Enigin Update - UK Public Buildings Struggle to Achieve Energy Efficiency
UK GOVERMENT data has revealed that there are three times as many properties in the lowest energy efficiency category than in the top bands.
The release of new figures highlight the immensity of the challenge facing the UK government in its plan to improve energy efficiency across the public sector, with data revealing that thousands of public buildings are ranked in the lowest energy efficiency category.
The data from display energy certificates (DECs) that have been issued to 40,146 public buildings, such as schools, governmental departments and local authority offices, shows that only five per cent have an A or B certificate, with 15 percent in the lowest G band.
The data published by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE), is slightly imprecise due to duplicates in the database, but the BusinessGreen website estimates the figures from 2008, 2009 and 2010, show around 270, or just 0.7 per cent, of public buildings have an A rating. In contrast, around 1,100 scored a B rating while over 6,000 were awarded the lowest G grade.
While it is difficult to calculate exact figures due to the number of duplicates in the database, which has been published by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) following a Freedom of Information request, BusinessGreen estimates the figures from 2008, 2009 and 2010, show around 270, or just 0.7 per cent, of public buildings have an A rating. In contrast, around 1,100 scored a B rating while over 6,000 were awarded the lowest G grade.
The figures for last year showed there had been little improvement since 2008, when the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) was appointed to assess energy performance in all UK public buildings of over 1,000 square meters.
This led to over 3,600 A & B rated DECs being awarded in 2008, with 16 percent of buildings rated as a G. The 2010 figures of 0.7 percent and four per cent in the top two categories means that little progress has been made, with 13 percent of public buildings still in the bottom ranking.
BusinessGreen spoke to John Alker, director of policy and communications at the UK Green Building Council, who told them it was no surprise to find more buildings with a G grade than in the top bands, adding that a survey of private sector properties would show similarly poor results.
"It shows how far we have to go. It's slightly frustrating that we haven't made more progress given the cost to the taxpayer [of wasting energy]," he said.
Alker pointed out that most A ratings were found in facilities where significant investment had been made, particularly new or refurbished schools, leading to him calling for more public money to be spent on the greening of buildings.
"The small cost of getting a DEC done is far outweighed by the potential savings, both in how the building is managed and work done on cost-effective refurbishments.
"[The figures] don't make particularly great reading, but that's part of the point of having them - if you don't measure [energy efficiency], you can't manage it."
Enigin Plc's Eniscope Real-time and Analytics is being used in many public buildings to monitor and manage their energy use, leading to substantial savings as it helps decision makers to measure their energy use, leading to choices on where to most effectively reduce energy demand and costs.
The Eniscope is available exclusively through Enigin Distributors in the UK and globally.
