Policy CC/NZ: Net zero carbon new buildings

The UK has a legally binding requirement of net zero carbon by 2050. In June 2021, government adopted its sixth carbon budget, which forms part of the route map to achieve net zero carbon by 2050, 63% reduction in emissions from 2019 to 2035 (78% relative to 1990). 

Our Net Zero Carbon Study (2021) advises that new buildings need to be built to net zero carbon as soon as possible for

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

to play its part in meeting the UK’s carbon budgets.   This will require rapid decarbonisation across all sectors of the UK economy, including the built environment.  Our evidence base makes it very clear that if we are to achieve net zero carbon by 2050, then new development will need to go further than the requirements set out in current and future

The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings, providing the minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project.

. 

The proposed policy deals with all of the carbon associated with new buildings, both that associated with the energy needed for powering our homes and commercial buildings, as well as the carbon associated with the processes and materials used to construct those buildings, known as embodied carbon.   Policy CC/CE also gives consideration to what happens to materials at the end of a buildings life.  This is known as whole life carbon.  It also seeks to address the performance gap between designed performance and as built performance through the use of Assured Performance processes.  These are elements that are not fully covered in other regulations such as

The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings, providing the minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project.

. 

In terms of the ability for local planning authorities to set policy requirements related to carbon associated with new buildings, legally, this is something that a

Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

can do, a matter confirmed in January 2021, when government issued a response to its consultation on the Future Homes Standard.  As part of the consultation, government had asked whether it should ‘ban’ Local Plans from going beyond

The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings, providing the minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project.

.  But having considered the responses received, it has decided not to and reconfirmed its position that Local Plans can set energy standards for new homes that go beyond

The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings, providing the minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project.

. 

Given the high standards proposed, the sustainable show home policy which is currently part of the South Cambridgeshire

Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

will no longer be required. The policy would also replace the current policy in Cambridge requiring achievement of BREEAM Excellent for all new non-residential development. The standards contained within the policy and other policies in the First Proposals are such that they will exceed current BREEAM requirements, although developers may still choose to utilise BREEAM certification to meet the assured performance aspects of the policy.  Also, it is not proposed to continue with the consequential improvements policy given the difficulties of implementing this policy via the planning system. 

Feedback we received through the First Conversation included support for sustainable and resilient design for new development including zero carbon, heat pumps, green roofs, green walls, grey water systems, solar panels. There was support for applying standards such as Support

Passivhaus buildings provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling. They are designed and constructed according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany.

and BREEAM standards. We should offset carbon emissions from new development, and consider the impacts of embodied carbon. Others said our policies should be flexible to allow for innovations during the Plan period, or that we should not set higher energy performance policies than required nationally.

No policy, leaving the delivery of net zero carbon to

The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings, providing the minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project.

and the Future Homes/Buildings Standard - Not considered a reasonable alternative as it does not fulfil our statutory duty set out in the Climate Change Act and Planning Act and will not enable

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

to achieve its carbon budget. 

This approach would also not deliver net zero carbon in line with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C trajectory.

The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings, providing the minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project.

only considers regulated energy, whereas in order to achieve net zero carbon, all energy consumption from new buildings must be met by renewable energy. 

The Future Homes Standard only requires new homes to be ‘zero carbon ready’, leaving further carbon reduction to achieve net zero carbon to home owners, further adding to the retrofit burden and the 28 million homes in the UK already needing retrofit to achieve net zero carbon by 2050.  In addition, the issue of embodied carbon is not, at present, considered by any other regulatory framework, and there does not appear to be any plans for it to be considered through

The Building Regulations 2010 cover the construction and extension of buildings, providing the minimum standards for design, construction and alterations to virtually every building. Building regulations approval is different from planning permission and you might need both for your project.

.  This leaves a significant policy gap in the delivery of net zero carbon by 2050. 

• Greater Cambridge Local Plan: Topic paper 2: Climate Change 

• Greater Cambridge Net Zero Carbon Study (2021) 

• LETI Embodied Carbon Primer 

• LETI Defining and Aligning: Whole Life Carbon and Embodied Carbon 

• RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge  

• UK Green Building Council New Homes Policy Playbook 

• Committee on Climate Change.  UK Housing: Fit for the Future (2019) 

South Cambridgeshire

Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

2018 

• Policy CC/1: Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change 

• Policy CC/3: Renewable and Low Carbon Energy in New Developments 

• Policy CC/5 Sustainable Show Homes 

Cambridge

Short form for the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, which sets out policies to guide the future development of Greater Cambridge. It also sets out where future development will take place, and identifies land for new housing, community facilities, shops and employment. It is the key document use to determine planning applications for new development in the Greater Cambridge area.

2018

• Policy 28: Carbon reduction, community energy networks, sustainable design and construction, and water use 

• Policy 30: Energy-efficiency improvements in existing dwellings. 

Our consultation for this phase is now closed.