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Your Questions Answered: Materials

Your Questions Answered: Design

BREEAM Reports

Heating

The Parliament’s heating and hot water systems are all highly efficient and air conditioning limited, all of which minimise emissions of carbon dioxide.  Air conditioning is only used in the IT server rooms.  To further assist with efficiency bore hole water contributes towards the cooling provided by the air conditioning.  In the majority of areas, instead of air conditioning, a central system controls a large number of windows which can open at night during warm weather to allow the building to cool.

Solar panel on Canongate Building

Washroom in Holyrood Building

Holyrood Site

Bicycle Racks

Solar panels on the Canongate Building will provide approximately 24,000 kWh/annum of energy to heat water for Queensberry House and the Cannongate Building

Electricity

100% of electricity is purchased from renewable sources such as wind turbines, hydro and biomass. In winter some electricity is generated on site by a combined heat and power plant which burns natural gas.  Spare heat is used for heating.

The Parliament uses around 6.5 million kWh of electricity per year. Around 7,000 lamps are used in the building.

Water

The Parliament has many state-of-the-art features which help to reduce water use. On-site bore holes provide all the water needed for toilets. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) have issued the Parliament with a licence to allow extraction of water from the boreholes. Mains water consumption is very low at around 3,000 litres per year per person. The showers are controlled by infra-red sensors which ensure that they are never left on and wash handbasins have flow regulators with an automatic shut off system.

Materials

The Building User Brief, prepared in November 1998, placed a high level of importance on good environmental practices and contained detailed advice on environmental aims and prohibited materials.

All the timber used in the Parliament originates from well-managed, sustainable sources. Find out more about the materials used in the building.

The Parliament also manages materials used within the building. Most paper used is from 100% recycled waste and many types of material, such as glass, card board, drink cans and print cartridges are recycled. 

Brownfield site

The Parliament is built on a brownfield site, the site of the old Scottish and Newcastle brewery, so avoiding the use of greenfield space. The arrival of the Parliament has increased the bio-diversity of the site.   A number of rare and native grasses found on Arthur’s Seat have been planted in the parliament’s open spaces.  Find out more about the the landscaping.

Transport

The Parliament has been designed to enable all those who work here to travel to work sustainably. The Parliament is only 15 minutes walk from Edinburgh’s main train station and Princes Street is close by, with buses available to all parts of Edinburgh and further afield.  Over 50 bicycle racks are available for staff.  Shower and changing facilities are provided. There are also bicycle racks outside the building for visitors.

Cycling Scotland has assessed the Parliament for its cycling facilities and have certified that the Parliament has met the criteria to be recognised as a 'Cycle Friendly Employer'. The Parliament chose to limit the number of car parking spaces within the complex to 66, including six for disabled drivers. This compares to 240 car parking spaces which were available when the site was occupied by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries.

Responsible Purchasing Policy

The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body has a policy to minimise adverse impacts on the environment by carrying out its purchasing activities in an environmentally responsible manner.

The furniture used in the Parliament is a good example of this policy in action. All wood used in the furniture is from well-managed sustainable forests as a minimum requirement and the use of chrome and leather is avoided.