Draft Greater Cambridge Local Plan for consultation

Policy CC/NZ:
1. The Passivhaus Trust welcomes the metrics for space heating and energy use intensity listed. These use absolute targets and correlate closely to Passivhaus standard criteria. https://passivehouse.com/en/home/building-certification/ The Passivhaus standard has been delivering buildings across the world to these metrics for 30+ years. We welcome local authorities aiming for energy, health and comfort performance levels beyond current building regulations. We also welcome recognition of the Passivhaus Planning Package as delivering accurate energy performance predictions.

2. We believe that working to the Passivhaus standard is the best way of guaranteeing that projects achieve these desired outcomes, without the performance gap, while also delivering good comfort and indoor air quality for occupants. Without the quality assurance provided by standards like Passivhaus, projects are unlikely to deliver these performance outcomes in reality. [See research on the performance gap: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378778820313918]

3. We would suggest that projects targeting Passivhaus certification could be said to be 'deemed to comply' with the Local Plan requirements and that this could be acknowledged in the document text. This would be similar to approach that is currently being adopted in Scotland. The Scottish Government is also developing an enhanced quality assurance regime as part of its Scottish Passivhaus Equivalent policy development. [https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-building-regulations-proposed-changes-energy-environmental-standards-certification/#certification determining-principles-scottish-equivalent-passivhaus-standard-scottish-government-stage-1-consultation-response-part-2-onward-review/]