EPBD threat to A/C buildings

Air conditioned buildings are set to be penalised when the European directive on energy efficiency comes into force in early April.

Under the EPBD, an energy certificate – giving a building an energy efficiency rating of anywhere between A to G – must be produced for the construction, sale or rent of a building. It must also be put on prominent display in public buildings.

From details which have emerged on how the certificates for non-residential buildings will be assessed, air conditioned buildings are unlikely to score highly as they will be benchmarked against a naturally ventilated building.

The assessment will be carried out using a modified version of SBEM. Unlike Part L compliance, which compares the actual design with a notional building of the same type, the EPBD assessment will compare the building against a naturally ventilated building which possibly also includes some comfort cooling.

John Field, energy management director of Power Efficiency said: “Despite this, fully air conditioned buildings complying with the latest Part L requirements will not fair as badly as some reports predict.”

Legislation implementing the directive is due to be put in front of parliament this month. The challenge after this will be to get certification assessors trained and in place.