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EPCs
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are required for all commercial buildings prior to the sale of lease of the property. If you have recently entered into a lease, then you should have been shown an EPC for your office. EPC ratings are on a scale from 1 to 100 (G to A), with 100 (A) being the best. They represent the predicted energy performance of your building relative to a benchmark, and do not reflect the actual performance, and won’t necessarily have any relationship to your energy bills. In principle however, the better the rating, the better the building should perform.
DECs
Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are, as of October 2008, required for all public buildings. DECs have a scale similar to EPCs, but are based on actual metered energy consumption. They must be updated every 12 months. Public buildings must display DECs in prominent locations. Althoughonly currently required for public buildings, commercial buildings and tenants may elect to display a DEC, we think this is a good idea and demonstrates environmental commitment.
Air conditioning inspection
Air conditioning inspections are currently required for all air conditioning systems installed before January 2008 which are over 12kW (not particularly large). It is the responsibility of the owner/landlord of the building to ensure the equipment has been inspected. If you have air-conditioning in your office, then you can ask your landlord to see the air-conditioning inspection report. The inspection examines the efficiency of the equipment and provides advice on improving performance.
F-gas certification
F-gas inspections are typically done alongside air conditioning inspections. F-gases are chemicals which contain fluorine gas -commonly found in air conditioning equipment – these are powerful greenhouse gases. It is important that these gases do not leak from the air conditioning equipment. An F-gas inspection examines A/C equipment to ensure there are no leaks, and if there are, repairs are required to achieve certification. If you own A/C equipment, check with your facilities manager to ensure certification has been completed.
CRC
The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) is legislation aimed at reducing CO2 from energy use in buildings. It is a type of ‘cap and trade’ financial mechanism; the more CO2 an organisation emits, the more allowances it will have to purchase. Qualification for this commitment is based on the amount of electricity an organisation was supplied in 2008. If this amount was 6,000 MWh or greater, an organisation must register and participate. Additionally, if organisations have half hourly meters, (again mostly for large electricity consumers) they must register with the scheme. All organisations with half hourly meters will have to register, but might be exempt from having to purchase allowances, if they are not large energy consumers.
Eric Thanenthiran is commercial director of the Sustainable Engineering Collective , which designs new sustainable buildings and improves existing ones.
This article appeared in the July/August 2011 issue of Greenbuild magazine. For a free subscription click here.
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