Government to consult on extension of Display Energy Certificates
The announcement by the Government that it is to publish a consultation paper setting out proposals for extending Display Energy Certificates to the private sector has been welcomed by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. The Government is also to carry out a detailed analysis of the costs and benefits of requiring all non-domestic buildings to have an Energy Performance Certificate by 2018 and requiring all such buildings to have an EPC rating of at least F by 2020.
CIBSE points out that leading private landlords such as Land Securities already exhibit DECs and that the Confederation of British Industry has also expressed support for the idea.
The Government response to the first annual ‘Progress report of the Committee on Climate Change’ expresses agreement with the CCC that a step change is needed in the pace of emissions reductions and stresses that Britain is the first country in the world to have a detailed plan [a target of 34% reduction in emissions over 1990 levels by 2020], allied with statutory requirements for deep cuts.
DECs help make energy costs more explicit for financial officers and demonstrate the opportunities for cost and carbon savings. The CIBSE statement says, ‘The simple energy and area data needed for a DEC ought to be readily accessible in commercial premises. Where it isn’t, then it needs to be so, so DECs provide a ready route to improving current data availability.’
