Planning Reports
Hilsdon Holmes has the knowledge and expertise to deliver tailored energy and sustainability reports in support of your planning application.
Sustainability Statement
More and more UK councils are now requiring a sustainability statement or report to be submitted alongside your planning application. This may take the form of a pre-planning requirement or it may appear as a condition upon approval.
Hilsdon Holmes has been providing tailored sustainability reports for their clients for a number of years now. Our team understands that no two reports will follow the same process – each planning department works with different requirements. We will ensure that we provide a report that satisfies your particular needs and offers you the best chance of success.
What is a Sustainability Statement?
Experience tells us that whilst all Sustainability Statements share common elements, each one will be unique to its particular context. This is because each build will be answering to a local council’s Sustainability Policy which will place emphasis on specific elements. We can guarantee, however, that the Statement will be required to demonstrate ways in which your build will contribute to high standards of sustainable development, including water efficiency, energy efficiency and biodiversity.
The report may consider ways in which your design could increase its use of natural lighting, optimise energy efficiency through the use of appropriate heat and ventilation systems, and look for ways in which a proportion of your energy supply could be obtained from decentralized and renewable low-carbon sources.
We may also include in your Statement a series of measures designed to reduce the waste generated by the construction process through recycling, and recommend the procurement of materials which will have a low impact on the environment.
More and more we are finding ways to talk about adaptive building design whereby changes in lifestyles can be accommodated through flexible usage.
Energy Statement
An Energy Statement is often required as part of the planning application. The aim of this measure is to ensure that the development is planning – through its design – to reduce energy use and emissions.
The Planning Department will want to see the ways in which the development is attempting to address UK objectives, such as the local or national renewable policy. This will need to be demonstrated through evidence-based documentation showing reductions in energy requirement and Co2 impact as a result of the building design.
What is an Energy Statement?
Hilsdon Holmes provides only tailored Energy Statements for its clients. We always guarantee that the document we provide you with satisfies your specific planning conditions and offers you the very best chance of success.
An Energy Statement isn’t just a tick-box exercise. In the hands of a passionate and committed advisor, this document should give you the resources you need to inform your decision-making every step of the way, as well as helping you to develop your cost analysis and support your operational planning. We draw on data from SAP Calculations and SBEM Calculations which will form the basis of our Statement.
An Energy Statement Should Include:
- Baseline ‘standard’ case Co2 emissions and energy costs
- Improvements to fabric efficiency beyond building regulations standards
- Improvements to HVAC and lighting efficiency beyond building regulation standards
- How renewable technology will be used to meet Co2 reductions
- Renewables feasibility study
- How the development will address local energy plans and policies
- How the development will utilise local power and renewables networks
We will always take care to address local policies which are unique to a specific council – we promise to provide you with a bespoke Statement which accurately reflects your unique build.
Hilsdon Holmes will always take the following steps as part of the process of preparing your Energy Assessment:
- We will study your requirements in detail
- We will meet with your planning department if required,
- We will ensure that we understand local policy before making a proposal.
