Thursday 16 June 2022

New energy regulations to slash emissions from all new builds in Scotland

New regulations that will slash carbon emissions from all new builds by nearly a third have been published by the Scottish Government.

They will also apply to newly-built non-domestic buildings and form part of the plans to reduce emissions across Scotland's building stock by more than two thirds by 2030.

Key elements in the new energy standards include improved performance targets that will cut emissions from new homes by an aggregate of 32% and new non-domestic buildings by an aggregate of 20%.

The regulations also include the introduction of a new energy target for new buildings to set and report on performance of decarbonisation, a focus on reducing energy demand including improved fabric insulation in new homes to reduce heating needs and changes to make connections to low carbon heating solutions such as heat networks easier.

The new standards, which will apply from December 2022, also support plans for all new buildings to have zero-emission heating systems from 2024.

Zero Carbon Buildings Minister Patrick Harvie said: “Emissions from our homes and buildings currently account for about a fifth of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions and we know that transformational action is required to ensure we cut these emissions at pace and scale.

“These new energy standards represent the next step in ensuring that our buildings are as energy efficient as they can be and in realising the ambitious vision we set out in our Heat in Buildings Strategy.

“From December this year, all new homes and buildings built in Scotland will be warmer, greener and cheaper to heat. I am keen to continue working closely with the construction sector to ensure these new standards are met successfully and to work together to raise standards and to develop the further actions and innovations that will be required to meet our climate targets.”