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  Do Certificates Produce Energy Savings?
  (9 posts)

• David Ackrill said 1 year, 2 months ago:

  At the risk of financially shooting myself in the foot, I am asking to what extent legal requirements to have certificates for buildings motivate organisations to reduce their energy consumption?

  New buildings should have an on design EPC, commercial buildings sold or let should have an EPC, and that’s not to mention the Domestic EPCs which, contrary to some opinion, did not get abolished when HIPs were got rid of…

  Now we have Air Conditioning Inspections, which are not the same as annual maintenance inspections, but have not been widely advertised yet and even to those that are ’in the know’ the requirement for process and comfort cooling is as a mystery to them… (See TM44 for details)

  My questions are as follows;

  Would you value a well put together report which details ways in which you could improve your air conditioning system?

  Would you pay for a simple report which meets the legal requirements but is of little help in saving energy?

  Would you just wait until you get fined by someone for not having one?

• Andy Clarke said 1 year, 2 months ago:

  I was at a seminar earlier in the week at which an architect commented that he’d had trouble with a client who’d complained that a new (very high spec) building used substantially more energy than it’s EPC suggested it would. His comment was ” that’s not the purpose” but at least it caused them to realise that the BMS hadn’t been properly commissioned and the heating was running 24/7 -so maybe that should be the purpose.

• Stuart Turvey said 1 year, 2 months ago:

  Legislation that simply focusses on displaying a certificate does not guarantee the desired outcome but does pave the way for future legislation in that direction.

  Organisations that value the PR of having an enviromentally friendly building over their peers may be encouraged to improve. This could be shaken up if the performance data for all buildings across the UK were presented in an easily comparable form that names and shames poor performers or those that have not fully embraced the initiative.

  In the event that the building owners consumption can be divorced from the building occupiers, linking the environmental performance of the buildings to the rent and rates being charged would encourage owners to improve.

  Similarly aligning future carbon taxes with the relative performance of a building against what it is inherently capable of is another option but ultimately, in the absence of related penalties or rewards then an opportunity is being missed.

• Justin Scofield said 1 year, 2 months ago:

  My experience is that the initial building design may focus on energy savings systems yet the reality is that not all of these are installed/implemented or processes adopted to benefit to the over energy footprint of the building.

  The specifier is rarely strong enough to ensure the energy systems are installed as per the design, and once handed over the management team look for short cuts to limit their time commitment to the building.

  Am not sure that all buildings whilst designed to be energy efficient are operated in line with original concept.

  Therefore I agree if the buildings owners were held account of the performance of the building then yes there would be more motivation to ensure the original design is implemented and energy savings processes adopted.

• Mike O’Brian said 1 year, 2 months ago:

  Unfortunately, due to the poor education process that went with the introduction of energy assessments, most people do not understand them.
  A building EPC looks at the embedded energy features e.g. construction, heating system, contols etc. It does not look at how the building will be, or was, used. The lighting may be low energy, but will they all be left on day and night?
  If you want to look at how the building and its occupants perform you need to look at a Display Energy Certificate (DEC) which virtually ignores the features in the EPC but concentrates on how much energy is actually used compared to a benchmark which is largely based on the building usage.
  The DEC does show performance and can show it over time. This performance indicator especially when publically displayed can act as a real spur to energy saving.

• Lindsay Cox said 7 months, 3 weeks ago:

  The simple answer to David’s original question is of course, no, certificates don’t themselves produce energy savings, but the reports that accompany the inspections or surveys should contain quality advice on ways to improve efficiency, reduce energy usage and save carbon. The problem as I see it is that as yet there is no common way of translating energy saving advice into financial savings for the client, beyond reasoned guesswork. This will improve as benchmarks for the effects of insulation, alternative lighting, renewable energy sources etc are published such that real benefits can be presented to the client.

  Taking TM/44 as an example, some clients will benefit from an inspection because they are unaware of how inefficient their a/c systems are ….. ”they work, they cool, so they’re fine” seems to be a common position. But if an inspection can show tangibly why and how a system is running inefficiently and the likely additional costs incurred as a result, then it should be a ’no-brainer’ for a company to do a cost/benefit analysis and implement recommendations.

  So certificates (and inspections) should drive energy saving results.

  I agree with Mike’s comments above. Let’s hope that The Green Deal will demand DECs for all companies wishing to participate … lets hope so.

• Robin Hale said 7 months, 1 week ago:

  There has been some resistance over the issue of compulsory DECs and although raised as an amendment in the Energy Bill in June, backed by Zac Goldsmith; it is unlikely if it is not included in the Energy Bill that compulsory DECs will be put in place.

• Paul Middleton said 3 months, 1 week ago:

  Are EPC now part of the energey bill? not sure if existing buildings (commercial) require this now, any response would be greatfully recieved.

• Colin Reeds said 3 months ago:

  Hi Guys
  I work for a local authority and although certificates don’s produce savings direct, it focuses the mind of the people at the top.
  As soon as the certificates were posted on the walls, there was an internal competition to make each building more efficient which is good news. However, without any legal obligations to get to specific levels of efficiency, this strive for efficiency had now died away.

  We need something which forces building owners to meet specific efficiencies every year.
  Colin.

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