Scottish Futures Trust’s Net Zero Public Buildings Standard

Last week saw the launch of the Scottish Futures Trust’s Net Zero Public Buildings Standard – which provides a voluntary framework for the design and delivery of exemplar buildings which are net zero in operation and minimise embodied emissions. It enshrines a valuable principle that all public projects in Scotland should rigorously appraise options for re-use and refurbishment, as well as driving good design using circular economy principles and embodied carbon metrics through the process.

We think this is a wonderful initiative and were delighted that the Passivehaus refurbishment of St. Sophia’s Primary in Ayrshire was used as a key ‘Pathfinder’ case study in the standard. Working for Zero Waste Scotland and partnering with Green Built Environment in Scotland, the Expedition/Useful Projects team acted as a sustainability advisor to main design team, and provided an appraisal of carbon and circular opportunities, as well as a wider value assessment addressing other benefits and risks, such as human and social factors. This supported the project at two key phases – helping to demonstrate the carbon ‘business case’ for refurbishment over a rebuild scheme (which saved around 40% of the embodied carbon of a new build), as well as providing a deep dive into environmental impacts on a range of key construction materials to promote further savings (around 17% better than ‘good practice’ under the RIBA Climate Challenge targets).

It was great to work with the St Sophia’s team, including all at Hamson Barron Smith and East Ayrshire Council, and promising to see this approach being rolled out into public sector design. You can find out more here: Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard – Scottish Futures Trust