Energy performance certificates can inspire improvement

I don’t like to complain about what our legislators do; I always try to make the best of things I’m an engineer, after all. But I must add my voice to those of others who have said that the Energy Performance in Buildings Regulations are a wasted opportunity. Looked at from the perspective of a design engineer, I agree they ask us to stir our stumps and do better. But looked at from the perspective of a facilities manager, they seem to me to be the start of a significant compliance issue but with no teeth; at least not at present.

To produce a certificate and its supporting recommendations, detailed information needs to be collected and analysed, with the results provided to the client and a central register. But then what? There is nothing in the legislation that requires people to take action once they have received their energy performance certificates (EPCs) or display energy certificates (DECs).

With so much emphasis on the coming of these certificates, the industry is waiting with bated breath for the latest news on when, how and where the certification requirements will be enforced. But is the client? If the requirement to produce an EPC is linked to sale or let, the client will most likely be focused on getting it off to the legal team so that it doesn’t hold up the process. For the lawyer it will simply be another form to be required as part of conveyancing. The lawyer will not care what the certificate says, unless it becomes a point of price negotiation. Who will really take it upon themselves to want to act on these certificates, if the law does not require them to do so?

If this certification process is to lead to real carbon savings, we need people to be spurred into action.

Although this is clearly a step in the right direction, we can’t stop here. The presentation of the certificate is the perfect chance to improve the building’s energy rating and to prove you really are concerned about making a difference. And what is the role of the central register? This must be a real opportunity to provide practitioners with information on how buildings are changing their energy performance and what are the really effective measures that are being implemented.

If this certification process is to lead to
real carbon savings, we need people to be spurred into action

For the EPB Regulations to have real impact, people need to see EPCs and DECs as a starting point, a guide to what they can do next. We wouldn’t want people to continue the journey on their own – they need expert help. While some may argue there just isn’t enough expert help to go round, CIBSE is trying to increase the quality and quantity available through its register of Low Carbon Consultants (LCCs).

For those of you who haven’t heard about the scheme, the register has been developed by CIBSE Certification to provide the market with a supply of professionals whose competence in low carbon design, operation and energy assessment has been tested and is registered. It is a single register with a number of sub-strands; the register provides a way of proving professionalism in as many areas as an individual wishes to cover. It responds to the diversity of legislative requirements as well as providing professionals who can take both new-build and refurbishment into the highest levels of energy efficient performance and carbon emission reduction.

CIBSE’s stated objective is for its LCCs to be able to take people and buildings that step further. LCCs are also bound by a code of conduct to try to persuade clients to do so.

The institution feels it is important to reward and encourage the work of those on the register. We hope the first annual CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards in February will go some way to doing this (see CIBSE news, page 69). The aim is to focus on the actual results. In other words, to reward performance not promise.

We are lucky to have the Low Carbon Consultants I believe they will go a considerable way to making up for possible sins of omission committed by our legislators.