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Energy efficiency, retrofitting, and sustainable construction supplementary planning document

Energy

There are two ways buildings use energy.

During construction

Embodied energy: this term refers to the total energy required to manufacture or construct an object, material or building.

During use

Operational energy: this is the energy which is used on a daily basis for heating and electrical appliances.

You can reduce the amount of energy your building is responsible for by:

  • Using low impact building materials
  • Making your building more energy efficient by:
    • using high performance windows
    • use of natural daylight
    • using low energy lighting
    • having high levels of insulation
    • installing heating controls
    • monitoring to check your energy usage
  • Using low carbon technologies to reduce the amount of fossil fuels to heat, light and cool your buildings, such as:
    • gas condensing boilers
    • solar thermal panels for hot water
    • photovoltaics for electricity generation
    • wind turbines (where appropriate)
    • bio mass (if a local supply can be secured)
    • heat pumps