Building Regulations: Determining the principles for a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard: Stage 1 consultation
Feedback updated 30 Dec 2024
We asked
We consulted on our initial proposals for a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard between July and October 2024.
We asked for your views on a range of key topics relating to determining the principles for a Scottish equivalent:
- Identifying the components of an equivalent standard.
- Proposals to improve the setting of energy performance and ventilation standards for new buildings, leading to lower energy demand (and reduced running costs) and a healthy indoor environment.
- Proposals to improve assurance that the design intent for energy performance and ventilation standards for new buildings is achieved in practice.
- General topics which are material to the ongoing development of energy and environmental standards set by building regulations.
- The proposed updated programme to deliver the current energy standards review and the commitment on a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard.
- Notes on the proposed amendments of regulations.
You said
Consultation activity ran from 31 July 2024 to 23 October 2024 and received a total of 350 responses. 186 were from organisations and 164 were from individuals. Of the responses received, 64 respondents instructed that their responses should not be published. Of these 64 responses, 25 were from individuals and 39 from organisations.
Accordingly, following final QA checks, 290 consultation responses were published on the consultation page.
Responses represented a range of views and offered useful insight into many aspects of the proposals. The consultation analysis report is now published.
We did
Following review and consideration of responses to the consultation and focussing on items that may require modifications to the Building Regulations to satisfy Mr Rowley’s final Bill proposal, it is our position that only limited changes to regulations are needed to support an outcome, up to and including that delivered through the voluntary Passivhaus Standard.
In respect of how we set performance requirements, the Scottish Government is content that the current regulations and schedule of mandatory standards within The Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 already provide the necessary legislative provisions to give effect to the final proposal for a proposed Domestic Building Environmental Standards (Scotland) Bill. The outcome being ‘to introduce new minimum environmental design standards for all new-build housing to meet a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard, in order to improve energy efficiency and thermal performance’.
Changes that are necessary to legislation have been identified and these relate to building standards processes. In particular, the mandating of information needed to demonstrate to verifiers that compliance in both the design and the construction of buildings is being taken forward correctly. We can confirm that regulations amending The Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 were laid on 12 December 2024. These introduce a requirement for developers to provide an “energy and environmental design statement” with building warrant applications and an “energy and environmental construction statement” with each completion certificate. These statements will describe how the design and construction of the building complies with paragraphs 3.13, 3.14, 3.28, 6.1 to 6.7, 6.10, 7.1 and 7.2 of schedule 5 of the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004. These are the mandatory standards relevant to the delivery of energy and environmental performance.
Part 1 of the Scottish Government response to the consultation, which covers regulatory amendments, is now published.
Part 2 of the Scottish Government response to the consultation will follow in January 2025.
Next Steps
The July 2024 consultation proposed an implementation date of 2028 for the new standards and there was widespread support for this. To enable the construction sector to prepare for the changes an implementation date of 31 March 2028 was set out in the regulatory amendments.
We will continue to work with the Working Group and wider industry stakeholders through 2025, informed by response to this consultation, to agree and develop the detail of changes to how we set energy and environmental standards for new buildings with the aim to publish revised standards in early 2026.
Regulatory amendments
Amendment to regulations are published here: The Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024
Published responses
View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.
Overview
Scottish building regulations set minimum standards applicable to new buildings and to new work to existing buildings.
This consultation is the first of two which will consider the technical, commercial and wider policy implications of improvements to building regulations in the context of broader action by the Scottish Government on climate change, to further our ambition of becoming a net-zero society by 2045.
In December 2022 the then Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights confirmed that, in response to Alex Rowley MSP’s Proposed Domestic Building Environmental Standards (Scotland) Bill, the Scottish Government would make subordinate legislation by 14 December 2024 to give effect to Mr Rowley’s final proposal. The proposal was “to introduce new minimum environmental design standards for all new build housing to meet a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard, in order to improve energy efficiency and thermal performance”.
To fulfil this commitment, a further review of energy standards within building regulations was commenced at the beginning of 2023 to consider further improvements to the standards and processes set within The Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (as amended) and associated regulations with a focus on two outcomes:
- improvements to the setting of energy and environmental (ventilation) performance standards for new buildings, leading to lower energy demand (and reduced running costs) and a healthy indoor environment
- improvements to the design and construction process to give greater assurance that compliance, and therefore the performance sought, is delivered in practice
In June 2023 an industry working group was convened with a role to offer advice and expertise to the Scottish Government to help define how an equivalent to the Passivhaus standard will look in Scotland.
Read more information on the review process to date.
This stage 1 consultation seeks views on the form and approach that a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard, implemented through building regulations, should adopt. It also seeks information on the implementation of the 2023 energy standards to inform the development of a stage 2 consultation in 2025, which will set out the details of proposed new standards or performance targets.
It is the intention to continue development of proposals during and following the consultation period. Further information on this work and of any consultation events will be published here and on the review webpage in due course.
The consultation paper contains full background information for this consultation. We would encourage you to read or refer to it while responding.
Useful information about responding to this consultation
As you complete your response, each page will provide the option to 'Save and come back later' at the bottom. This means you can save your progress and return to the consultation at any time before it closes. If you don't use this feature and leave the consultation midway through, your response will be lost.
Once you have submitted your response, you can enter your email address to get a pdf copy of your answers sent to you.
On the 'About You' page at the end of this consultation, organisations will have the opportunity to tell us more about their work and/or how their response was informed.
After the consultation has closed there will be a few months delay before any responses are published. This is because we must check any responses to be published abide by our Terms of Use.
A analysis report will usually be published some months after the consultation has closed. This report will summarise the findings based on all responses submitted. It will be published on the Scottish Government website and you may be notified about it if you choose to share your email address with us. You can also join our consulation mailing list where we regularly list newly published analysis reports (as well as new consultations).
Why your views matter
Changes to building regulations apply at a national level to all new buildings and relevant new building work across Scotland.
Energy standards within building regulations were most recently improved in February 2023. In April 2024, the New Build Heat Standard was also implemented through building regulations meaning that all new buildings must no longer use ‘direct emission heating systems’ for space or water heating or cooling. We recognise that industry is still in the process of responding to these recent changes.
We are therefore seeking your views and evidence of the challenges and opportunities that are likely to be experienced as we look to define a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard, to determine what further beneficial change can be set out for our new buildings and delivered in practice. The consultation document sets out the proposed delivery timetable beyond December 2024.
What happens next
We will analyse the consultation responses and publish a report. The results from this consultation will help us decide what the next steps should be. Once a decision has been made, we will publish it.
Interests
- Business, Industry and Innovation
- Building and Planning
- Energy
- Environment and Climate Change
- Main hub
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