Energy Performance Certificate (United Kingdom)

Last updated

Home energy performance rating charts UKHomePerformanceRatingChartsVertical.png
Home energy performance rating charts

Energy performance certificates (EPCs) are a rating scheme to summarise the energy efficiency of buildings. [1] [2] The building is given a rating between A (Very efficient) - G (Inefficient). The EPC will also include tips about the most cost-effective ways to improve the home energy rating. Energy performance certificates are used in many countries.

Contents

Legislative history

EPCs are administered and regulated for separately in (a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland.

EPCs were introduced in England and Wales on 1 August 2007 as part of Home Information Packs (HIPs) for domestic properties with four or more bedrooms. Over time this requirement was extended to smaller properties. [3] When the requirement for HIPs was removed in May 2010, the requirement for EPCs continued. Rental properties, which have a certificate valid for 10 years, became required on a new tenancy commencing on or after 1 October 2008. [4]

The legislative basis for EPCs in the UK is European Union Directive 2010/31/EU [5] as transposed into UK law by:

Procedure

The energy assessment needed to produce an EPC is performed by a qualified and accredited energy assessor who visits the property, examines key items such as cavity wall, floor and loft insulation, domestic boiler, hot water tank, radiators, heating controls windows for double glazing, and so on. They then input the observations into a software program which performs the calculation of energy efficiency. The program gives a single number for the rating of energy efficiency, and a recommended value of the potential for improvement. There are similar figures for environmental impact. A table of estimated annual energy bills (and the potential for improvement) is also presented, but without any reference to householder bills. The householder will have to pay for the survey, which costs around £75 - £100 for a four bedroom house. The exercise is entirely non-invasive, so the software will make assumptions on the insulation properties of various elements of the property based on age and construction type. The assessor has the ability to over-ride these assumptions if visual or written evidence is provided to support the presence of insulation which may have been subsequently installed.

Domestic EPCs

The calculation of the energy rating on the EPC is based on the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). Existing dwellings are assessed using Reduced Data SAP (RdSAP), a simplified version of the SAP methodology that requires fewer data inputs. SAP and RdSAP are derived from the UK Building Research Establishment's Domestic Energy Model (BREDEM), which was originally developed in the 1980s and also underlies the NHER Rating. EPCs are produced by domestic energy assessors who are registered under an approved certification scheme.

Property details

The certificate contains the following property details: [6]

The total floor area is the area contained within the external walls of the property. The figure includes internal walls, stairwells and the like, but excludes garages, porches, areas less than 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) high, balconies and any similar area that is not an internal part of the dwelling. [7]

The A to G scale

Energy performance certificates present the energy efficiency of dwellings on a scale of A to G. The most efficient homes – which should have the lowest fuel bills – are in band A. The certificate uses the same scale to define the impact a home has on the environment. Better-rated homes should have less impact through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The average property in the UK is in band D. [8]

Domestic RHI yardstick

The EPC will become more significant from April 2014 when Domestic Renewable Heat Incentives (RHI) become available. The amount of the deemed expected annual heat use for a domestic property can be obtained from the EPC and this will determine the amount of Domestic RHI which is payable on installing renewable heat options like ground source heat pumps and solar thermal collectors.

EPC recommendations

The certificate includes recommendations on ways to improve the home's energy efficiency to save money. [6] The accuracy of the recommendations will depend on the inspection standards applied by the inspector, which may be variable. Inspectors, who may be Home Inspectors (HIs) or Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs), are audited by their accreditation bodies in order to maintain standards. The recommendations appear general in tone, but are in fact bespoke to the property in question. The logic by which the RDSAP program makes its recommendations was developed as part of a project to create the RDSAP methodology, which took place during the early years of the 21st century. [9] The EU directive requires the EPC recommendations to be cost effective in improving the energy efficiency of the home, but in addition to presenting the most cost effective options, more expensive options which are less cost effective are also presented. To distinguish them from the more cost effective measures, these are shown in a section described as 'further measures'. Because the EPC is designed to be produced at change of occupancy, it must be relevant to any occupier and it therefore must make no allowance for the particular preferences of the current occupier.

Exempt properties

Properties exempt from the Housing Act 2004 are:

The possible exemption of listed buildings has always been a contentious issue. As a devolved issue, no exemption of listed buildings exists under the Scottish Regulations. In England & Wales, listed buildings are only exempt "...in so far as compliance with certain minimum energy performance requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance." The only way to determine whether an EPC will have recommendations that would unacceptably alter the appearance or character of the listed dwelling is lodge an EPC and find out. [10]

The first and second EPCs in Northern Ireland were lodged by Mr Campbell Morris, on behalf of the then DFPNI.

Non-domestic energy performance certificates

In addition to the requirements in relation to dwellings there is also a requirement for EPCs on the sale, rent or construction of buildings other than dwellings with a floor area greater than 50m2 from 6 April 2008, that contain fixed services that condition the interior environment. [11]

Properties that are exempt from requiring a domestic EPC will generally require a non-domestic energy performance certificate, which was also required by the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Non-dwellings are "responsible for almost 20 per cent of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions." [12]

All non-domestic EPCs must be carried out by, or under the direct supervision of, a trained non-domestic energy assessor, registered with an approved accreditation body. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), has arranged for a publicly accessible central register

There are three levels of building, Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5. The complexity and the services used by that building will determine which level it falls under. The Commercial Energy Assessor must be qualified to the level of the building to carry out the inspection.

From October 2008 all buildings including factories, offices, retail premises and public sector buildings - must have an EPC whenever the building is sold, built or rented. Public buildings in England and Wales (but not Scotland) also require a display energy certificate showing actual energy use, and not just the theoretical energy rating. From January 2009 inspections for air conditioning systems will be introduced.

The A to G scale for non-domestic EPCs

The A to G scale is a linear scale based on two key points defined as follows:

  1. The zero point on the scale is defined as the performance of the building that has zero net annual CO2 emissions associated with the use of the fixed building services as defined in the Building Regulations. This is equivalent to a Building Emissions Rate (BER) of zero.
  2. The border between grade B and grade C is set at the Standard Emissions rate (SER)† and given an Asset Rating of 50. Because the scale is linear, the boundary between grades D and grade E corresponds to a rating of 100. [13]

†This is based on the actual building dimensions but with standard assumptions for fabric, glazing and building services.

See an example.

Display energy certificates

Display energy certificates (DECs) show the actual energy usage of a building, the Operational Rating, and help the public see the energy efficiency of a building. This is based on the energy consumption of the building as recorded by gas, electricity and other meters. The DEC should be clearly displayed at all times and clearly visible to the public. A DEC is always accompanied by an Advisory Report that lists cost effective measures to improve the energy rating of the building.

Display energy certificates are only required for buildings with a total useful floor area over 500m2 that are occupied by a public authority and institution providing a public service to a large number of persons and therefore visited by those persons. The useful floor area limit will be reduced to 250m2 in July 2015.

Where the building has a total useful floor area of more than 1,000m2, the DEC is valid for 12 months. The accompanying advisory report is valid for seven years. Where the building has a total useful floor area of between 500m2 and 1,000m2, the DEC and advisory report are valid for 10 years.

However, to make it easier for public authorities with multiple buildings on one site to comply with the legislation, a site-based approach for the first year (to October 2009) is allowed where it is not possible to produce individual DECs. This means that only one DEC will need to be produced based on the total energy consumption of the buildings on the site. Public bodies most affected by this relaxation are NHS Trusts, universities and schools.

The requirement for display energy certificates came into effect from 1 October 2008. They were trialled in the UK under an EU-funded project also called "Display" and co-ordinated by Energie-Cités; participants included Durham County Council and the Borough of Milton Keynes.

The A to G scale for DECs

This is the operational rating for this building. The rating shows the energy performance of the building as it is being used by the occupants, when compared to the performance of other buildings of the same type. A building with performance equal to one typical of its type would therefore have an Operational Rating of 100. A building that resulted in zero CO2 emissions would have an Operational Rating of zero, and a building that resulted in twice the typical CO2 emissions would have an Operational Rating of 200.

This rating indicates whether the building is being operated above or below average performance for a building of this type. [12]

See an example.

Criticism

As a rating system, EPCs are known to have reliability issues. Non-domestic EPCs are found to have a regression effect where low-rated properties are more likely to obtain higher ratings in the renewal, while high-rated ones tend to get lower ratings. This directly casts doubts on EPC-based policies like Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. [14]

Old College Farmhouse, a listed building dating to the 1600s, with thick walls rates poorly under current rules Old college farmhouse.jpg
Old College Farmhouse, a listed building dating to the 1600s, with thick walls rates poorly under current rules

EPCs have gained some political controversy, partly reflecting the housing market crisis in the United Kingdom (2008).

Many in the housing industry, such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, have criticised the introduction of EPCs, on the grounds of poor quality. [15] [16] Whilst critical, RICS still provided courses on domestic energy assessment, as well as courseware manuals for the professions of domestic energy assessors.

A further objection is often made concerning the quality of inspection made to produce the certificate. It cannot be invasive, so the inspector cannot drill walls or ceilings to determine the state or even existence of any insulation. The energy assessor can either assume the worst ('as built' to Building Regulations for the dwelling's age) or rely on the householder to produce documentary evidence on what may have been installed. This can produce uncertainty about the validity of the output from the assessor's analysis.

Finally, EPCs pose particular problems for the owners of listed buildings, as improvements, such as double glazing, are often barred by the controls on changes to such structures, making it difficult to rectify low ratings.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National House Building Council</span>

The National House Building Council (NHBC) states its primary purpose as raising the construction standards of new homes in the United Kingdom (UK), and providing consumer protection for homebuyers through its 10-year Buildmark warranty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-energy house</span> House designed for reduced energy use

A low-energy house is characterized by an energy-efficient design and technical features which enable it to provide high living standards and comfort with low energy consumption and carbon emissions. Traditional heating and active cooling systems are absent, or their use is secondary. Low-energy buildings may be viewed as examples of sustainable architecture. Low-energy houses often have active and passive solar building design and components, which reduce the house's energy consumption and minimally impact the resident's lifestyle. Throughout the world, companies and non-profit organizations provide guidelines and issue certifications to guarantee the energy performance of buildings and their processes and materials. Certifications include passive house, BBC—Bâtiment Basse Consommation—Effinergie (France), zero-carbon house (UK), and Minergie (Switzerland).

Under Part 5 of the Housing Act 2004 a Home Information Pack, sometimes called a Seller's Pack, was to be provided before a property in England and Wales could be put on the open market for sale with vacant possession. There is separate legislation for Scotland that requires anyone selling a property to provide a Home Report. The pack was a set of documents about the property: an Energy Performance Certificate, local authority searches, title documents, guarantees, etc. The introduction of HIPs was subject to delays and reduced requirements, but they became mandatory for homes with four or more bedrooms on 1 August 2007 and were extended to three-bedroomed properties from 10 September 2007.

Building regulations in the United Kingdom are statutory instruments or statutory regulations that seek to ensure that the policies set out in the relevant legislation are carried out. Building regulations approval is required for most building work in the UK. Building regulations that apply across England and Wales are set out in the Building Act 1984 while those that apply across Scotland are set out in the Building (Scotland) Act 2003. The Act in England and Wales permits detailed regulations to be made by the Secretary of State. The regulations made under the Act have been periodically updated, rewritten or consolidated, with the latest and current version being the Building Regulations 2010. The UK Government is responsible for the relevant legislation and administration in England, the Welsh Government is the responsible body in Wales, the Scottish Government is responsible for the issue in Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Executive has responsibility within its jurisdiction. There are very similar Building Regulations in the Republic of Ireland. The Building Regulations 2010 have recently been updated by the Building Safety Act 2022.

Domestic housing in the United Kingdom presents a possible opportunity for achieving the 20% overall cut in UK greenhouse gas emissions targeted by the Government for 2010. However, the process of achieving that drop is proving problematic given the very wide range of age and condition of the UK housing stock.

EcoHomes was an environmental rating scheme for homes in the United Kingdom. It was the domestic version of the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method BREEAM, which could also be applied to a variety of non-residential buildings. It was replaced by the Code for Sustainable Homes in April 2008.

The National Home Energy Rating Scheme (NHER) is both a UK accreditation scheme for energy assessors and a rating scale for the energy efficiency of housing.

The Code for Sustainable Homes was an environmental assessment method for rating and certifying the performance of new homes in United Kingdom. First introduced in 2006, it is a national standard for use in the design and construction of new homes with a view to encouraging continuous improvement in sustainable home building. In 2015 the Government in England withdrew it, consolidating some standards into Building Regulations.

The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is the UK government's recommended method system for measuring the energy rating of residential dwellings. The methodology is owned by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, and produced under licence by BRE. The first version was published in 1995, and was replaced by newer versions in 1998, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2012, and 2021. It calculates the typical annual energy costs for space and water heating, and, from 2005, lighting. The CO2 emissions are also calculated. The SAP runs from 1 to 100+, with dwellings that have SAP>100 being net exporters of energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy performance certificate</span> Rating scheme to summarise the energy efficiency of buildings or devices

An energy performance certificate (EPC) is a rating scheme to summarise the energy efficiency of buildings or devices.

Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are records of the actual energy usage of public buildings, introduced by a number of European governments in response to the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which all EU member states had to implement by January 2009. DECs are designed to increase transparency about the energy efficiency of public buildings. The certificate looks similar to the energy labels provided on new cars and electrical appliances such as fridges and freezers – it uses a similar scale for energy efficiency, i.e. from A to G with A being the most efficient and G the least. The aim of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is for the public to receive energy information about a building they are visiting.

The Home Energy Rating is an American estimated measurement of a home's energy efficiency based on normalized modified end-use loads (nMEULs). In the United States, the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) is responsible for creation and maintenance of the RESNET Mortgage Industry National Home Energy Rating Standards (MINHERS), a proprietary system of standards, which includes standards language for the certification and quality assurance for RESNET Provider organizations. RESNET is an EPA recognized Home Certification Organization (HCO) that also help's create standards in compliance with the American National Standards Institute, namely ANSI 301, ANSI 310, ANSI 380, and ANSI 850. The Building Science Institute, Ltd. Co. (BSI) is another EPA recognized HCO that maintains the ANSI Standards to produce Energy Ratings and compliance with above-code programs such as the ENERGY STAR New Homes Program.

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is the European Union's main legislative instrument aiming to promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings within the European Union. It was inspired by the Kyoto Protocol which commits the EU and all its parties by setting binding emission reduction targets.

A Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) for efficient energy use is an accredited position in the UK that is approved by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Under the UK's Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations, an Energy Performance Certificate is required for the sale or rent of a domestic dwelling. DEAs are qualified and accredited for the production of RdSAP EPCs - these are specifically for use on existing buildings, which would include an dwelling built after 2008 which had already received an on-construction SAP EPC. As of November 2018, DEAs had produced 16,849,375 RdSAP EPCs since the inception of the industry.

Both the public and private sectors in the United Kingdom promote green building. Presently, there are already regulatory mechanisms in place that establish Britain's commitment to this kind of building construction. The government, for instance, set out a target that by 2016, all new homes will have zero carbon emission and it also includes a progressive tightening of energy efficiency regulations by 25 percent and 44 percent in 2010 and 2013, respectively. The UK Building Regulations set requirements for insulation levels and other aspects of sustainability in building construction.

The Green Deal was a UK government policy initiative that gave homeowners, landlords and tenants the opportunity to pay for energy efficient home improvements through the savings on their energy bills from 2012 to 2015. At the heart of the Green Deal was the rule that savings on bills would exceed the cost of the work. By meeting this 'Golden Rule', consumers were able to receive energy savings without direct cost. Consumers then paid back the cost of such improvements through the expected savings in their energy bills. However, there is no guarantee that the eventual savings made by consumers will match the cost of the loans they take out to make the improvements and industry bodies recognised there was a risk consumers could end up out of pocket.

Sustainable refurbishment describes working on existing buildings to improve their environmental performance using sustainable methods and materials. A refurbishment or retrofit is defined as: "any work to a building over and above maintenance to change its capacity, function or performance' in other words, any intervention to adjust, reuse, or upgrade a building to suit new conditions or requirements". Refurbishment can be done to a part of a building, an entire building, or a campus. Sustainable refurbishment takes this a step further to modify the existing building to perform better in terms of its environmental impact and its occupants' environment.

NABERS, the National Australian Built Environment Rating System, is an initiative by the government of Australia to measure and compare the environmental performance of Australian buildings and tenancies. There are NABERS rating tools for commercial office buildings to measure greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste efficiency and indoor environment quality. There are also energy/greenhouse and water rating tools for hotels, shopping centres and data centres.

The House Energy Rating (HER) or House Energy Rating Scheme (HERS) are worldwide standard measures of comparison by which one can evaluate the energy efficiency of a new or an existing building. The comparison is generally done for energy requirements for heating and cooling of indoor space. The energy is the main criterion considered by any international building energy rating scheme but there are some other important factors such as production of greenhouse gases emission, indoor environment quality, cost efficiency and thermal comfort, which are considered by some schemes. Basically, the energy rating of a residential building provides detailed information on the energy consumption and the relative energy efficiency of the building. Hence, HERs inform consumers about the relative energy efficiency of homes and encourage them to use this information in making their house purchase decision.

The Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) is an initiative launched by the UK government to enhance efficient energy use in residential properties. The scheme initially consulted on by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero labelled as ECO+, reflects the UK's efforts towards environmental sustainability and the reduction of household energy costs.

References

  1. ↑ Certificates and inspections, ec.europa.eu
  2. ↑ Arcipowska, Aleksandra; Anagnostopoulos, Filippos; Mariottini, Francesco; Kunkel, Sara (October 2014). Energy performance certificates across the EU: Mapping of national approaches (PDF). Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE). p. 60. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Housing Act 2004, Part 5, ISBN   0-10-543404-3.
  4. ↑ "Archived press release on Communities and Local Government website". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Directive 2010/31/EU of 19 May 2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the energy performance of buildings (recast)
  6. 1 2 "Example of an Energy Performance Certificate" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom . Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Affordable Housing (Appendix 6) – Housing Corporation definition of total floor area" (PDF). Peak District National Park Authority . Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "An Investigation of the Effect of EPC Ratings on House Prices" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom . Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  9. ↑ "Standard Assessment Procedure". gov.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "EPCs for Historic Buildings" (PDF). Property Energy Professionals Association. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "Non-Domestic Energy Performance Certificate Register". www.ndepcregister.com. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings – A guide to display energy certificates and advisory reports for public buildings". Department for Communities and Local Government. December 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  13. ↑ "National Calculation Methodology (NCM) modelling guide 2010" (PDF). Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Yuan, Mingda; Choudhary, Ruchi (July 2023). "Energy Performance Certificate renewal — An analysis of reliability of simple non-domestic buildings ' EPC ratings and pragmatic improving strategies in the UK". Energy Policy. 178: 113581. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113581 .
  15. ↑ David Snell (15 April 2010). "Don't waste your energy on eco-certificates". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  16. ↑ Benjamin Furnell (May 2012). "Energy performance certificates: a waste of time or an effective contributor to a low carbon future? (pages 86-91, 40-51)" (PDF). Retrieved 20 October 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.