Getting to grips with
July 04th 2007

Energy performance certificates will soon become a fact of life for energy and facilities managers with the implementation of the remaining parts of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).Alan Aldridge, Executive Director of the Energy Services and Technology Association (ESTA) explains the implications

AStatutory Instrument laid before Parliament on at the end of March set in place the regulations – in England and Wales at least – for energy certification in non-domestic buildings. Northern Ireland is likely to have a very similar system, while Scotland has developed its own approach.

In essence there are two different types of certificate.An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) will be required whenever a building is constructed, sold or let. Virtually all types of building are covered down to 50m2 – the few exceptions include places of worship and buildings about to be demolished.However, for existing buildings there is no requirement to provide a certificate unless you are planning to sell or let the property. That having been said, the discipline of a third-party assessment of all the buildings in the organisation’s portfolio does, ESTA believes, offer a number of benefits – both to the organisation itself and to energy/facilities managers.

The Display Energy Certificate (DEC) must be produced and displayed publicly on an annual basis in buildings funded by public sector money (so that includes PFI projects) which large numbers of the public regularly visit and which have a useful floor area of over 1000m2. This will affect local authorities, hospitals and educational facilities such as universities – as well as many Government buildings. Certificates can only be awarded by Government-accredited assessors.

The most striking feature about both types of certificate is that energy performance is shown graphically, in the form of an A-G banding (where A is the most efficient and G the least).The representation will be similar to the labels already common on new fridge/freezers,washing machines and new cars. An example of what a DEC could look like is shown in Figure 1. The Government is hoping to repeat the success of these labels in the white goods industry, where they have been instrumental in increasing the take-up of higher efficiency models.

Energy Performance Certificates

Set out on these certificates, in addition to some general information about the building and the assessors, is an asset rating and recommendations on how to improve energy performance.

The asset rating is a measure of how efficient the structure should be – as built. It is therefore the potential efficiency of the building. It is created using approved calculation methods, such as the Simplified Building Energy Model. SBEM is available free (at www.ncm.bre.co.uk) and facilities managers may find it helpful to download it and look at the kind of details used in the calculation (special training would be needed in order to use it fully). Other calculation models are also approved by the Government for this purpose, such as TAS, IES(VE) and Hevacomp.

For new buildings, the rating is developed from the design specifications and a new building cannot receive its completion certificate unless an energy performance certificate is available. In the case of existing buildings, SBEM makes a number of assumptions based on the age of the structure, the construction type and the building regulations in force at the time of construction. If higher standards on specific aspects are selected the assessor has to justify this.

Energy Performance Certificates are valid for 10 years, providing there are no extensions or alterations that require approval through Building Regulations.

Display Energy Certificates

DECs include, in addition to the information which EPCs have, an operational rating (also graphically presented on an A-G scale). The operational rating is based on the measured energy consumption per useful square metre of floor area. It is actual, as opposed to potential, efficiency. Comparison of this with the asset rating should give some idea of how much the building operating efficiency can be improved, through good site management, operation and maintenance. The recommendations for improvement listed on the certificate are, as with the EPC, valid for seven years.

The DEC has to be revised every year and so provides an excellent means for facility, property and energy managers to continuously improve the energy efficiency of their entire estate. Indeed, although it currently only applies to publicly-funded buildings, the Government has pledged to consult on its extension to the private sector. And several major groups in the retail and property industries are already considering adopting DECs in their portfolios.

As the operational rating needs actual metered energy data (not estimated bills) it will be necessary to have actual readings for the start and finish dates i.e. 6 April 2007 and 6 April 2008. There is some leeway on the dates allowing normalisation to a full year. There is a three month window after the required date to complete and display the certificate.

Operational ratings apply to each building over 1000m2 and some hospital and university sites, for example, could have several buildings of this size on the one site. In this case, sub-meters will be required to meter each individual building. This is important as the overall site meter could effectively ‘hide’some very poor performing buildings within an overall ‘good’ site.

Still to be determined

A number of issues relating to certification are not set out in the Statutory Instrument or supporting documentation with the result that some key details remain unclear. For example,we know that there will be an A-G scale for energy performance, but the carbon emissions scale corresponding to the different bands has not yet been set – so we do not yet know what a ‘C’ grade means in quantitative terms (in Scotland the grading has already been established).

It is likely that a limited number of typical building characteristics will be used to define benchmarks. We understand that different sectors may be given the option of generating a suitable benchmark for their type of building and operation. However, this is still under discussion. Certificates can only be issued by suitably qualified, independent experts.The Government has been slow to define the requirements for assessors and until this is complete accreditation cannot take place. The UK urgently needs to complete this process otherwise the Government’s timetable is at risk. ESTA cannot envisage this being completed before Autumn 2007 and maybe later.

Preparing for certification

The first issue to be decided by an organisation is:“Do we need Energy Performance Certificates or Display Energy Certificates at all?” This can be addressed in the short term in the following way:

• is it likely that the organisation will construct, sell or rent out properties in the next two to three years?

• is the organisation publicly-funded and are there any buildings of more than 1000m2 that are visited by large numbers of the public?

The answers to these two questions will define the maximum involvement over the initial few years of this legislation.Many organisations will have no exposure at all.

For those who need EPCs – and who therefore have to undertake asset ratings – it would be good preparation to look carefully at the SBEM model and see what aspects of the organisation’s energy policies could be relevant to the assessment. For a body with a number of buildings, it might be worth doing some SBEM training in order to review the whole building portfolio. This will give an insight into the likely results of the independent assessment.

Operational ratings (for DECs) involve accurate meter readings. Establish if the relevant buildings have the requisite metering.Get meter readings as close to 6 April 2007 as possible – read them now if nothing else is available! Consider if the metering needs upgrading or extending and prepare a budget proposal to ensure that the organisation can meet the requirements of the legislation.

A way to communicate

The simple, widely-recognised graphical A-G banding provides facilities and energy managers with a more accessible way to discuss energy performance with senior management, other members of staff and the wider public. It can be incorporated into environmental/sustainability reporting.

In a multi-site portfolio,DECs can also be used (they have to be revised every year) as a means of tracking and prioritising improvement in the estate. They can be incorporated into one, three or five year upgrade and refurbishment programmes.

Energy certification offers a tool for management – and an important new way of communication.