There is currently a wide ranging review of commercial EPCs being conducted by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). With particular emphasis on the quality of work being delivered by assessors and the subsequent accuracy of any EPC lodged.

IEA welcome this review as we have always strived to put quality before price. We always use fully qualified assessors who visit every site in person and are responsible from start to finish for the EPC undertaken.

The review will take the form of a report which will be ready in the autumn of this year and we will keep you posted on any changes in practise that may be recommended.

IEA is pleased to extend local EPC assessor coverage to Bristol, Kent, London and Birmingham. We have assessors resident in these areas who are able to provide a prompt local service. IEA currently provide services in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. The growing demand for assessments further a field has grown enormously. The use of local assessors is now a policy commitment in our own environmental policy initiative, which is designed to help reduce our own carbon emissions while providing energy assessments.

Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates have to be produced using the relevant calculation tool specified in the National Calculation Methodology. This applies for all energy certificates whether on construction, sale or rent, or for public display.

A number of different methodologies have been developed (or are in the process of being developed) for different types of building and building condition. A summary is provided below:

Energy Performance Certificate

• Home on completion of construction:
  SAP
• Building not intended as a home on completion of construction:
  SBEM or DSM
• A home being sold or rented out:
  RDSAP (unless the unusual nature of the building indicates that a more accurate assessment could be obtained using the SAP methodology)
• A building catering for mixed use (i.e. combining dwelling and non-dwelling) is constructed, sold or rented out:
  It should be treated as a single dwelling as described above if the commercial part can be converted back to residential use and there is common access i.e. each part does not have a separate access(for example, where within a house a portion has been separated out as a workshop, office, or surgery);
  For other scenarios, treat the dwelling and non-dwelling parts separately using the most appropriate methodology for each element. For example, where a building contains both flats and offices use SAP or RDSAP for the flat and SBEM or DSM for the offices
• For all other buildings being constructed, sold or rented out:
  SBEM or DSM

Display Energy Certificate

• Operational Rating Methodology - more information on ORCalc software tests can be found at the Building Energy Calculation Software Approval Scheme website

The methodologies explained:

SAP - Standard Assessment Procedure

SAP is the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure for energy assessments of dwellings. The current version of SAP, SAP 2005 (external link), has been adopted by Government as part of the England and Wales national methodology for calculation of the energy performance of buildings. It is used to demonstrate compliance for dwellings with Part L of the Building Regulations 2000 (in England and Wales).

SBEM - Simplified Building Energy Model

SBEM is a computer program developed by BRE that provides an analysis of a building’s energy consumption. The SBEM tool (external link) is designed to cover buildings that are not dwellings. It has been adopted by government as part of the UK national methodology for calculation of the energy performance of buildings. It is used to demonstrate compliance for dwellings with Part L of the Building Regulations 2000 (in England and Wales).

Operational Rating Methodology

The methodology for the calculation of the operational ratings for display energy certificates will be published shortly.

RdSAP - Reduced Data Standard Assessment Procedure

RdSAP is the new Government-approved standardised assessment procedure for energy assesments of existing dwelling. A full SAP assessment requires many data items that cannot be seen in a survey (or take too long to collect). RdSAP is an industry-agreed standard set of data items and a standard way of inferring the missing data.

DSM - Dynamic Simulation Model

A Dynamic Simulation Model is a software tool that models energy inputs and outputs for different types of building over time. In certain situations, SBEM, will not be sophisticated enough to provide an accurate assessment of a building’s energy efficiency. In these cases Government-approved proprietary dynamic simulation models may be used. Communities and Local Government will provide such an approval.

Courtesy Of http://www.communities.gov.uk/

Rent

When buildings are to be rented out, the landlord is responsible for ensuring a valid EPC certificate is made available to all prospective tenants.

The certificate is being introduced in stages. Since April 2008 buildings with a total floor area of more than 10,000sq m required one. From 1 July 2008 this will be extended to buildings with a total floor area greater than 2,500 sq m. From 1 October 2008 all buildings will require one.

The EPC and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by a landlord to a prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity and no later than:

• when any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information received from the prospective tenant; or
• when a viewing is conducted; or
• if neither of those occur, before entering into a contract to sell or let.

An Energy Performance Certificate does not have to be made available if:

• the landlord believes that the prospective tenant is unlikely to have sufficient funds to purchase or rent the property or is not genuinely interested in renting that type of property; or
• the landlord is unlikely to be prepared to rent out the property to the prospective or tenant (although this does not authorize unlawful discrimination)

The letting of commercial buildings can be complex with floors let to different tenants, and with a mixture of retail, office and residential accommodation. The EPC required for any space you offer for sale or let must reflect the accommodation on offer.

An EPC for rented property is valid for ten years.

The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an accredited energy assessor.

Article Courtesy Of http://www.communities.gov.uk/

On Construction

An Energy Performance Certificate is needed when a building is built.

The certificate is being introduced in stages. Since April 2008 buildings with a total floor area of more than 10,000sq m required one. From 1 July 2008 this will be extended to buildings with a total floor area greater than 2,500 sq m. From 1 October 2008 all buildings will require one.

Energy Performances Certificates tell owners and potential buyers and tenants about the energy efficiency of a building and how it can be improved. They come with a recommendation report which includes advice and suggestions on improvements you could make to save money and energy. The certificate also shows the rating that could be achieved if all the recommendations are followed. In the case of new buildings the recommendation report will be shorter as most money-saving improvements will have already been included in the design.

It is the responsibility of the builder to provide an EPC. This will also apply if a building is converted into fewer or more units and changes are made to the heating, hot water provision or air conditioning/ventilation services.

When the building is physically complete, the builder must obtain an EPC for the building, provide the EPC to the new owner and notify the local authority building control officers or approved inspectors that this has been done.  This must be done no later than the time specified by the building regulations. Building regulations include standards for the energy performance of new buildings which builders must adhere to in order to comply with building regulations.

Once building control are satisfied the EPC has been properly produced and provided to the relevant party, they are able to issue a final completion certificate. The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an accredited energy assessor.

If you are selling a building before it has been built, you will need to provide information about energy efficiency in a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA). This is simply the predicted SAP and Environmental Impact (CO2) rating from the SAP calculations you do at the design stage to check whether you will meet energy-saving targets. You can use a spreadsheet template to create the graphics from the SAP rating.  There is no need for PEAs to be produced by an accredited assessor and they do need to have a recommendation report.

Courtesy of http://www.communities.gov.uk/

On Sale

The seller is responsible for ensuring an Energy Performance Certificate is made available to all prospective purchasers at the earliest opportunity.

The certificate is being introduced in stages. Since April 2008 buildings with a total floor area of more than 10,000sq m required one. From 1 July 2008 this will be extended to buildings with a total floor area greater than 2,500 sq m. From 1 October 2008 all buildings will require one.

The Energy Performance Certificate and recommendation report must be made available free of charge by the seller to a prospective buyer at the earliest opportunity and no later than:

• when any written information about the building is provided in response to a request for information received from the prospective buyer; or
• when a viewing is conducted; or
• if neither of those occur, before entering into a contract to sell.

An EPC does not have to be made available if:

• the seller believes that the prospective buyer is unlikely to have sufficient funds to purchase the property or is not genuinely interested in buying type of property; or
• the seller is unlikely to be prepared to sell the property to the prospective or tenant (although this does not authorize unlawful discrimination)

The sale and let of commercial buildings can be complex with floors let to different tenants, and with a mixture of retail, office and residential accommodation. The EPC required for any space you offer for sale or let must reflect the accommodation on offer.

EPCs for commercial and public buildings are valid for ten years. The only person who is able to produce an Energy Performance Certificate is an accredited energy assessor.

Commercial buildings are scoring an average ‘C’ energy rating, according to early results from the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to the commercial sector.

Since the introduction of EPCs in 2007 nearly 800,000 buildings have had an energy assessment - including more than 500 large commercial buildings.New information three months after the launch of EPCs to commercial buildings with a total floor area greater than 10,000m2 shows that top five recommendations given by assessors for improving energy efficiency have been:

• Introducing more energy efficient lighting
• Introducing solar control measures - reflective coating, shading devices to windows - to reduce cooling demand
• Introducing electronic control gear to improve efficiency of fluorescent lighting
• Installing solar water heating
• Undertaking a review of boiler plant to look for energy efficiency improvements

If businesses undertake these recommended improvement significant energy savings can be made and reductions in CO2 emissions.