Energy Statements & Renewables Reports

Planning condition demanding renewables or a CO₂ reduction? Don't sweat it — we produce hundreds of energy statements a year for planning authorities across the UK, so yours is well-trodden ground.

What planning authorities ask for

Many Local Planning Authorities require new developments to source a percentage of their energy demand — or cut CO₂ emissions — using on-site renewable or low-carbon energy. Requirements vary: a 10% CO₂ emissions reduction, a 10–20% energy demand reduction, or legacy Code for Sustainable Homes energy levels (CSH4/CSH5).

For example, BCP Council requires new developments in Poole & Bournemouth to achieve a 10% energy demand reduction from renewables or low-carbon sources — 20% for developments of 10 or more dwellings. Every authority words its conditions differently, and the wording matters.

The new wave: net-zero, energy-based targets (and PHPP)

A growing number of authorities have moved well beyond the old “10% from renewables” line. Instead of a simple percentage, they now set energy-based targets — a space heating demand (typically around 15–30 kWh/m²/yr) and an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) cap (around 35–40 kWh/m²/yr) covering all the energy a building actually uses, regulated and unregulated. Standard SAP wasn’t designed to demonstrate these, so several councils run their own energy summary tools — built around a methodology developed by sustainability consultancy Etude — that you populate with more detailed modelling. In practice that means a PHPP (Passive House Planning Package) assessment, which predicts real-world space heating demand far more reliably than a Part L SAP calc — and running that PHPP modelling to demonstrate these planning targets is something we do in-house.

One important distinction: we use PHPP as the compliance-modelling tool to satisfy these energy policies and their summary tools. That’s not the same as full Passivhaus certification, which is a separate process run by certified Passivhaus designers — if your project is chasing the Passivhaus badge itself, you’ll want one of those on board too.

If your site sits in one of these areas, the energy statement is a different, more involved beast. We run the PHPP modelling, populate the council’s energy summary tool and produce the statement — so it’s worth a chat before the design is locked in:

The list keeps growing as more councils adopt LETI-style net-zero policies — and we produce the PHPP-based energy statements these tools need, so the modelling and the planning report come from one place. Send us your condition wording and we’ll tell you exactly what’s required.

Compliance is usually simpler than it looks

Depending on the condition, compliance can be as simple as a small solar PV array or a heat pump. For multi-dwelling developments it’s often possible to comply by installing renewables on just a few units. We model the options and recommend the solution that balances build cost against the requirement — not just the first thing that passes.

Legacy CSH conditions

Code for Sustainable Homes was abolished in 2016 but lives on in legacy planning approvals. Some authorities still require “CSH level 5 Energy” — effectively zero carbon in SAP, and not trivial. We’ve handled these before; ask us before committing to a design.

Send us your planning condition wording and drawings — get a quote or call 01202 623236.

Got a project? Let’s take a look.

Hundreds of clients a year trust us with theirs — big, small, and gloriously complicated. Tell us what you’re up against and we’ll tell you how we’d sort it.

Get a Quote or call 01202 623236