Sustainable Design Statement
Shows how a scheme answers your council's sustainability and climate policies. Several councils require one for anything that creates new floorspace, with no lower threshold.
No specimen yet
There is no published specimen for this document type. Rather than show a mocked-up cover, this page says so.
It is drafted for real cases. It is the specimen that does not exist yet, not the document.
Read this
There is no specimen for this document type yet. Rather than show you a mocked-up one, this page says so.
When
When your council will require it
- The council's validation list requires one for new floorspace
- Local policy sets energy or carbon standards above building regulations
Contents
What is in it
- 01The new floorspace created, which is what engages the requirement
- 02The council's adopted sustainability and climate policies, quoted from the adopted text
- 03Energy: reducing demand, supplying efficiently, then using renewables, and how the scheme answers each step
- 04Water efficiency
- 05Materials and embodied carbon
- 06Overheating and climate resilience
Authority
What makes it necessary
No national rule requires this document. It is a local validation requirement, and whether your council asks for it is read from that council's own published list.
Price
What it costs
This document is not priced on its own. It is part of the fixed fee for the application it supports, and a case producing three documents costs the same as a case producing one. On a minor application that fee is £1,995, with your council’s statutory fee passed on separately at cost.
A shorter research draft of this document is also available for credits, for your own use. It is clearly marked on every page as not for submission, and it carries nobody’s signature.
Questions
Questions
Is this the same as an energy statement?
It overlaps. Some councils ask for both under different names and some fold them together. The submission checklist reads your council's own list rather than assuming a national pattern.
Start here
Does your site need a sustainable design statement?
Draw a boundary and the appraisal tells you which documents your route and your constraints require, before you commit to anything.