A year in summary: Net Zero

Director
Hoare Lea

NET ZERO

Ashley Bateson, Partner, Hoare Lea

1. Promote commercial and residential retrofit through permitted development rights

Embodied carbon in construction contributes significantly to London’s annual carbon emissions. Generally, whole-life carbon assessments show that refurbishing and extending existing buildings is a lower carbon alternative to creating new space through new construction. However, many building owners face a lengthy and uncertain planning process if they want to add a storey to increase the area of their accommodation. Planning should be adapted to make it easier to undertake the remodelling of existing buildings that can be demonstrated to increase floor area in a sustainable way.

Policy proposal summary:

Allow specific refurbishments and height extensions to be given permitted development status (this will increase the uptake of retrofit that adds floor area to existing buildings)
Examples should include inner city commercial properties. Additional stories should be allowed to be built as part of permitted development with certain conditions:
Specific sustainability requirements such as the need to install a green roof and a funding contribution towards green infrastructure at street level
Encourage public/outward-looking ground floor use.
Sub-urban low-rise residential housing should be given permitted development rights to covert attics or extend roofs to create an additional storey, with certain conditions:
A cap on the permitted height extension, say 0.8-1.0m
Need to meet specific energy efficiency/ sustainability requirements
Encouragement of multiple retrofits by stipulating a minimum requirement of several houses to be converted together in a terrace to achieve a consistent design approach. Semi-detached homes should be dealt with together to provide consistent design.

2. Establish Carbon Planning Review Panel to assess developments at pre-application stage

The assessment of planning applications is increasingly becoming a complex issue, especially with increasing demands for development to meet sustainability and carbon targets, whilst respecting local planning policy and conservation requirements. However, local planning authorities often lack the sufficient technical expertise to interrogate the whole-life carbon implications of a new planning application. Many planning departments acknowledge that their resources are constrained due to other demands on local authority budgets. Whilst large schemes are referred to the Mayor of London, smaller schemes are not. Opportunities for checking the credibility of planning proposals with respect to sustainable outcomes may be missed because of the lack of resources in a planning department and therefore genuine low carbon outcomes may not be delivered in practice.

Policy proposal summary:

Establish a Carbon Planning Review Panel to provide a resource that supports local authorities to review and check the credibility of development proposals with respect to low carbon and net zero objectives.
The panel would only require minimal funding for administration because of the likely willingness of many experts to offer their time for minimal compensation, as is the case with many current design review panels.
The expertise should cover a range of disciplines, including architecture, engineering and sustainability, so that an integrated approach to carbon reduction can be taken by the panel.
It is anticipated that the panel will be called in to complement a local design review panel, planning authority, or, where required, to support the GLA if additional skills in zero carbon development are required.
Access to the panel should be made to all local authorities.
The panel should operate independently from the Mayor’s planning team but interact, as required, to ensure consistent interpretations of policy.
The Carbon Planning Review Panel could also act as a focal point for collating lessons learnt on net zero development, so that strategic guidance could be shared with developers, designers and planners.

3. Create Circular Economy Research Panel

Adopting a circular approach to refurbishment and construction will eliminate waste and support a regenerative approach to development. Whilst it is a Mayor of London policy to submit a Circular Economy Statement for major planning applications it is still a relatively unexplored topic and more needs to be done to investigate technical solutions and develop authoritative industry guidance. The Mayor of London should help support research and accelerate the sharing of knowledge and best practice in circular construction.

Policy proposal summary:

Establish a Circular Economy Research Panel to act as a focal point for research, guidance and sharing of best practice in circular design and construction.
The panel should develop industry guidance for all stages of the property cycle, from pre-demolition surveys to new-build circularity principles.
The panel can act as an aggregator of ideas and accelerate London’s position to be a world leader in circular economy practice.
The panel should comprise a wide range of industry experts including consultants, academic researchers, contractors and others in the supply chain, including manufacturers and pre-fabrication specialists.

Ashley Bateson

Director
Hoare Lea

A year in summary: Net Zero

Related

Stay in touch

Upgrade your plan

Choose the right membership for your business