Planning Guidance - Edinburgh Design Guidance
Climate Mitigation
Climate Mitigation is how we minimise the impact of design on the climate.
This section covers:
- Taking a whole-life energy approach
- Designing for building adaptability and maintenance
- Minimising operational energy
- Integrating sustainable heating and heat networks
Please see the relevant section of the guidance below:
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Related information
Glossary of key terms
Climate Mitigation - Action to limit or reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the environment.
Embodied Energy - The energy involved in the sourcing of materials, transportation, and construction of the proposed design.
Greenspace - Any vegetated land or structure, water or geological feature in the urban area including playing fields, grassed areas, trees, woodlands and paths.
Heat Network - A network distributing heat or cooling from a central source or sources to a variety of consumers.
Infrastructure - Physical networks which serve development such as roads, paths, street lighting, supplies of water, gas, electricity and wastewater drainage and services for occupants of developments such as public transport measures, schools and healthcare.
Low and Zero Carbon Generating Technology (LZCGT) - Equipment provided on-site or integrated into buildings and which use solely renewable sources, resulting in zero carbon dioxide emissions, or which include use of fossil fuels but with significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions overall, which may include combined heat and power and/or a range of other methods.
Net-Zero - When any greenhouse gas emissions put into the atmosphere are balanced out by the greenhouse gases are removed from the atmosphere, so that the ‘net’ effect is zero emissions.
Operational Energy - The energy used during because the operation of a building. This includes the energy used in heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilating the building, as well as the energy used by the occupants of the building.
Renewable Energy - Natural energy from sources which will never run out such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat.
Whole-Life Energy Approach - An approach that considers both the embodied energy in the construction and demolition of a building and the operational energy during the use of a building across a building’s lifespan.
Zero Direct Emissions (ZDE) - A source of energy that doesn’t produce any emissions