Library image, photo by Alireza Attari on Unsplash

Energy Performance Certificates in buildings consultation response

17 December, 2018

Energy Performance Certificates in buildings consultation response

Ian Hamilton

Rob Liddiard

Robert Lowe

Peter Mallaburn

Tadj Oreszczyn

Paul Anthony Ruyssevelt

Jez Wingfield

Consultation response   Buildings & Energy

George Bennett, Ian Hamilton, Rob Liddiard, Robert Lowe, Peter Mallaburn, Tadj Oreszczyn, Paul Ruyssevelt and Jez Wingfield

CREDS submitted a response to the call for evidence sent out by BEIS on 19 October 2018.

BEIS (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy) were looking for evidence on how Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are currently performing against 3 attributes:

  • quality
  • availability
  • encouraging action to improve energy efficiency.

Summary of our response

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) will grow in importance as the policy environment moves to a more performance-based approach, as is happening with the minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) and the aspiration to move the UK’s housing stock to EPC Grade C. Linking EPC performance to the provision of finance, debt and subsidy will put EPCs in the spotlight and increase the legal exposure of the process generating them.

However there is clear and compelling evidence of significant and widespread issues around the reliability, accuracy and precision of EPCs. We have seen major discrepancies operating on a number of levels in the EPC data: between different assessors, between different classes of property, between assessments on the same property, and between different EPC assessment regimes.

Making the EPC process more transparent will go a long way to addressing these problems by allowing energy users and researchers to question discrepancies and help improve the process. Cloning is a case in point: this is a perfectly sensible approach for similar properties but the process needs to be opened up to scrutiny.

Publication details

Bennett, G., Hamilton, I., Liddiard, R., Love, J., Lowe, R., Mallaburn, P., McKenna, E., Oreszczyn, T., Ruyssevelt, P. and Wingfield, J. Energy Performance Certificates in buildings consultation response. CREDS Consultation 027 | December 2018.

Banner photo credit: Alireza Attari on Unsplash