Climate change
Category Background
To ensure that new developments are appropriately adapted to the impacts of present and future climate change and to minimise their own impact on greenhouse gases, flooding, heat gain, water resources and water quality.
With these policy issues in mind, this section of the checklist addresses:
- Designing developments for flood resilience, and to reduce the contribution made to flash flooding,
- Reducing overheating and “heat island” effects to reduce the need for air conditioning whilst maintaining occupier comfort,
- Maximising the availability of harvested rain and grey water for appropriate use on the development to reduce the demand for freshwater,
- Ensuring energy efficiency is designed into the development from the earliest design stages, in a comprehensive and cost efficient manner,
- Maximising opportunities to generate and supply renewable energy on the development as part of an overall energy strategy,
- Making occupiers aware of their energy consumption.
Useful resources:
- Adapting to climate change: A checklist for development
- UK Climate Change Programme – scenarios for future climate change
- Environment Agency
- Environment Agency Floodmaps
- Association of British Insurers – flooding issues
- CIRIA – flood resistant design
- Interim Code of Practice for Sustainable Urban Drainage
- A Toolkit for Delivering Water Management Climate Change Adaptation Through the Planning System Appendix 7: Good Practice Case Studies
- BREEAM and Ecohomes standards
- Housing Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme
Policy Links
RSS
- EN1: Energy Generation;
- EN2: Energy Conservation;
- QE3: Creating a high quality built environment for all;
- QE1: Conserving & Enhancing the Environment;
- QE4: Spaces;
- QE9: The Water Environment.
RHS
- Chapter 7.
RSDF
- Sections 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.5;
- PPS 25 - Flooding;
- PPS 22 - Renewable Energy.