Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

You may be aware that the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) has been brought into law in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and many other EU countries. The Directive imposes new obligations on building developers, owners, occupiers and operators.

Energy Performance Certificates

All new buildings in the UK are required to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) prepared upon completion of construction. For existing buildings, an EPC must be prepared when buildings are put up for sale or rent.

For non-domestic buildings, the vendor or owner of the building will be responsible for providing an EPC at the time of the transaction. In reality, however, certificates are likely to be produced at the time when the building is offered to the market, so that prospective owners or occupiers are able to factor the building’s energy performance into their decision-making process.

It should be understood that an EPC is based on a building’s Asset Rating, which is the inherent energy performance of the building under standard conditions of use, and accordingly, the EPC will not reflect the actual operation of the building and its energy systems.

EPCs must be produced by accredited assessors, using the standard methodology and approved software, and are valid for a maximum of 10 years. A Recommendation Report must accompany the EPC. The report gives guidance to owners and occupiers as to how they might improve the energy performance of the building. There is, however, no mandatory requirement to implement any of the recommendations.

Similar requirements exist for domestic buildings, albeit the procedural arrangements differ slightly depending on whether the transaction is a marketed sale, a non-marketed sale, or a tenancy.

Display Energy Certificates

Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are used in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to show the actual energy usage of a building as an Operational Rating, which is calculated from the metered energy consumed by all energy using services, including small power, lighting, heating, cooling, ventilation, etc.

DECs are required for large ‘public buildings’, defined as buildings with a total useful floor area over 1,000m², occupied by public authorities and/or by institutions providing public services to a large number of persons, and therefore frequently visited by those persons.

DECs must be on prominent public display and have a validity of one year. As with EPCs, DECs must be produced by accredited assessors and accompanied by recommendations to improve the building’s energy efficiency. The Advisory Report includes the most likely energy improvement measures. However, there is no mandatory requirement to implement any of the recommendations identified in the report.

The requirement for DECs came into effect in England & Wales on 1st October 2008.

Air Conditioning Inspections

The Directive requires the person who controls and operates air conditioning equipment rated above 12kW output to arrange regular inspections by an accredited inspector. As with EPCs and DECs, the inspection report must include recommendations on how to improve energy performance of the system.

In England & Wales, the first inspection for systems greater than 250kW must be completed by January 2009. All smaller systems must be inspected by January 2011.

How Faber Maunsell can assist you

Faber Maunsell is Communities and Local Government’s (CLG) lead consultant, supporting the UK Government in both the transposition of the Directive and the development of guidance to support the implementation of the new regulations.

We understand the difficulties of implementing new regulations and are already helping many clients to comply with the new requirements. To make it as easy as possible for you to get your EPBD questions answered, we have prepared an information pamphlet which gives further details of the requirements and is available on request.

Our specialist engineers have been trained as accredited assessors to undertake air-conditioning inspections, produce certificates and reports. We are pleased to confirm that we have accredited assessors nationwide and have now incorporated the production of EPCs into our standard building completion process.

We are able to provide our clients with an intimate understanding of the new requirements, and the best possible advice on energy saving, carbon reduction strategies, for their buildings and air conditioning systems. We also offer a range of complementary sustainability services, including carbon management and foot-printing, whole-building energy surveys, etc.

To contact an accredited assessor in your region please click on the names below:

Scotland - Marian Hamilton
T: +44 (0)131 313 7652
E: marian.hamilton@fabermaunsell.com

Northern Ireland - Brendan Kemp
T: +44 (0) 28 9043 4900
E: brendan.kemp@fabermaunsell.com

North East - Stephen Smith/Nigel Banks
T: +44 (0)113 391 6802
E: nigel.banks@fabermaunsell.com
E: stephen.smith@fabermaunsell.com

North West - John Ogle/Matthew Cotton
T: +44 (0)161 927 8200
E: john.ogle@fabermaunsell.com
E: matthew.cotton@fabermaunsell.com

Midlands - Don Lack/Malcolm Orme
T: +44 (0)121 262 1900
E: donald.lack@fabermaunsell.com
E: malcolm.orme@fabermaunsell.com

South East - Paul Woods
T: +44 (0)20 8784 5750
E: paul.woods@fabermaunsell.com

South West and Wales - Stephen Ward
T: +44 (0)117 901 7128
E: stephen.ward@fabermaunsell.com

Click here for our CEO's view on Sustainability.