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PLANNING: DESIGNING FOR REDUCED ENERGY DEMAND
28 Good, careful design at the outset will minimise the total energy demand for the lifetime of a development. Design considerations for a development as a whole and for the individual buildings will help to increase the efficiency of energy use.
29 Designing Places (2004) confirms that design is a material consideration. It highlights the opportunity for making efficient use of resources from an early stage in the design of development. SPP6 refers to this in terms of locational, siting and design considerations (paragraph 35).
Location
30
- Proximity to a variety of uses, such as retail, leisure and offices, will encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport rather than their car.
- Higher density development in suitable well-connected locations will use land more efficiently.
- Re-use of existing buildings will reduce requirements for new materials which are often energy intensive to manufacture.
Siting
31
- Shelter from the elements provided by land form, trees and other buildings will reduce exposure and loss of energy from buildings.
- Orientation of buildings to maximise solar gain will reduce energy demand.
- Passive measures, such as those above can also reduce maintenance costs.
Building Design
32
- Layout of rooms within buildings: habitable rooms should be located to the south.
- Adaptable: buildings that can be adapted to a variety of future uses.
- Materials:
- re-use materials and select materials which can be re-used.
- use materials which have high performance standards, e.g. timber frames, wall insulation and glazing.
33 The inclusion of the above measures in the design of developments, in particular those directly associated with individual buildings, will reduce their total energy demand and CO 2 emissions so that the actual amount which the 15% represents will be proportionally reduced. This will result in less low and zero carbon equipment being necessary, though options for incorporating such equipment will need to be considered at the design stage.
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