Heat and Energy Efficiency Technical Suitability Assessment: consultation analysis
Analysis report for the Heat and Energy Efficiency Technical Suitability Assessment (HEETSA) consultation. The HEETSA consultation sought views from self-identifying organisations, industry and individuals on developing a framework for the retrofit of buildings, both domestic and non-domestic.
Introduction
Background
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that emissions from heating Scotland’s buildings fall in line with net zero by 2045. The Scottish Government also wants them to achieve a good level of energy efficiency and do this in a way that is fair and reduces fuel poverty. This will require collective action from government, from building owners and from the supply chain as existing building stock is progressively retrofitted with clean heating systems and energy efficiency measures over the next two decades.
The Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Programme is taking action to provide advice, support, and funding to building owners and tenants on retrofitting their properties. The Scottish Government has also consulted upon potential new legislation which would underpin that action, to give certainty and set the framework for investment.
The Scottish Government recognises that were these new legislative and regulatory requirements to be introduced, building owners and tenants will want to understand the specific impacts for their properties, especially where regulations could require them to take action. That means that building owners will normally want to seek the opinion and advice of experts before committing to retrofit new heating systems or energy efficiency measures.
This consultation focuses on the role that assessment can play in supporting building owners seeking to improve the energy efficiency of, and reduce the emissions from heating, their property. It proposes that a Heat & Energy Efficiency Technical Suitability Assessment (HEETSA) be established as an optional additional step ‘beyond the EPC.’ This assessment could be used in circumstances where it would be beneficial to building owners to have additional information on which energy efficiency measures and clean heating systems would, or would not, be appropriate for their building.
The Consultation
The consultation ran for 12 weeks, opening on 6 June and closing on 29 August 2025. The purpose of this consultation is to set out the Scottish Government’s initial proposals for the scope of a HEETSA and seek stakeholder views on the overall concept of HEETSA and how it relates to other parts of the heat and energy efficiency retrofit landscape.
The Scottish Government commissioned an AECOM-led consortium of independent experts to impartially analyse and report on responses from the consultation.
Respondent Profile
There was a total of 88 responses to the consultation. Most responses (n=65, 73%) were received via Citizen Space, although 23 (27%) were submitted by email and manually entered into the dataset. Overall, 70 responses (80%) were received from organisations, and 18 responses (20%) were from individuals.
The breakdown of organisation sectors is provided in Figure 1. The highest number of organisation responses were received by national representatives or trade bodies (n=18), followed by local authorities and public bodies (n=16). A list of all organisations who responded is included in Appendix A, as well as the organisation sector each is categorised under.
Total: 70 organisations
Contact
Email: EPCenquiries@gov.scot