When we build today, we are building for the future. All our new homes must be climate-safe.

Buildings last a long time. Many of us live in houses built well over 100 years ago. Many public buildings – eg schools, libraries, railway stations – have also existed for many decades.

When we build today we are building for the future; so we need to think about the future we are building for.

The future is always uncertain, but one of the least uncertain things is this: Our climate, nationally and globally, will be warmer. Climate change is already causing floods, droughts and heatwaves. To avoid catastrophic change we must stop using fossil fuels and to make this tolerable we must use energy much more efficiently.

In the case of buildings, that means adopting much higher standards for energy efficiency and insisting that new buildings comply with them. The second point is critical. Many studies have shown that most buildings – even those claiming 'green' credentials – perform less well in comfort and energy efficiency than expected. This is due both poor design and poor workmanship.

For climate-safe future homes, we need to be using Passivhaus principles now.

Passivhaus ensures that homes are climate-safe because its principles are applied from start to finish:

The key principles of Passivhaus are:

The results are impressive:

Enfield Green Party calls on the council to insist on Passivhaus or equivalent for all new buildings in the borough.

Enfield Green Party policy, adopted in 2012, is to

Make homes water-efficient too!

Energy is not the only resource that is likely to become scarce. New housing should also conserve water by capturing rainwater and reusing grey water.