EPC's for Commercial Buildings
Since 1st October 2008 nearly all non-domestic buildings (in England and Wales) that are sold, leased or built are required by law to have an Energy Performance Certificate. From 4th January 2009 all such properties will require an EPC when they are placed on the market. Most public buildings over 1000m² will require a Display Energy Certificate.
Only Government accredited non-domestic (commercial) energy assessors are able to provide EPC's and DEC's for commercial buildings. IPB Associates are currently domestic Accredited Energy Assessors and thus will be able to provide you with EPC's for commercial buildings in the near future.
The process for producing an EPC for a commercial building is as follows:
Once we have been commissioned to produce an EPC for your building, there are three main steps to performing the assessment, which are:
1. Gathering the relevant information about the building
2. Analysing the information and identifying different zones of the building
3. Entering the information into an approved software program.
The appropriate methods for commercial buildings are SBEM – Simplified Building Energy Model or DSM – Dynamic Simulation Model (even if the building was originally used for residential accommodation).
During the assessment we will collect information about the building. This will include plans, dimensions of the building, its uses, number of floors, amount and type of glazing (i.e. single or double glazing), heating systems and fuel used. This information will be fed into an approved software program using a Government approved energy assessment method. The software produces the certificate and the recommendation report for the building. We will then record the certificate onto the national register via our accreditation body and provide the seller or prospective landlord with a copy.
The EPC is now ready to be given to new building owner/s or made available to prospective buyers or tenants.
Collecting the information required for an Energy Performance Certificate:
We will need to understand the internal layout of the building and for what purposes it is designed to be used. This is to understand the energy demands of each individual space (zone) in accordance with its designed use.
The information that will be required to produce an EPC includes:
- the individual spaces or zones in use within the building, and their dimensions (either as verified from plans or as measured). This information is most readily provided by building plans
- the activities conducted within the zones. Examples of zones include retail space, office space, kitchens, storage etc
- the heating and ventilation services for each zone (including type of system, metering, controls, fuel used etc.)
- the lighting and controls used for each zone
- the construction of the fabric of the building and thermal efficiency of the materials used: roof, floors, walls and glazing.
If there are no plans for a building, we will need to survey the building and gather the appropriate information. This is a very time consuming exercise and will increase the costs dramatically. If you have up-to-date information and plans for your building this process will be less time-consuming and less costly.
We are responsible for ensuring the information used in the energy calculations is accurate and, even where detailed plans are available, may need to validate this information by making a site inspection.
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