IES Blog

DECs amendment gets our backing!

Posted : June 22, 2011 by John G, Category: Building Regulations

Last month the UK-GBC set out to rally its members in support of their campaign to get the government to “fulfil its commitment made in March’s “Carbon Plan” and extend Display Energy Certificates (DECs) to Commercial buildings by 2012, using the Energy Bill as the vehicle to put down the necessary primary legislation”.

The first step of the campaign was to send an open letter to the Prime Minister, and other senior ministers, outlining the need for mandatory DECs for private sector buildings. You can read this letter here. The next step was for the UK-GBC to call on its members for their backing and a list of supporters was produced to reinforce the campaign. IES are very proud to be putting our name down in support of the UK-GBC’s efforts, and you can find a list of the other like minded organisations here.

Over the last few weeks there has been significant developments made as the Energy Bill reached the Committee stage. The UK-GBC and the British Property Federation have submitted evidence to the committee, provided the list of supporters and have been collaborating with MPs and other organisations to get this issue tabled as part of the Committee stage. A breakthrough came when Zac Goldsmith MP backed the campaign by tabling an amendment to the energy bill that would make DECs compulsory for commercial buildings, but there is still a long way to go to see if this campaign will be successful.

Our UK Division Head, Sarah Graham, had the following to say on the issue:
To meet our (the UK’s) C02 reduction targets existing building stock must be the priority.  Understanding and focusing on why buildings are not performing as they were designed to is key.  DECs when used in combination with EPC results can help highlight discrepancies and focus where further investigation is required.  DECs on their own can identify which buildings need a comprehensive energy review.  Going forward as well as rolling their use out more widely, linking DECs with legislation such as the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme should greatly enhance their effectiveness.

We will keep you posted with further news on this campaign as and when it happens.

Tags:Building, DECs, IES