South Gloucestershire declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and both nationally and internationally there is a clear acceptance that we must do more to address climate change.
Balanced against this is the need to deliver homes to address the housing crisis. This is a major issue and the need to build housing to address this is irrefutable - however we must do all we can to minimise the CO2 impacts.
We have sought to achieve this for Woodlands Garden Community, which we consider can represent exemplar development that minimises its CO2 impacts.
As we have set out elsewhere the location of the site plays a very large role in minimising CO2 impacts. WGC has an enviable location where access to extensive jobs, services and facilities is all possible via cycling and walking - and where car journeys are unavoidable, the trip lengths will be short when compared to other development options located many miles away from the core urban area of Bristol. The development will also enhance sustainable transport options (Sustrans cycle route improvements/new bus link and services) for not only current residents but the wider community.
WGC also has the capability of being low carbon in terms of energy usage. This will be achieved firstly by reducing the overall energy demand of the development through ‘fabric-first’ measures that can go beyond the requirements of Building Regulations; secondly through on-plot generation such as solar panels; and thirdly by generating as much renewable energy as possible within the site boundaries, which is possible due to the extensive amount of land available for such purposes.
The proposed layout also maximizes the solar gain to housing and allows for landscaping to cool buildings in the summer months.
A range of binding measures will also be put forward to ensure that energy demand is minimised and where possible clean energy sources used. This will include:
We have investigated a number of potential ways of providing renewable energy on the site, including the provision of solar, heat pumps, microgrid systems, small scale hydro electric power on the brook which runs through the site, Combined Heat Source Power or a biomass facility.
Our feasibility assessment unfortunately ruled out hydroelectric because of the limited velocity of flow of water through the brook and biomass is unviable at this scale. The most efficient solution has been determined to include renewable energy generation from Solar PV and heat generation via Heat Pumps. Solar panels will be located on all suitably orientated roofs and will also be provided on both residential, community and commercial properties.
These measures are anticipated to ensure that over 80% of the development's ongoing energy demand will be met via renewable energy.
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