Energy 'The Facts'

Written by Rob Baker (MEng)(MSc)

Energy in Commercial Buildings

Power Station The Facts you need to know

Buildings are responsible for nearly 50% of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions. The following page details the existing and upcoming legislation that is being used to ensure emissions from commercial buildings are reduced.

Carbon Reduction Targets - The Kyoto Protocol stipulates that the emissions of 5 green house gasses must be reduced to 1990’s levels. The UK’s legally binding target is a 12.5% reduction by 2012. The UK also has its own national target of a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050.

EEAC Logo Remaining competitive - Businesses are constantly striving to reduce their overheads to maximise profits and to provide value to their customers. Similarly there is a drive to reduce consumption in order to attain recognition for being ‘green’ such as accreditation via the EEAS (Energy Efficiency Accreditation Scheme).

Part L “Current Law ” - The revised edition of the buildings regulations comes into force this year. For existing builds where any large projects are to be undertaken, ‘consequential improvements’ will be required to offset any extra energy consumption caused by the new works. This will be a minimum of 10% of the cost of the initial works.

DEC Display Energy Certificates are compulsory for all public buildings with a useful floor space of over 1000m2. The certificate differs to an EPC in that it measures the operational rating of the building (i.e. it reflects how much energy is being used by the occupants) and it must be displayed in a prominent area for the public to see. These certificates must be renewed annually but the accompanying advisory report remains valid for 7 years. Gradually over the next few years DECs will become compulsory for smaller buildings until all public buildings are included in the scheme.

Log Books “Current Law” - These are used to record details of any alterations made to the fixed building services, thermal elements or energy metering services related to the building. Log-books are a legal requirement and are not the same as O&M manuals.

EPCs “Current Law ” Energy Performance Certificates are now a legal requirement for both dwellings and non-dwellings and are required whenever a building is built, rented or sold. The efficiency of the building is given an A-G rating based on its energy performance compared to a common benchmark. This allows prospective buyers/tenants to compare buildings based on their efficiency. The certificates are valid for 10 years and come with an advisory report to suggest possible improvements that could be made.

A/C Inspections Compulsory air conditioning inspections are required for any building that has a cooling capacity of more than 250kW. An inspection is required at least once every 5 years. After January 2011 the legislation will be extended to cover buildings with systems over 12kW.EPBD (European Performance of Buildings Directive).

CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme is a mandatory emissions reduction scheme for any business with an annual consumption over 6000MWh (approx £500,000) settled on the half-hourly electricity market. Over 5000 companies in the UK are eligible and each participant must record and report their energy consumption. It will then be necessary for the participant to purchase ‘allowances’ to cover all of their emissions. Depending on their emissions they will then be given a position in a league table that will be published to show the performance all of the participants relative to each other. Depending on a participant’s position in this league table they will then be given their original allowances back plus or minus a percentage relative to their position. Those at the top will receive a 10% bonus while those at the bottom will only have 90% of their allowances returned to them. Eventually this percentage will be extended to ±50% - posing an enormous financial incentive for all companies to perform well. In the early phases of the scheme participants can improve their position in the league table either by a) Installing an automated monitoring and targeting (am&t) system or b) Achieving the Carbon Trust standard which benefits companies that have made energy savings prior to the start of the scheme. The scheme kicks off next year with a fixed allowance cost of £12 per tonne of CO2 (tCO2). However, in 2013, the allowances will become tradable and it will then be the market that decides the cost. Smaller businesses that do not meet the consumption threshold are still required to report their emissions and it is likely that the legislation will eventually be extended to cover less energy-intensive companies.