New Build Heat Standard (amended) 2024: business and regulatory impact assessment

2. Proposal and background

2. The New Build Heat Standard (NBHS), introduced through standard 6.11 of the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2023, came into force on 1 April 2024. It requires that new buildings are constructed without use of direct emissions heating (DEH) systems. An exception is made for ‘emergency heating’. DEH systems are defined in the regulations as those which produce emissions at the point of use and include bioenergy as well as fossil fuels systems. In policy development, “polluting heating systems” has been used as a shorthand for DEH.

3. On 28 May 2024, the Minister for Climate Action announced in Parliament that a review of the NBHS would commence shortly in response to concerns on the restriction on the use of wood burning stoves and bioenergy, particularly in rural and island communities. This was in recognition that it was difficult to reconcile the emergency heating provision, as currently written, with the nature of wood burning stoves, which are often installed for more frequent use rather than solely as emergency systems. It also recognises the concerns received, through some limited feedback, on the wider use of bioenergy and peat.

4. The review was conducted May – October 2024 and involved revisiting previous consultation responses with a specific focus on bioenergy, developing updated options to address concerns, and conducting engagement on these via workshops, individual stakeholder meetings and two Ministerial roundtables to identify a suitable way forward. In addition, stakeholders were encouraged to submit further written evidence by email to Scottish Government officials by mid-August 2024.

5. To ensure concerns on the use of bioenergy (including wood burning stoves) and peat heating systems were addressed promptly, and to bridge the gap between the current form of the regulations and a future regulatory amendment, Scottish Ministers issued a temporary Direction under section 3 of the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 which came into force on 19 September 2024. This temporarily permits the use of bioenergy and peat heating systems in new homes, addressing concerns on the use of wood burning stoves and bioenergy while the review of the NBHS is finalised.