Barking and Dagenham - BR2: Energy and On-Site Renewals

Policy information sourced from Barking and Dagenham Borough Wide Development Policies DPD

POLICY BR2: ENERGY AND ON-SITE RENEWABLES

All major and strategic development must demonstrate in an energy assessment that heating, cooling and power systems have been selected to minimise CO2 emissions. The energy assessments should demonstrate the following:

That energy demand is minimised through passive design, appropriate choice of building fabric, appropriate choice of building services (e.g. ventilation with heat recovery), external summer shading and vegetation on and adjacent to proposed developments.
That heating and cooling elements have been designed to reflect the Mayor of London’s preference for the use of decentralised energy.
The expected energy and carbon dioxide emissions savings resulting from a development’s energy strategy as well as its renewable energy component.

Developers will be expected to achieve significant carbon reduction targets on both residential and non-residential schemes aspiring to zero carbon residential buildings from 2016 and zero carbon non domestic buildings from 2019. Wherever feasible, and subject to economic viability, major developments will be encouraged to achieve 20% saving in carbon emissions through the use of on-site renewable generation. In exceptional circumstances, where developers can prove that physical constraints prevent them from generating energy from renewable sources on-site so as to reach the targets, a financial contribution will be required towards achieving an equivalent benefit by another means. Electric heating will not be acceptable in new developments unless it can be demonstrated that its utilisation would not prohibit the achievement of significant carbon reduction targets and meet the high environmental building standards as set out in Policy BR1.

Barking Riverside, the Barking Town Centre Energy Action Area and South Dagenham

In line with the London Plan, the Council is working with partners to maximise the opportunity to provide new networks supplied by decentralised energy. The Council will therefore expect, where feasible, all major and strategic developments that fall within the Barking Town Centre Energy Action Area, Barking Riverside and South Dagenham to be designed to be capable of linking into the district heating system currently planned as part of the London Thames Gateway Heat Network (by powering developments through decentralised energy systems and being technically compatible). The renewables target will be reduced to 10% to reflect solar hot water systems and heat pumps will not be appropriate (due to heating and hot water being provided by a community heating network) and the difficulty in meeting the target on electricity generating renewables only.

For more information please see the Borough Wide Development Policies DPD