Elmhurst has now submitted its final response to the New Build Heat Standard: scoping consultation, released by Scottish Government in December of last year.

This consultation focused on Scottish Government’s approach to the regulation of new buildings, meeting the commitment established in the 2019 Programme for Scottish Government to require new buildings to use renewable or low carbon heat.

Although new buildings are only a small part of the problem when it comes to decarbonisating Scotland’s building stock, it is evident that they should lead the way in order to help the country meet its climate change targets, and reduce adding to overall heat demand. Scottish Government’s primary aim is to legislate that new homes consented from 2024 use zero direct emissions heating and feature high levels of fabric energy efficiency (a similar approach is also intended for non-domestic buildings).

Elmhurst’s final response to this consultation has now been submitted, and overall we agree with the proposal put forward within this consultation and the ambition from Scotttish Government.

Elmhurst OCDEA Team Leader, Jason Hewins, comments: “We are pleased to see Scottish Government taking action now in order to avoid adding more emissions from new buildings as well as unecessary retrofit further down the line. We have always advocated that industry needs a clear roadmap to prepare for changes away from traditional heating systems which we have used for years. With this in mind, it is good to see Scottish Government advocating for the introduction of zero emission heating and cooling systems by 2024″.

“Moreover, Elmhurst believes accredited Energy Assessors and the outputs from the national calculation methodologies can be utilised to inform consumers of new technologies and ensure compliance to new standards is achieved. We look forward to further consultations in this area in the future”.

Read Elmhurst’s final response to the consultation.

Read the New Build Heat Standard: scoping consultation