Energy & Sustainability Statements
At MACH, we are passionate about delivering low-energy, sustainable building designs while helping clients achieve their planning and development goals.
Whether you're extending your home or developing a large mixed-use scheme, our experienced consultants provide expert advice to ensure your project meets planning requirements. We will guide you through passive energy efficiency strategies and recommend appropriate renewable technologies tailored to your site.
Our aim is to support your planning submission while optimising the design for quality, comfort, and minimal environmental impact.
What is an Energy & Sustainability Statement?
An Energy Statement is typically required for planning submissions. It reports the predicted carbon emissions of a proposed development and outlines the measures taken to reduce emissions in line with Building Regulations and local planning policies.
Sustainability Statements relate more specifically to planning policies that cover sustainable building design, which may include climate resilience, biodiversity, green transport links, water use or flooding. Whilst they can be provided separately, there is often a lot of overlap and are often provided as a single document.
MACH has experience of providing planning stage energy and sustainability statements across the UK and are able to provide expert advice on the best energy strategies for your development.
If you have a planning condition that requires an energy or sustainability statement for your project, get in touch with one of our consultants where we can advise on the best low carbon strategy for your project.
What’s Included in Our Energy & Sustainability Statements
Our Energy & Sustainability Statements are tailored to your specific development and typically include:
- A review of local authority energy and sustainability requirements
- Baseline energy demand and compliance with Part L of the Building Regulations
- Passive design strategies for energy efficiency
- Feasibility of connecting to district heat networks
- Assessment of Low and Zero Carbon (LZC) technologies
- Sustainability assessments, including transport links, water use, flood risk, climate change adaptation and biodiversity
The Energy Hierarchy
The Energy Hierarchy is a methodology of reducing carbon emissions for a building, and is a strategy adopted in many local council planning policies. Typically the Energy Hierarchy is split into 3 sections – ‘Be Lean, Be Clean and Be Green’
Be Lean – This is the reduction of heating and cooling demand on a building through good passive design principles, such as reducing heat loss through low U-values and airtight building envelopes. The careful design of glazing sizing/location and the solar transmittance properties will also help determine the level of passive solar heating in the winter, and the amount of cooling needed in the summer.
Be Clean – The Be Clean stage reviews whether the development can connect to existing heat networks or other existing low carbon heating and hot water sources in the local area. These are commonly found within city centres across the UK.
Be Green – The review of suitable renewable technologies for the development. This will include a high level review of all potential renewable technologies (e.g. photovoltaic panels, heat pumps, biomass boilers, wind turbines) and assess what is the most suitable for the project, considering the project site location, exposure and size. MACH will then recommend a suitable option and determine the level of carbon savings that can be made.
Why Choose MACH for Your Energy & Sustainability Statement?
At MACH, we don't just focus on energy performance in isolation; we take a holistic approach that considers how energy efficiency interacts with other key performance factors like thermal comfort, natural light, and acoustics constraints. Our goal is to help you identify the ‘sweet spot’ where your building performs at its best.
Our skilled staff are able to provide quick and detailed energy and sustainability statements with a pragmatic approach, offering advice on how to improve your design when needed.
Our team of friendly engineers are more than happy to answer any questions you have about your project.
FAQ
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Most new builds and major refurbishments will require an Energy & Sustainability Statement as a condition of planning approval. Requirements vary by local authority — for example, projects within Greater London must comply with the London Plan in addition to borough-specific policies.
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The energy strategy for a development can have significant impacts on building design, so it is always recommended that the energy and sustainability assessment is carried out early in the design phase of your building project, ideally before detailed design work begins. MACH always recommend carrying out the assessment before carrying out a planning application.
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The time required for an energy & sustainability assessment can vary depending on the complexity of the project. For smaller developments, the process typically takes 5 – 10 working days. More complex projects may take longer, particularly if multiple revisions are needed.
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The cost of an energy & sustainability assessment depends on the size, scale and complexity of the development and surrounding context. Get in touch so MACH can provide a tailored quote based on your specific project needs.
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To ensure an accurate and thorough assessment, we require the following information:
- Site plan
- Floor plans
- Elevations
- Sections
- Information on the external wall, roof and floor constructions
- A building services strategy
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If your building fails to comply with the energy requirements of the local council, MACH will work with you to explore practical mitigation strategies that improve the efficiency of your project, as well as advising on suitable renewable technologies for the scheme. We will guide you through the necessary changes to ensure compliance while maintaining building efficiency and comfort, also considering cost and build practicalities
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MACH's Other Services
MACH is a multi-discipline company, where we are able to provide a one-stop-shop for your planning requirements for projects of any size.
With team members trained across various disciplines, our services are provided in a holistic manner with each deliverable carried out in tandem with the other, ensuring there are no gaps in communication or delays in the design process.
Integrated design creates more opportunity for low carbon passive design through avoiding the need for mechanical cooling or restrictive thermal requirements on the façade, which can lead to significant cost savings as well.
Our services include:
