Paving the way to zero-carbon developments in London
Paving the way to zero-carbon developments in London
London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, has launched a report - co-authored by CSE - that gives support and advice to London boroughs to help them deliver the capital's aim of a zero-carbon development in every borough by 2010
25 August 2006
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has launched a report co-authored by CSE that takes the capital another step closer to realising its objective of having a ‘zero-carbon' development in every borough by 2010.
‘Towards Zero Carbon Developments' was produced for the London Energy Partnership and provides advice and supporting information for local authorities, property developers and architects on what is involved in low and zero carbon developments.
The report supports the Mayor's Energy Strategy — ‘Green light to clean power' — which aims to reduce London's contribution to global climate change, tackle the problem of fuel poverty, and boost the use of renewable and energy efficient technologies. The Strategy includes a target of at least one zero-carbon development in each of the capital's 33 boroughs by 2010. It expects boroughs to identify site(s) suitable for such development and include these in their local development documents, and subsequently to use their powers as landowners or partners to bring the projects forward.
The report was commissioned to address the lack of guidance available to boroughs on how to do this. CSE's task was to produce supportive information for the boroughs and other London bodies that addresses such issues as:
- What constitutes a zero-carbon or low-carbon development?
- What sort of planning policies might be appropriate and enforceable?
- How should suitable sites be identified?
- What other mechanisms, processes and arguments can be used to bring about development of such sites?
To help answer these questions, CSE worked in partnership with the planning team at the London Borough of Merton, which helped pioneer some of the policies that are now central to low-carbon development planning.
The finished report includes practical advice about how local authorities can use their powers to encourage zero-carbon developments. It offers an overview of key arguments officers can use in discussion with developers, lessons to be learnt and pitfalls to avoid when taking forward proposed developments. It includes relevant current planning policy issues and features case studies.
Martin Holley, Senior Project Manager at CSE, is confident that the study will prove influential and useful. "It's been a great opportunity to apply our expertise in low-carbon developments to such an important initiative. It is a chance for CSE to help pave the way for some (hopefully) high-profile building projects in the capital which will support the Mayor's Energy Strategy and deliver vital carbon reductions."