Net Zero Carbon Development Plan
Glossary
Air-Source Heat Pump:A type of heat pump which captures the latent heat in the air outside a building and uses that to help heat a home. Some air-source heat pumps can also be used for cooling in the summer.
Anthropogenic greenhouse emissions: Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities.
Biomass: Living organisms and dead matter such as wood, leaves etc. used as a fuel or energy source. These fuels are considered renewable as long as the vegetation producing them is maintained or replanted, such as firewood, alcohol fermented from sugar, and combustible oils extracted from soy beans. Their use in place of fossil fuels cuts greenhouse gas emissions because the plants that are the fuel sources capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Carbon deficit: The amount by which carbon emitted exceeds carbon sequestered. If there is no carbon deficit, then 'net zero' has been achieved.
Carbon dioxide (CO2): Carbon dioxide is a gas which occurs naturally in the atmosphere, and is produced as a by-product of human activity such as burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and power vehicles. It is the main greenhouse gas created by combustion.
Carbon footprint: A measure of the impact that activities, people and businesses have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.
Carbon neutral: Carbon neutral refers to a process, energy source, material, or product that, when factoring everything that goes into it, neither adds to nor reduces the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Carbon offsetting: To help become carbon neutral, activities such as tree planting can off-set carbon-producing activities such as the burning of fossil fuels. Trees lock in carbon.
Climate change adaptation: Adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic factors or their effects (including from changes in rainfall and rising temperatures) which moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities for climate change mitigation.
Climate change mitigation: Action to reduce the impact of human activity on the climate system, primarily through reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Emergency Declaration: An action taken by governments and scientists to acknowledge humanity is in a climate emergency. Warwick District Council declared a climate emergency in February 2020.
Combined heat and power (CHP): An efficient technology for generating electricity and heat together. A CHP plant is an installation generating usable heat and power simultaneously (usually electricity) in a single process. The heat generated in the process is utilised via suitable heat recovery equipment for a variety of purposes including industrial processes and community heating.
Decarbonisation: The process of replacing carbon-emitting processes with carbon-neutral processes. For example, the national energy grid is expected to decarbonise over time as coal and gas fired power stations are replaced with renewable energy sources.
Development Plan Documents (DPDs): DPDs are statutory component parts of the local development framework, which can introduce new policy to sit alongside the Local Plan. DPDs are formally consulted on and tested for soundness at an examination in public.
Embodied carbon / embodied energy (Carbon Capital): All the carbon / energy required to grow, harvest, extract, manufacture, refine, process, package, transport, install and dispose of a particular product or building material.
Energy efficiency: Using less energy to provide the same level of energy service. Along with renewable energy, energy efficiency is one of the twin pillars of sustainable energy.
Fabric First: A 'fabric first' approach to building design involves maximising the performance of the components and materials that make up the building fabric itself, before considering the use of mechanical or electrical building services systems.
Fossil fuels: Coal, oil and natural gas which produce carbon dioxide when burnt; responsible for global warming and climate change.
Geothermal Energy: Energy found in the form of heat beneath the ground. It is usually only a viable source of power in areas near tectonic plate boundaries.
Greenhouse gases: Gases in the atmosphere that absorb the earth's thermal infra-red radiation. Scientists believe that greenhouse gases resulting from human activity are causing the earth's climate to change, and this is now a generally accepted view.
Ground source heat pump: A type of heat pump which captures the latent heat from the ground and uses that to help heat a home.
Heat exchanger: A system used to transfer heat between two or more fluids. Heat exchangers are used in both cooling and heating processes.
Heat pump: A device that moves heat from a low temperature heat source to a higher temperature heat sink. Examples include ground source heat pumps, air to air heat pumps, refrigerators and air conditioners.
Mitigation: Intervention to attempt to reduce the negative impact of human activity, or to balance the negative impact with positive actions elsewhere.
Net zero carbon: Net zero refers to achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.
Nitrogen oxides: Nitrogen Oxide and Nitrogen Dioxide are collectively known as Nitrogen Oxides. Nitrogen Oxides are primarily produced as a result of the combustion process, typically from motor vehicles and power stations. They are one of the precursors for photochemical ozone formation as well as being injurious to human health.
Passive design: A design strategy that optimises a building's form, fabric and orientation to make the most of natural sources of heating, cooling and ventilation, to reduce the energy usage in operation.
Passivhaus standard: A construction standard for all buildings which emphasises high levels of insulation and airtightness, minimal thermal bridging, use of solar and internal heat gains and tightly controlled ventilation.
Pollution: Anything that affects the quality of land, air, water or soils, which might lead to an adverse impact on human health, the natural environment or general amenity. Pollution can arise from a range of emissions, including smoke, fumes, gases, dust, steam, odour, noise and light.
Power Purchase Agreements: a contractual agreement between energy buyers and sellers. They come together and agree to buy and sell an amount of energy which is or will be generated by a renewable asset. PPAs are usually signed for a long-term period between 10-20 years.
R-value: The R-value is a measure of resistance to heat flow through a given thickness of material. So the higher the R-value, the more thermal resistance the material has and therefore the better its insulating properties. The R-value is calculated by using the formula R = l/ λ Where: l is the thickness of the material in metres and λ is the thermal conductivity in W/mK. The R-value is measured in metres squared Kelvin per Watt (m2K/W). For example the thermal resistance of 220mm of solid brick wall (with thermal conductivity λ=1.2W/mK) is 0.18 m2K/W.
Renewable and low carbon energy: Includes energy for heating and cooling as well as generating electricity. Renewable energy covers those energy flows that occur naturally and repeatedly in the environment – from the wind, the fall of water, the movement of the oceans, from the sun and also from biomass and deep geothermal heat. Low carbon technologies are those that can help reduce emissions (compared to conventional use of fossil fuels).
Renewable resources: Resources that are capable of regeneration at a rate greater than their rate of depletion.
Residual Carbon: The remaining emissions after these have been reduced as far as possible through attention to energy efficiency and use of renewable energy.
Retrofitting: Applying new components to existing buildings, for example to improve energy efficiency or the use of renewable energy.
Sequestration (Carbon): The removal or storage of carbon in a place (a sink) where it will remain. Types of sequestration include 'geological' where CO2 is captured and buried underground and 'biological' where CO2 is absorbed during the growth of plants and trees.
Sink: Any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas. Forests and other vegetation are considered sinks because they remove carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.
Smart meters: Smart meters give real-time information on energy use. Through an in-home display, usage and cost can be tracked giving the consumer a picture of how they are using energy and the total cost.
Solar energy: The use of energy from the sun, captured either by a solar photovoltaic panel, or a solar thermal system that concentrates solar energy to heat water (or other medium) that then generates steam which is converted into electrical power.
Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs): Documents that add further detail to the policies in the Local Plan. They can be used to provide further guidance for development on specific sites, or on particular issues, such as design. SPDs are capable of being a material consideration in planning decisions but are not part of the development plan.
Sustainable development: Resolution 42/187 of the United Nations General Assembly defines sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The UK Sustainable Development Strategy Securing the Future sets out five 'guiding principles' of sustainable development: living within the planet's environmental limits; ensuring a strong, healthy and just society; achieving a sustainable economy; promoting good governance; and using sound science responsibly.
Sustainable transport modes: Any efficient, safe and accessible means of transport with overall low impact on the environment, including walking and cycling, electric, low and ultra-low emission vehicles, car sharing and public transport.
Viability: This can have two meanings:
- an objective financial viability test of the ability of a development project to meet its costs including the cost of planning obligations, whilst ensuring an appropriate site value for the landowner and a market risk adjusted return to the developer in delivering that project. Essentially it is the ability to attract investment and business.
- To be capable of existing / surviving successfully. The term is often used in the context of whether town centres are able to exist as viable retail areas.
Water Vapour: Water in a vaporous form especially when below boiling temperature and diffused (as in the atmosphere).
Zero carbon building: A building with no net carbon emissions resulting from its operation over the space of a year.
Zero carbon ready: Buildings built to a standard such that no further energy efficiency retrofit work will be necessary to enable them to become zero carbon as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise.