Enigin Update - A Call for Display Energy Certificates for all UK Non-Residential buildings
THE UK Green Building Council has recommended the mandatory display Display Energy Certificates (DEC) for all non-residential buildings – as early as next year.
DECs were Introduced in 2008 and were required in all public sector buildings/offices larger than 1000m2; that are frequently visited by the public. DECs were not made compulsory for private sector property.
The purpose of a DEC is to display the rate of operational energy efficiency and performance of a building, rating it from A to G, they should be prominently displayed where all public visitors will be able to see them.
Failure to continually and prominently display a DEC leads to large financial penalties, with a maximum fine of £5,000, dependent on the nature of the breach of regulations.
The Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team (IGT), led by chief construction adviser Paul Morrell have proposed several recommendations to improve green construction. One of which is to enforce the mandatory use of DECs in all public sector buildings, not just those that are larger than 1,000 m2.
In May this year, UK Construction Minister, Mark Prisk, hinted that the government would back this recommendation and ensure DECs were rolled out. The UK Government target of an 80 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2050 (as outlined in The Climate Change Act 2008) has the full commitment of the independent Committee on Climate Change, who has suggested that the UK should be reaching the 50 percent point by 2025.
A barrier for landlords and the construction industry has been the lack of no common method or rating system for the measurement of energy efficiency for non-domestic buildings: if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) along with the UK Green Building Council supports a wider roll out of DECs. CIBSE’s Technical Director, Hywel Davies, stated that “There is now a clear industry consensus around making more use of Display Energy Certificates to identify potential energy and cost savings”.
Some large property companies have already chosen to carry out DECs on their buildings as part of their sustainability strategy. These companies found that DECs help to provide them with information on which to base investment decisions, leading to savings.
DECs also provide a common methodology for measuring energy efficiency in buildings and could therefore also form the basis for monitoring other property-related policies, such as the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) and the Green Deal for Business, and in the long term reducing the overall cost of compliance.
The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) fears that if the Energy Bill does not introduce DECs for all the Government’s target will not be reached.
Paul King, Chief Executive of UK-GBC supports clause 22 and said: “there is widespread business support for the extension of DECs to commercial buildings because they help companies save money on energy bills and they provide a level playing field for comparing the market. This is an ideal opportunity for Government to fulfill the commitment it gave in March.”
Going a step further, members of the UK property industry also support clause 22 and have asked for the Energy Bill to include legislation for the roll out of DECs for all buildings.
Enigin provide cutting edge technology with their Eniscope, which provides real-time and analytical, historical energy data - which can be displayed graphically and publicly if desired. Eniscope is available exclusively through the global net work of Enigin Distributors.
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