CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Scottish Government 1 commissioned RPS Planning and Development to evaluate the environmental performance and cost effectiveness of sustainability features in new build social housing projects in Scotland. The purpose of this research is to help inform future funding decisions made by the Scottish Government about sustainability features. This research specifically builds on the advice provided in the Sustainable Housing Design Guide for Scotland (2007).
Background
1.2 One of the Scottish Government's 5 strategic objectives is for a Greener Scotland in order to see improvements in the natural and built and environment and the sustainable use and enjoyment of it. Scotland's sustainable development strategy 'Choosing our Futures' (Scottish Government, 2005) specifically recognises the importance of the built environment and the role of sustainability.
1.3 Housing contributes to carbon emissions through energy consumption in the household, structure of the building and location. Housing can make a significant contribution to sustainability because of the large amounts of resources used to build, maintain and use housing and the contribution this makes to greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (Sustainable Housing Design Guide for Scotland, 2007).
1.4 The Scottish Government aims to encourage, support and fund housing development that is more environmentally sustainable in terms of its production and use (Sustainable Housing Design Guide for Scotland, 2007). To do so, they need to understand the impact, both financial and environmental, of different types of sustainability measures in new build social housing.
Project aims
1.5 This research study aims to examine the cost effectiveness and environmental impact of a variety of sustainability features which have been used in new build social housing over the last decade.
1.6 The specific objectives of the research are to:
- establish an appropriate benchmark in order to make cost comparisons of various sustainability features;
- determine the impact of sustainable features in new build social housing that the Scottish Government has funded in terms of cost to the RSL, cost to the tenant and the environmental impact in terms of carbon emissions;
- examine and compare the effectiveness of different features against a series of agreed benchmarks; and
- develop recommendations on appropriate cost-effective sustainability features that will assist the Scottish Government when making housing investment decisions.
1.7 It is intended that this research will build upon the current evidence base in this area. The 23 case studies and associated findings in the Sustainable Housing Design Guide for Scotland (2007) provided the starting point for this research.
Report structure
1.8 The remainder or the report is structured as follows: