Representatives from Madrid, Catalonia, San Sebastian and Valladolid have visited Merton council officials to discuss the merits of the renewable energy planning policy the Merton Rule and the future of monitoring carbon dioxide emissions.
Members of the Spanish Federation of Local Authorities (FEMP) visited Merton on March 17 to find out more about how carbon emissions can be reduced in the built environment.

The Spanish visitors were taken to the Big Yellow Storage Box in Morden and shown the renewable energy monitoring system and database called the Energy-DataGauge which Merton council is piloting there. The system will allow the council to monitor buildings to check they are being constructed to meet the environmental standards of the Merton Rule and assess how well the renewable energy systems work.

Merton Council unveiled its monitoring system last year. The council is developing the database with UK renewable energy consultancy Metropolis Green to measure how much renewable energy is generated from buildings across the borough.



Adrian Hewitt from Metropolis Green told the visitors about how the inclusion of a building 'birth certificate' as part of the monitoring system will help councils keep track of the performance of renewable energy installations. Developers will have to submit a 'birth certificate' for their new buildings as part of the planning requirements. The certificate will detail the type of development , its predicted CO2 emissions and the details of any onsite renewable energy systems.

FEMP representative Eduardo Peña González said: 'This has been an invaluable visit for us. We are working on both monitoring and reducing our carbon emissions and Merton is the ideal place to come and find out about how we do that by using technological advances as well as our planning guidance and legislation to improve our built environment.'

The Merton Rule is the planning policy developed by Merton Council which requires all new buildings to cut CO2 emissions by 10% using renewable energy on site. Merton developed the rule and adopted it in 2003. The then Mayor of London and many councils across the UK have implemented the rule and it is now an accepted element of national planning strategy.