Southwest Environmental Limited

Carbon Efficiency Plan (CEP)

A Carbon Efficiency Plan (CEP) is a report containing instructions and policies for reduction of the carbon impact of new or existing building. This is a new idea for 2018 although we can see that it will be some time for the concept is picked up by planning authorities and the likes. There is an official guide available here.

The aim of a Carbon Efficiency Plan (CEP) is to check that you building is using as little carbon as possible (as far as is reasonable) and to ensure to report on current levels and future improvements. This is done by assessing baseline usage, and then comparing this baseline with known best practice examples.

Steps - 1 to 3

Steps - 4 to 6

What Information is Included in a Carbon Efficiency Plan?

 As with any report there are introductory chapters explaining the reason for the report and a description of the project it relates to, from then one the content become more specific. As mentioned above the Carbon Efficiency Plan uses project data to assess potential for improvements against a synthetic or measured baseline:

• Design estimates of carbon emissions arising from alternative design specifications (Options Appraisal)
• Carbon and energy savings and associated financial costs from going beyond the minimum requirement for the project (Cost Benefit Analysis)
• A project-specific target for carbon emissions (Design or Operational)
• A procedure for monitoring and review of performance against the target.
• The identity of who “owns” the Plan.

 What form should a Carbon Efficiency Plan take?

The CEP may be a stand-alone document or it may be contained within other documents such as:

• the energy chapter of a Sustainability Statement prepared for planning application;
• an organisation’s operational Environmental Management Plan;
• a Post Occupancy Evaluation survey;
• a Landlord Energy Statement; or
• a Tenant Energy Review.

Who Can Write a Carbon Efficiency Plan?

As with some environmental reports we can see no restrictions on who can write this kind of report. If you feel that you would like to have a go yourself then it is likely you would be successful after a few attempts.

If you are short of time however, Southwest Environmental Limited will do his work for you. Contact details below click on blue link to send an email.