All new homes homes in Scotland would have to meet the ultra-low emissions Passivhaus standard under draft legislation that has been brought forward in the country’s parliament.
Alex Rowley, Labour Member of the Scotland Parliament for the Mid Scotland and Fife Region, has submitted the Domestic Building Environmental Standards (Scotland) Bill).
It would mandate a Passivhaus standard or a Scottish equivalent for all new-build housing in Scotland, and includes a process to ensure design specifications agreed in the panning permission stage are verified as delivered. The aim is to ensure there is no ‘performance gap’ between the design of the building and the energy efficiency and thermal performance when it is completed.
Rowley said proposals for new Building Regulations – in the Scottish government’s Building a net zero future strategy – that aim to cut new-build emissions by nearly a third, ‘ do not go far enough’, and contain no measures to close the performance gap.
The bill was out for consultation until 27 July 2022.
