All new homes in Scotland will use renewable or low carbon heating from 2024, the Scottish government has announced.
The initiative will run alongside a £30m investment from the Scottish government into renewable heat projects designed to increase energy efficiency in homes.
These renewable and low carbon heating systems will also be phased in for non-domestic buildings, once consent has been given to build them, from 2024.
Energy minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “It’s becoming increasingly clear that the pace of decarbonising Scotland’s domestic and non-domestic buildings has to increase significantly to achieve those aims, and emissions from our buildings will have to fall close to zero.
“We will ensure that new homes and buildings across Scotland meet the challenge of the climate emergency, combining the action we need to take on climate change with our ambition to provide affordable, warm homes.”
Tackling Climate Change
One of the standout benefits of taking on a self build project is that it provides the opportunity to build a more sustainable and energy efficient home, which can be associated with lower running costs.
Building more environmentally-friendly homes is a challenge for the construction industry, and reducing the carbon dioxide produced in the building of a home is an important marker of how green a home is.
The Scottish government hopes this new standard for home energy efficiency will help tackle climate change as well as eradicate fuel poverty.
Homeowners in Scotland will also be supported to make their homes warmer and cheaper to heat. The Scottish government revealed that it is currently seeking views from homeowners to introduce a standard of what this legislation may look like, and how it can best help people to meet it.
Scotland has set the challenge of reaching ‘net zero’ emissions by 2045, and also wants to achieve a 75% reduction in emissions by 2030.