Carbon Reduction Requirements and Testing

While the Plan Strategy sets out a number of policies and supporting text that encourage higher standards of sustainability in new development (e.g. DES1, DES2, ITU3), these are not a mandatory set of standards for residential development that can easily be quantified and tested. Whilst they cannot therefore be included directly, sensitivity testing can be used based on costs of carbon reduction from experience in similar jurisdictions, as well as evidence provided as part of detailed viability assessments in Belfast (see Section 5.3 for further details). Full details of these costs can be viewed in detail within the separate Key Assumptions document.