Scottish Passivhaus Equivalent

The Scottish Government intends to deliver a Scottish equivalent to the Passivhaus standard.  On 12th December 2024, amendments to The Building (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations were laid in Parliament. This was in response to the commitment made by Ministers in December 2022 to give effect to Alex Rowley MSP’s final proposal for a proposed ‘Domestic Building Environmental Standards (Scotland) Bill’.

Applying to both new homes and new non-domestic buildings, the requirements are expected to be less prescriptive and more flexible than the traditional Passivhaus standard.  This suggests the current regulatory approach will be retained, based on a notional building specification but with limiting ('back stop') U values.  Products with lower U values are likely to be needed to help deliver the new standard.

A first consultation concluded that the current regulations and mandatory standard which address energy and environmental performance already provide the means to deliver the improvements which are currently sought.  A second consultation on detailed proposals for specific changes to performance targets and supporting compliance processes will be launched in summer 2025.

In terms of timings, the new requirements are anticipated to become effective in 2028, introducing changes initially as a voluntary standard from 2026. It is expected that changes to published guidance and approved calculation tools for the confirmed new standard will be made available in 2026.