ALL newly built homes in Scotland will need to conform to an innovative green building standard championed by a Labour MSP, under plans announced by the Scottish Government.
Labour's Alex Rowley proposed the Domestic Building Environmental Standards (Scotland) Bill earlier this year to introduce the Passivhaus standards for all newly built homes in Scotland.
The Passivhaus standards create ultra-low energy homes which aim to minimise the need to heat and cool buildings.
In a letter to Rowley, Net Zero Minister Patrick Harvie said the Scottish Government would fast-track the process of adopting the standards in law by using secondary legislation and bypassing the lengthy process of taking a member's bill through Holyrood.
Rowley said: “I am very happy that the Scottish Government has taken the opportunity to put my proposal into law.
“We have the knowledge and technology to build houses fit for the future, with occupant comfortability as a priority at a fraction of the heating costs of a standard build house now – it simply seems obvious to me that we should be doing this.
“While I appreciate the moves the Scottish Government has taken so far to make new houses more energy efficient, I do not believe the action they are currently taking will get us to where we need to be quickly enough with regards to our net-zero targets, so it is very welcome that they will move forward with the higher standards required by the Scottish equivalent of Passivhaus that I have proposed.”
Harvie said: “Rowley’s proposal fits well with the Scottish Government’s objectives for new development.
“The shared policy programme, published in September 2021 as part of the Bute House Agreement, includes our explicit support for Passivhaus and equivalent standards.
“We have set out our aim to make subordinate legislation within two years, to introduce new minimum environmental design standards for all new-build housing to meet a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard.”
