
A proposal by the City of London to encourage reuse of existing buildings and other circular economy measures will become policy within the coming weeks, the authority has announced.
The new Planning for Sustainability Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), provides guidance on how developers should approach the City Corporation’s sustainability policies in their planning applications, including the design and construction of buildings.
Formerly in draft form, the SPD has now been approved by the Corporation’s Planning and Transportation Committee and includes measures to support the City’s ‘retrofit first’ approach.
Several local councils, including the City, Westminster, Camden and Bath & North East Somerset, have already developed and adopted retrofit-first policies in support of their Net Zero targets and declarations of climate emergency.
More planning authorities, particularly in the capital, are poised to follow suit.
The City’s SPD is intended to support its 2040 Net Zero target and covers four other key sustainability themes, many of them concerned with slashing upfront or ‘embodied’ carbon. These are:
- Circular economy Encourages a shift from a linear to circular waste model in a building’s construction and operation to minimise waste through a building’s life cycle
- Greenhouse gas emissions and energy use Includes measures to reduce whole life-cycle carbon and operational energy emissions
- Climate resilience Sets out how developments should address flood risk management, water management, building and urban overheating, pest and disease control, and infrastructure resilience
- Urban greening and Biodiversity Sets out how to protect, conserve and enhance biodiversity, habitats and green infrastructure in the Square Mile.
Chairman of the City Corporation’s planning and transport committee, Shravan Joshi, said: "This new guidance provides transparency to the built environment sector, encouraging it to come with us on this journey as we see continued confidence and demand for high-quality, sustainable office space in the Square Mile.
"The City of London is home to some of the most sustainable commercial buildings on the planet and, as it continues to be a hugely attractive place for office occupiers, we are setting the pace globally for sustainable design, with the delivery of the next generation of new and retrofit developments to attract the best global talent, innovators and high-growth businesses."
In a statement, the Corporation said the new SPD would offer a degree of flexibility if planning applications miss the upfront carbon benchmarks. In this case, developments will be expected to go ‘above and beyond in their delivery of wider environmental sustainability benefits’ in the Square Mile.
"This could include, for instance, creating or extending local energy networks, supporting sustainable transport modes through significant public realm upgrades, implementing City climate resilience infrastructure, such as “cool routes”, or providing skills and training opportunities in sustainable construction," the statement said.