Out in the cold

Since October 2008, Energy performance certificates (EPCs) have been required whenever a commercial building is built, sold or rented out. For houses and flats, the EPC regime took effect in 2007. A building needs an EPC if it has a roof and walls and uses energy (heating, air conditioning or mechanical ventilation) to “condition an indoor climate”.

Compliance and enforcement

A monthly index, run by National Energy Services (NES) and Building.co.uk monitors how many commercial buildings currently being marketed have a valid EPC. The sample for February 2010 covered 1,084 buildings in Cumbria, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex and Leicester with a floor area in excess of 50m2 and included buildings which had been on the market for at least six months. Only 39% of the properties investigated were compliant.
The index provides empirical support for concerns raised in the House of Lords by Lord Dixon-Smith who, in July 2009, referred to “almost total ignorance or disregard of the need for energy performance certificates in the commercial sector”.

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