In addition to being “lean, clean and green”, buildings must now also “be seen” to be so. The mayor of London declared a climate emergency in December 2018 and set a target for London to be net zero carbon by 2030, and to this end the 2021 London Plan introduces the “be seen” policy through post-construction monitoring to identify whether new buildings are living up to their net zero credentials.

Currently, energy performance certificates and calculations under Part L provide information on the theoretical performance of buildings, but how far this predicted energy performance differs from the reality remains to be seen (pun intended). It is estimated that the actual usage of energy could be up to 10 times that predicted at the pre-construction stage.

The new fourth stage to the London Plan energy hierarchy attempts to bridge this gap. Major developments will be required to monitor their energy performance and report on it for at least five years post construction. This will apply to all major planning applications submitted after the adoption of the new London Plan.

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