What is its purpose?

Sustainability is key to safeguarding our region. It is critical that we embed sustainable development principles throughout the built environment. Any development impacts on the environment both directly - in terms of generating carbon emissions and using natural resources and indirectly - by affecting the lifestyle decisions of its communities. By recognising and addressing these impacts, we can build a better future for the North West.

The Checklist can be used on new or regeneration schemes to assess the sustainability potential of the development. There is broad agreement that new developments need to contribute to the creation of sustainable communities. Tools such as Ecohomes / BREEAM / the Code for Sustainable Homes assess the sustainability of designs for individual new homes and buildings. This Checklist works at the next scale; helping developers, local authorities and other interested parties to assess how sustainable designs are for new and regeneration developments.