By Kirthy Shetty

 Energy Performance Certificates, also known as (EPC). An Energy Performance Certificate is needed for all homes which are built, rented or sold. If you are buying or selling a home, then it must have a certificate. This kind of certificate is also required for construction of new homes for rented houses. Not many are aware of EPC. Read further if you wish to know in depth about this.


The certificate records how energy efficient a property is as a building and provides A-G ratings. Similar labels are also available for domestic appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. Such products are produced using standard methods and assumptions about energy usage so that the energy efficiency of one building can easily be compared with another building of the same type. This kind of certificate allows prospective buyers, tenants, owners, occupiers and purchasers to get the relevant details on energy efficiency and carbon emissions from their building so they can consider energy efficiency and fuel costs as part of their investment.

Energy ratings for buildings are also available. They have evolved since the 1980s to provide an indication of the energy efficiency of a property. Since then, several energy rating systems have been used. For instance, NHER (National Home Energy Rating), SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure), and RDSAP (Reduced Data Standard Assessment Procedure), all of them are based on BREDEM (The Building Research Establishment Domestic Energy Model) have been in existence since long. EPCS are produced by accredited energy assessors. Every home that is marketed for sale must have an EPC Energy Performance Certificate as part of a HIP (Home Information Pack), which details a homes energy efficiency.

An EPC also carries a recommendation report that lists cost effective and other measures (such as low and zero carbon generating systems) to improve the energy rating. Along with this, a rating is also given stating what can be achieved if all the recommendations were implemented. The certificate also provides you with a rating for the building, showing its energy efficiency and its environmental impact on a scale from A-G (where A is the most efficient and G the least efficient), in graphical format. It also contains recommended ways to improve the building's energy performance. An Energy Performance Certificate shows the official energy efficiency rating of a property. If you're not planning to sell your home, you don't need to do anything. However, if you wish to sell your property, then you must have this kind of certification.

Sadhna D, Expert Author, Platinum Status. Landlord EPC assistance: Energy Performance Certificates


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