Your Opportunity, Your Say
The Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy is an important document for Fife. It will help Fife tackle the climate emergency and meet net zero. The strategy and delivery plan set out an approach for where we live, to improve buildings’ energy efficiency and change to climate friendly heating.
This public engagement exercise on the draft strategy, will last for six weeks between 18th September and 29th October 2023.
- Download our draft strategy
- View web map showcasing baseline information for Fife and our strategic and heat network zones
(Please open the web map on browsers such as Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome) - View a summary of our web map
We are seeking your feedback on:
- the vision of this strategy,
- our identified priorities,
- the scope of the high-level delivery plan, and
- any further actions we should include when developing our detailed delivery plan.
Survey responses will be summarised and published once the survey has closed. Feedback will either be incorporated into the final strategy or considered when developing the detailed delivery plan.
We are also hosting an online public information session on 5th October, 6pm-7pm. This will provide the opportunity for you to provide feedback and ask questions in a more informal manner. You can register to attend here.
By engaging with us, this is your opportunity to have your say to help shape Fife’s first Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy, to ensure it helps make Fife’s buildings greener.
Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy
Consultation open 18 September to 29 October 2023
Have your say onlineOur strategy
Increasing energy efficiency and decarbonised heat for all buildings in Scotland is a core part of the energy transition to net zero and tackling the climate emergency. The Scottish Government are keen to support sectors improve their building stock and have introduced several national targets .
The Government asked Councils to strategically plan opportunities and actions to help building owners transition buildings to meet these targets and have net zero emissions. To support this, all Scottish Councils are required to publish a Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) and 5-year Delivery Plan by 31st December 2023.
The Strategy is at the heart of a place based, locally led, and tailored approach to the heat transition, and underpin an area-based approach to heat and energy efficiency planning and delivery. For Fife, the Strategy was developed in partnership with key stakeholders, and:
- provides a long-term, flexible strategy, and iterative delivery plan to decarbonise heat and improve energy efficiency, considering wider priorities and targets.
- details how segments of building stock must change to meet national and local targets,
- identifies strategic heat decarbonisation zones, and
- uses an optioneering process to prioritise actions.
The strategy will play a crucial role in helping the Council meet its 2045 Net Zero target, and help Fife be climate friendly, climate ready, and climate just by 2045.
Call to Action
Making buildings greener and more environmentally friendly will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet national targets.
To achieve this means everyone in Fife will need to do their part to reduce greenhouse gases from buildings and improve energy efficiency. The Council, businesses, organisations, communities, and householders will all need to work together to act.
Vision, Priorities & Outcomes
Fife Council supports the Heat in Buildings Strategy vision that by 2045 our homes and buildings are cleaner, greener, and easy to heat, and no longer contributing to climate change, as part of the wider just transition to net zero. The vision for Fife’s first Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy is to:
Improve the energy efficiency and decarbonise heat sources of Fife buildings in a climate friendly, ready, and just manner
Eight priorities form the basis of this strategy and delivery plan. These were developed from national and local strategies; engaging stakeholders; and analysis. These help ensure this strategy improves energy efficiency and decarbonises heat of buildings, and other important considerations such as fuel poverty and community wealth building.
1.1 Net Zero & Climate Emergency | Fife buildings move towards Net Zero and help address the climate emergency. |
| 1.2 Adaptation | The resilience of Fife’s buildings, communities and economy is supported to adapt to the impacts of climate change. |
2.1 Fuel Poverty, Health, and the Just Transition | All communities experience a just transition to Net Zero, with fuel poor homes becoming more energy efficient, and actions only implemented where there will be no detrimental impact. |
3.1 Skills & Jobs | The skills and jobs required to support retrofit actions across Fife are identified and supported, as part of the just transition. |
3.2 Community Wealth Building | Actions will continue to support recovery, focus on place and work in partnership with our communities, as part of the just transition. |
3.3 Finance | Fife actions are identified where local, regional, and national expenditure and funding could support the energy transition. |
4.1 Awareness & Knowledge | All stakeholders across Fife are aware of how to improve energy efficiency, decarbonise heat, and access support programmes. |
5.1 Ensuring Certainty | Actions will be prioritised on certainty of success and minimal potential unintended consequences. |
6.1 Energy System Opportunities & Constraints | Actions are informed via engagement with utility providers to determine capacity, opportunity, and security of projects, whilst taking a holistic view of the wider energy system. |
7.1 Domestic | Homes across Fife become more energy efficient and work towards national targets, recognising the challenges. |
7.5 Non-Domestic | Non-domestic buildings across Fife become more energy efficient, recognising the challenges. |
8.1 On-Gas 8.2 Off-Gas | Homes across Fife have decarbonised heat and work towards national targets, recognising the challenges. |
8.3 Non-Domestic | Non-domestic buildings across Fife have decarbonised heat and work towards national targets recognising the challenges. |
8.4 Heat Networks | Potential heat network zones identified, including expansion of existing networks, as a mechanism to decar |
Related publications
- Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy – Fife Public Engagement Draft
- Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Strategy Executive Summary – Fife Public Engagement Draft
- Local Heat & Energy Efficiency Delivery Plan and Appendices 1-4 – Fife Public Engagement Draft
- Fife LHEES Equality Impact Assessment
- Fife LHEES Screening Determination letter
- Fife LHEES Web Map Layer Description