Summit Environmental completes energy performance assessments and provides Energy Performance Certificates (EPC’s) and advice for Residential and Commercial buildings.
All property that is marketed for sale or to let must carry a valid Energy Performance Certificate. The EPC contains information about a property’s energy use, typical energy costs and recommendations on how to reduce energy consumption.
Energy Performance Certificates are a legal requirement within the property building, letting and sales market. If you are building a property the EPC’s will be produced from the plans for the construction, if you are in the process of letting or selling an existing property you must have one to support the transaction.
The EPC survey we undertake will be a visual and non-intrusive examination of your property, this is the responsibility of the seller or landlord to arrange.
Energy Performance
The EPC, as we know it now, came from The Energy Performance Building Directive {EPBD}.
The EPBD 2002 and the Climate Change Act 2008.
The EPBD in an EU directive, and its main purpose is to reduce energy consumption within buildings and is part of a wide initiative to reduce carbon emissions.
“every government is to adopt a method which calculates the energy performance of a building” “when buildings are constructed, sold or rented out, an energy performance certificate is made available to the owner or by the owner to the perspective buyer or tenant”, “the certification of buildings are carried out in an independent manner by qualified and accredited experts.
The climate change act of 2008 includes proposals to cut UK carbon dioxide emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050, we are currently at 42%, with a more recently revised target in 2019, to reduce levels to a net zero by 2050.
An EPC is valid for ten years, and although you may have one which is out of date, which is not illegal, you are unable to proceed with selling or letting.
The Domestic EPC
The domestic EPC is a non-intrusive examination of your property. The Energy Assessor will take measurements of your property, normally internally, and support the evidence that he collects with photographic evidence. Considering that the assessment is non-intrusive, the assessor can only record what he can see, therefore if you have evidence of energy improvements that you have done, it is worth your while to offer receipts, and guarantees to confirm improvements done.
Normally the older the property, the lower the energy assessment is likely to be. The building regulations have changed as have government targets and energy initiatives. Heat efficient products have changed as new technologies have been developed, and the way that the Software that calculates the energy efficiency of the house also upgraded.
For these reasons, if you had an EPC completed on your property ten years ago, the passing of time may down-grade the result, and suggest newer technologies, to improve the homes energy performance.
The EPC does not consider the likes of lifestyle, or the people within the home, the main elements that it will consider are, age of property, level of insulation, ceilings, walls and floors, draught-proofing, plus heat-sources and the relevant controls to manage their output.
EPC’s For New Build.
Should you have a new build property, or you have redeveloped a building, the EPC that you will need, would be using a different method of assessing your property, not through a physical examination, but through details taken from the plans, during the build, which would be in keeping with the current building regulations. This type of assessment is known as a Standard Assessment Procedure or as an On Construction Certificate.
If you are a landlord, you will need an EPC, before you can let your property, and not forgetting that you may not be able to let your property if the EPC, shows that your property rating is too low. The ratings are from A [highest} to G{lowest], and if your score is F or lower, you may need to be making some energy efficiency improvements, before putting your property up for letting.
Non-Domestic EPC
Non-Domestic EPC’s are also known as Commercial EPC’s, these also have the rating between A and G, A being the highest. The Commercial EPC is also valid for ten years and are needed for renting or selling a building.
They are not needed if the property is to be demolished, if it is a temporary building, less than two years use, an entirely detached building with a total useful floor space of under 50 sq. metres and is not a dwelling, is not a place of Worship, or an Industrial workshop or non a residential building with a low energy demand.
The owner must provide the EPC to a prospective tenant or buyer no later than at the time of the actual viewing and included with any other written information. There is a penalty if you fail to make an EPC available to a prospective tenant or buyer, which is at the rate of 12.5% of the value of the property, minimum of £500.00 and a maximum of £5000.00.
The Green Deal Initiative
The Government have introduced energy saving schemes and incentives for some time, the current initiative is the Green Deal, where you would need to have a Green Deal Assessor conduct an EPC on your property, he would review your energy use and lifestyle, before making recommendations of what would be appropriate, based upon the needs of the home and the cost effectiveness of the proposals. You may be able to qualify for a loan, but it does need to be repaid, by instalments, that should be no higher than the energy savings that you make. Repayments are made through your electricity account. Once the works have been competed a second EPC will confirm that the works have been completed.
All works need to be completed by a Green Deal authorised agent, their quality trade- mark is a green-house with a tick on the roof. If you purchase a home that has a Green Deal on it, this will show on the EPC, that you will have a copy of, the significance is that the Green Deal is for the home and not the owner, therefore a new owner will purchase the responsibility and the need to continue with the repayments.
How Can Summit Environmental help with Energy Performance?
Based on the information collated and assessed against the Governments standard criteria we will produce a EPC Rating for the building. The energy rating of a building is a complex calculation which is based on;
- Construction of the building (including walls, roofs, floors and glazing)
- Whether parts (zones) of the building are used for different purposes e.g. office, factory etc and the occupancy profile for each zone
- Heating, cooling, ventilation and hot water systems
- Lighting/Insulation
Once we have completed the EPC assessment, we can also recommend how to make your home more energy efficient; this will make your home warmer, more comfortable, the property cheaper to heat and may also increase your property value.
