Growing energy demands across our society, in electricity, water and transport, mean that energy use is having an increasingly significant impact upon our environment.
Promoting energy efficiency in the home and the workplace; greater use of renewable energy sources; improving the energy performance of our buildings and reducing the energy intensity of the transport sector are all key to reducing our carbon footprint and can also lead to financial benefits.
Whether you’ve already implemented solutions or are yet to consider the options available, here’s the information you need to make informed decisions about how to reduce your energy demand.
What is renewable energy?
Renewable energy is generated from natural resources such as the sun, wind and water, which are continuously and naturally replenished. Renewable energies provide a secure and local source of energy.
What are the benefits of using renewable energy?
Using local natural resources reduces dependency on other countries for non-renewable energy fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.
It reduces production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs).
The growth of the renewables market creates job opportunities and pushes down the prices of technology and energy production.
Surplus energy can generate income or offset bills saving you money.
Energy efficiency is the most cost effective way of reducing our carbon emissions.
Whether you've already implemented solutions or are yet to consider the options available, here's the information you need to make informed decisions about managing the energy efficiency of your home and your workplace.
That’s almost twice that of cars and planes. The way a building is constructed, insulated, heated, cooled and ventilated all contribute to its carbon emissions.
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is an EU initiative aimed at reducing the amount of energy consumed by buildings in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions. It is part of a series of measures aimed at tackling climate change.
The energy rating indicates how energy efficient your home is and will provide information that may help to reduce its running costs. This will provide useful information to prospective tenants or new buyers.
For buildings that are to be sold, the building's owner will be responsible for ensuring a certificate is available; this should be shown, on request, to any prospective purchaser, and should in any case be provided by the owner to the ultimate purchaser before a contract for sale is made. For buildings that are to be rented, it is the landlord’s responsibility to provide the prospective tenant with a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate. Energy Performance Certificates will be valid for a period of 10 years.
The price of an energy performance certificate will be set by the market and not by Government. These costs will vary according to the size, type, and complexity of the property or development.
Yes. The Rules require that Energy Performance Certificates will need to be provided for all buildings when they are constructed, sold or rented.
Yes. The Rules require that Energy Performance Certificates will need to be provided for all buildings when they are constructed, sold or rented out.
This simply indicates your building could be more energy efficient. During the inspection, a number of recommendations to improve the energy efficiency will be identified. Implementation of these could not only increase your rating and reduce carbon emissions, but also save money on energy bills. It is up to you whether you implement the recommendations or not. The concept of pass/fail only applies to new buildings that are required to meet the minimum energy performance standards.