Policy information sourced from the Guildford Local Plan: Strategy and Sites
D2: Climate Change, sustainable design, construction and energy
Sustainable design and construction
Proposals for zero carbon development are strongly supported. Applications for development, including refurbishment, conversion and extensions to existing buildings should include information setting out how sustainable design and construction practice will be incorporated including (where applicable):
- the efficient use of mineral resources and the incorporation of a proportion of recycled and/or secondary aggregates
- waste minimisation and reusing material derived from excavation and demolition
- the use of landform, layout, building orientation, massing and landscaping to reduce energy consumption
- water efficiency that meets the highest national standard and
- measures that enable sustainable lifestyles for the occupants of the buildings, including electric car charging points
When meeting these requirements, the energy and waste hierarchies should be followed except where it can be demonstrated that greater sustainability can be achieved by utilising measures further down the hierarchy.
Major development should include a sustainability statement setting out how the matters in this policy have been addressed. Smaller developments should include information proportionate to the size of the development in the planning application.
Climate Change Adaptation
All developments should be fit for purpose and remain so into the future. Proposals for major development are required to set out in a sustainability statement how they have incorporated adaptations for a changing climate and changing weather patterns in order to avoid increased vulnerability and offer high levels of resilience to the full range of expected impacts.
Climate change mitigation, decentralised, renewable and low carbon energy
The development of low and zero carbon and decentralised energy, including (C)CHP* distribution networks, is strongly supported and encouraged.
Where (C)CHP distribution networks already exist, new developments are required to connect to them or be connection-ready unless it can be clearly demonstrated that utilizing a different energy supply would be more sustainable or connection is not feasible.
Proposals for development within Heat Priority Areas as shown on the Policies Map and all sufficiently large or intensive developments must demonstrate that (C)CHP has been given adequate consideration as the primary source of energy.
All (C)CHP systems are required to be scaled and operated in order to maximise the potential for carbon reduction.
New buildings must achieve a reasonable reduction in carbon emissions of at least 20 per cent measured against the relevant Target Emission Rate (TER) set out in the Building Regulations 2010 (as amended) (Part L). This should be achieved through the provision of appropriate renewable and low carbon energy technologies on site and/or in the locality of the development and improvements to the energy performance of the building. Where it can clearly be shown that this is not possible, offsite offsetting measures in line with the energy hierarchy should be delivered.
Retail units falling within Use Classes A1, A2, A3 and A4 in Guildford Town Centre are not subject to the carbon reduction requirement at paragraph (9).
Planning applications must include adequate information to demonstrate and quantify how proposals comply with the energy requirements at paragraphs 5-10 of this policy. For major development, this should take the form of an energy statement.
For more information please see the Local Plan