Areas of focus
Heating, energy efficiency, fuel poverty, net zero, residential buildings, commercial buildings, public buildings, heat networks.
Overview
Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) are documents created by local authorities to support Scotland’s net zero and fuel poverty goals. Every local authority is required to publish a strategy and delivery plan by the end of 2023 and then update them every five years, focusing on local priorities and actions for decarbonising heating and improving energy efficiency. An LHEES can provide useful information, analysis and data on decarbonising heating in an area, including targeting specific areas for certain types of work. It also includes an initial review of areas that could potentially be suitable for a heat network. Every LHEES should involve consultation and engagement with local communities, although it is up to the local authority to decide how it will go about this. LHEES will support more detailed planning of energy efficiency improvements and heat decarbonisation and can also support energy network planning.
LHEES and Local Energy Plans
If your community has a Local Energy Plan, any priorities and plans that involve energy efficiency, decarbonising heating, or heat networks will be relevant to your local authority’s LHEES. The contents of your Local Energy Plan may influence where your local authority will target projects and funding in the future. If you are not already in contact with your local authority’s LHEES officer, you should contact them to discuss your Local Energy Plan.
See ‘How local authority-led energy planning can help you create and update your Local Energy plan’ for an overview of the information available from an LHEES to inform your Local Energy Plan.
