Commercial Energy Performance Certificates
According to the Government 50 per cent of the UK's energy consumption arises from the country's 25 million buildings. The Government supports the Kyoto Protocol and so is committed to reducing energy consumption. Improving the energy performance of our buildings will significantly help the country achieve our energy objectives.
An energy performance certificate - EPC - is an assessment of the energy efficiency of a building and a requirement of Europe. As of 1st October 2008, The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) requires that all buildings in the above categories will require an Energy Performance Certificate upon construction, sale or lease. Otherwise a criminal offence will be committed.
A certificate that expresses the asset rating of a building in a way approved under the Building Regulations and against a benchmark (so that different EPCs can be compared). It must be produced by an energy assessor accredited for the relevant category of building.
For non-dwellings there are three categories:
- Level 3 simple, existing non-dwellings, small buildings such as converted houses or doctors' surgeries
- Level 4 new and existing non-dwellings such as small purpose built offices
- Level 5 new and existing complex non-dwellings such as large office buildings and factories
The certificate must contain:
- A registration number
- The address of the building
- An estimate of the "total useful floor area" of the building
- The energy assessor's name
- The energy assessor's employer's or business name and address
- Its date
- The name of the assessor's approved accreditation scheme
A certificate is valid until replaced by another EPC for the building subject to a maximum period of 10 years. The certificate must not contain any information or data from which a living individual can be identified (other than the assessor or the assessor's employer).
EPCs can be produced only by accredited energy assessors. Their cost could range from a few hundred pounds for a small shop to £50,000 or more for a large shopping centre. Production of an EPC will require information about the building such as the dimensions of each zone (either from plans or direct measurement); what each zone is used for; the heating, lighting, ventilation and controls for each zone and what materials are used in the fabric of the building and their thermal efficiency.
