World News- 30th October 2021

Figure 1.1 Carbon Neutral Building (White Arkitekter, 2021)

CNDG Nottingham​

We as a group at Infinity studios are keeping up to date with the planning advice and the fight to become carbon neutral to ensure that we are able to get planning permission even when other companies become outdated because of their outdated design process. CNDG stands for Carbon Neutral Design Guide which is a guide for design in Nottingham that the council hopes to formally release from March 2022. The city has been monitoring its carbon emissions for many years now “the city’s emissions were 1.1 million tonnes per year. The baseline year to compare to is 2005 when emissions were 1.98 million tonnes. Therefore we have reduced our emissions by 44.2% since then. ” (NCC, 2021).​

This is a great improvement however they aim to be carbon neutral by 2030 so there is lots that still needs to be done, hence the introduction of a Carbon Neutral Planning Guide. Applicants will have to refer to the carbon neutral checklist in local planning policies and will then be assessed to make sure their proposals adhere to the policies.​

Nottingham City council will work with Carbon Neutral Design Review Panel (CNDRP) which is an independent company that will offer design advice during pre-application process (NCC, 2021).​

Information that will have to be provided:​

1. A detailed specification of materials with U values and total carbon content.​

2. An energy statement that builds on the energy strategy and sets out exactly how the strategy will be embodied practically within the building.​

3. The full process report showing how a minimum of a Very Good BREEAM rating will be achieved.​

4. A worked-out design strategy for reducing water use with numerical justification.​

5. Where demolitions are proposed, an embodied carbon calculation is required to prove that demolition and new build is the least carbon intensive option (as opposed to retrofit) in the long term.​

6. For Major Projects over 1000 m2: ​

• Use a reputable Energy Analysis Software (integrated or stand-alone) that is adequate for the type and scale of project to inform decision making during the design process and report values obtained at each stage of the design process or for each design iteration.​

• Provide an energy statement that shows the designed performance of the building and sets out the total heating and cooling energy requirement per annum. This needs to be accompanied by a calculation of how 10% of that requirement will be generated renewably and include drawings to show it physically located. ​

• Comply with the Drainage Guidance.​

• Demonstrate that a member of your design team has relevant sustainable construction sector specialisms and is capable of delivering a responsible retrofit of low carbon measures.​

From 2025 a requirement to monitor the environmental performance of a completed building will be introduced to ensure that buildings are maintained in a way that ensures they continue to perform as designed (NCC, 2021) . We are aware of the future changes happening to the building regulations in Nottingham and we strive to stay current which allows us to be granted planning permission that other Architects cannot. This allows our clients to have more flexibility of sites to develop and a better guarantee of being granted planning permission reducing the start to finish time of projects.​

Image references​

1.1 White Arkitekter, 2021. Carbon Neutral Building [Online] White Arkitekter. Available at: https://whitearkitekter.com/carbon-neutral-buildings-creating-value-through-architecture/ [Accessed 30th October 2021]​

Bibliography​

NCC, 2021. Carbon Neutral Design Guide [Online] Nottingham City Council. Available at: https://www.dqfnottingham.org.uk/carbon-neutral-design-guide [Accessed 30th October 2021]