by adopting a high first tier price of £1,000/tCO2 for those easily avoidable and unnecessary residual emissions not met on-site, which fall short of a 60% improvement threshold (measured over Part L1A) for domestic and a 50% improvement threshold (measured over Part L2A) for non-domestic developments.
  • To incentive PV with the introduction of a medium carbon price second tier of £300/tCO2.
  • Finally, and only for residential applications for which it is easier to achieve this high level of performance than for nonresidential applications, we recommend a low carbon price
  • third tier of £100/tCO2 as a positive signal. “

The report concludes with some further opportunities to ensure that zero carbon buildings take into account their full environmental impact.

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Role of Carbon Pricing

Richmond – Plan for greener new developments approved

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Admin

1 June 2020: A newly updated sustainability checklist that aims to help developers make new developments as green as possible has been approved by Richmond Council. The Sustainable Construction Checklist Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) is an update to the existing SPD, which was last revised in 2016. It gives housebuilders and those developing non-residential spaces a clear steer on what is expected of them to reduce the environmental impact of their developments, regardless of whether their projects are new builds, conversions or extensions. Full details set out on press release here.

Posted in News | Tagged , | Comments Off on Richmond – Plan for greener new developments approved

London Plan: letter from the Secretary of State for Housing to the Mayor

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Admin

13 March 2020: The Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), Robert Jenrick MP, has written to the Mayor on issues relating to housing and the New London Plan stating that there is a “need for an improved London Plan that meets London’s housing needs.” The Minister’s letter (which has attracted press attention – see here and here) goes on to say “I am left with no choice but to exercise my powers to direct changes.” An accompanying Annex to the letter sets out the changes the Minister wants to the London Plan. None of these relate to the major steps forward the New London Plan has proposed on increasing the carbon and energy efficiency of London’s new developments (see Policy SI 2 Minimising greenhouse gas emissions of the ‘Intend to Publish London Plan‘) – however – there will now be a delay to the publication to the London Plan until the Mayor enacts the changes set out in the Annex. The letter states:

“Due to the number of the inconsistencies with national policy and missed opportunities to increase housing delivery, I am exercising my powers under section 337 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 to direct that you cannot publish the London Plan until you have incorporated the Directions I have set out at Annex 1. Should you consider alternative changes to policy to address my concerns, I am also content to consider these.”

Posted in News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

New Westminster Carbon Offset Fund Guidance

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Admin

January 2020: Since October 2016, Westminster City Council has been securing for carbon offsetting from new development through planning obligations to ensure that new development is acceptable in planning terms by fully addressing its associated carbon footprint.
In September 2019, Westminster City Council declared a Climate Emergency and set ambitious targets for the city to be carbon neutral by 2040. Carbon offset funds provide an important resource for helping to support Westminster’s carbon neutral ambitions. This guidance provides some background to Westminster’s carbon offset fund, outlining the process for collecting carbon offset funds and the City Council’s criteria for allocating funds to local carbon saving projects, in accordance with Greater London Authority (GLA) guidance and Westminster’s carbon reduction targets.

Posted in News | Tagged , | Comments Off on New Westminster Carbon Offset Fund Guidance

Carbon offset fund pays for school LED upgrade

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Admin

12 August 2019: “A LONDON primary school is on track to significantly reduce its annual energy use following an upgrade to LED lighting financed by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ Carbon Offset Fund.” A great case study at Luxreview of an energy efficient lighting retrofit project undertaken at Lansbury Lawrence Primary School in the Poplar. Further background on how the borough’s carbon offset operates can be seen here.

Posted in News | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Carbon offset fund pays for school LED upgrade

How are cities planning to respond to climate change?

Posted on August 8, 2018 by Admin

August 2018: Paper published in Journal of Cleaner Production
Volume 191, 1 August 2018. “This paper reports the state of local planning for climate change by collecting and analysing information about local climate mitigation and adaptation plans across 885 urban areas of the EU-28… Our analysis reveals that city size, national legislation, and international networks can influence the development of local climate plans. We found that size does matter as about 80% of the cities with above 500,000 inhabitants have a comprehensive and stand-alone mitigation and/or an adaptation plan (A1). Cities in four countries with national climate legislation (A2), i.e. Denmark, France, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, are nearly twice as likely to produce local mitigation plans, and five times more likely to produce local adaptation plans, compared to cities in countries without such legislation.” Open access article available here.

Posted in Library | Tagged , | Leave a comment