Energy Performance Certificates

An Energy Performance Certificate shows the official energy efficiency rating of a property. If you're not planning to sell your home, you don't need to do anything.

 

The certificate provides you with a rating for the building, showing its energy efficiency and its environmental impact on a scale from A-G (where A is the most efficient and G the least efficient), in graphical format. It also contains recommended ways to improve the building's energy performance.

 

By 2009, all buildings in the UK that are constructed, sold or rented out will have to have an Energy Performance Certificate, in accordance with the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

 

Please click here to see a sample of an energy performance certificate.

What happends if my home is not yet built?

Predicted energy assessments are for homes that are not yet built. When a home is designed, a predicted energy rating based on the design is produced. This must achieve, as a minimum, the target energy rating laid down for the home as specified by the energy efficiency requirements of building regulations.

 

Interim energy assessments are for new homes built in accordance with the energy efficiency requirements of the building regulations that came into force in April 2006. For these homes, only the energy-efficiency and environmental-impact graphs will be required, and not the full Energy Performance Certificate.

What the Certificate means

The Energy Performance Certificate is similar to the certificates now provided with domestic appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. Its purpose is to record how energy-efficient a property is as a building. The certificate will provide a rating of the property from A to G, where A is very efficient and G is very inefficient.

 

Two ratings are shown. The environmental impact rating is a measure of a home's impact on the environment in terms of carbon dioxide (C02) emissions - the higher the rating, the less impact it has on the environment. The energy-efficiency rating is a measure of a home's overall efficiency. The higher the rating, the more energy-efficient the home is, and the lower the fuel bills are likely to be.

 

Each rating is based on the performance of the building itself and its services (such as heating and lighting), rather than the domestic appliances within it. This is known as an asset rating. The certificate also lists the potential rating of the building if all the cost-effective measures were installed.

 

The ratings will vary according to the age, location, size and condition of the building. The potential rating on the certificate will take these factors into account, and the suggested measures will be tailored so that they are realistic for the particular building.

Why Save Energy?

Saving energy is good for all of us.

 

Using less energy means that the power companies produce less, which means less carbon dioxide is produced. Carbon by products from manufacturing are believed to be responsible for global warming. If everyone makes the effort to reduce the amount of energy they use, then the environmental benefits could be enormous. In the UK, one quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions come from the energy we use to heat and light our homes, and power our household appliances.

 

Using less energy in your home means that you pay less for your heating bills and it means that your house feels warmer for longer. In some houses, improvements in energy efficiency can cut fuel bills by as much as 40%.