The South West Sustainability Checklist is a new, easy-to-use online tool that has been developed by Future Foundations and BRE. Devised specifically to guide the design of new developments by making sense of current policy, the Checklist highlights best practice, complementing Ecohomes and the new Code for Sustainable Homes.  
 
The Checklist covers regionally specific sustainability and planning issues, emphasising those of higher priority. It can also be adapted to reflect locally significant concerns.  
 
Ecohomes/BREEAM and the Code for Sustainable Homes assess the environmental performance of designs for individual new homes and buildings. The Checklist complements these by looking at issues relevant to the overall development scale, helping developers, local authorities and other interested parties to deliver sustainable communities.  
 
The tool identifies a range of sustainability issues covered in the Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West enabling users to assess to what extent a design proposal will deliver on each issue. 
 
The Checklist has been developed by a regional partnership led by Future Foundations, any queries regarding it should be directed to info@checklistsouthwest.co.uk.