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“In Switzerland, everything is either illegal or compulsory,” joked our friend as he welcomed us to his home near Basel last week, and to illustrate the point he cited laws forbidding the flushing of toilets after 10pm and the use of lawnmowers on Sundays (seriously). Later he showed us his basement bomb shelter, with its 20cm thick concrete door and massive air filters. Amazingly, a generation after the end of the Cold War, Swiss law still requires every citizen to have quick access to a nuclear bunker. The UK Building Regulations may have some quirky features, I reflected, but nothing to compete with this.

Idiosyncrasies aside, recent revisions to the Building Regulations and the introduction of EPCs have had a profound influence on the building design process – and this is only the start. In October next year a new revision of the UK Regs will come into force targeting a 25% reduction in carbon emissions for new buildings compared to the 2006 level, to be followed (according to the draft plan) with successive further constraints at three-year intervals aimed at achieving zero carbon new buildings by 2019. The drive is set to continue thereafter with a target of an 80% reduction in total building stock carbon emissions by 2050.

In the US the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES, also known as Waxman-Markey) is working its way through Congress with the likelihood of Senate approval, after inevitable amendments, in the autumn. This would bring in a package of climate change busting measures including a cap-and-trade scheme for greenhouse gases and a radical tightening of building energy codes. The targeted improvements for buildings parallel the UK’s ambitions: a 30% energy reduction relative to baseline in 2010 and a progressive programme of further improvements up to 2030. The administration’s target for 2050 (with ACES and other measures) is an 83% reduction of building stock CO2 emissions.

If I emigrate to Switzerland I might just live to see those targets achieved. The country boasts the highest percentage of centenarians in Europe.

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Tags:CO2, EPCs, waxman-markey

We have recently been informed by the CLG that the format of files used for non-domestic EPC and DEC lodgments is to change in 1 month’s time. Furthermore, there is no transition period planned – old EPC and DEC lodgment files will simply no longer be active after the switchover date.

All Accreditation Schemes will stop taking EPC submissions created by software using versions of SBEM/EPCGen earlier than the soon to be released v3.3c. This means that Accredited Energy Assessors will have to update their EPC and DEC software to a version able to produce the new xml lodgment files, even if they are in the middle of a project.

Energy Assessors need to plan ahead to make sure that they can maintain business continuity and minimize disruption, but the short timescale might mean that the new software is not available until right before the deadline. A new version of SBEM is due early April and IES will be working flat out to update its SBEM, DSM and DEC software in time. However, we are still waiting for the release of final details and anticipate that we will be left with a period of around 2 weeks (including Easter) to amend, test, gain CLG approval and distribute the new version to our users! We’re making every possible arrangement to ensure we meet this 25th April deadline.

The switchover date is pretty firmly set as Saturday 25th April.

IES have asked CLG for a transitional period and we hope that this will be accepted in order to allow our customers, and other Energy Assessors, to changeover at the time that suits them. However, initial discussions have not been promising on this front.

David McEwan – IES UK Director

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Tags:Accreditation, CLG, DECs, EPCs

There is a growing concern from many in the industry that competent surveyors might be banned from collaborating with accredited Energy Assessors on the creation of commercial EPCs.

CLG recently issued a widely distributed draft directive to the Accreditation Schemes relating to the department’s concerns about the use of data gathers.  This was in response to questions being raised about the accuracy of some of the EPCs being submitted.  It set out possible changes to restrict the collection of EPC data by those other than qualified Energy Assessors, which could limit the scope for competent surveyors to collaborate on the production of accurate EPCs.

It’s become evident that standards need to be set and there should be no place for data gathers of dubious accuracy.  However, the suggested allowance for Level 4 and 5 assessors to use ‘data gatherers’ under certain conditions appears to be too restrictive to meet the needs of a struggling industry.

CLG should be cautious before jumping to any snap decisions.  Accreditation Schemes need sufficient flexibility to encourage the right experienced professionals to collaborate on EPCs especially on more complex buildings where data gathering and EPC input are inevitably more specialist tasks. 

It’s a difficult tightrope to walk – to put in sufficient measures to raise standards without being too prescriptive.  We need arrangements that will allow professional surveyors to work, or even appoint commercial Energy Assessors.  EPCs need to be able to improve the standards of building and also fit with the established ways professionals within the industry are already collaborating.

See Building Services Design and Building for more information

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Tags:Accreditation, CLG, Energy Assessors, EPCs