Display Energy Certificates (DECs)
Northern Ireland
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Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are being introduced for display on certain public Buildings (Buildings must be in excess of 1000 m2 and occupied by either a Public Authority or an Institution providing a public service and visited by the public to require a DEC.) Affected buildings will need a DEC by 1st October 2008. Anderson Mechancial Services can arrange for an accredited energy assessor to produce your DEC. |
Why are DECs being introduced?
Display energy certificates (DECs) are being introduced to raise public
awareness of energy use and to provide the public with energy information about a
building they are visiting. It is important that the public service sector leads the way
in the campaign to tackle CO2 emissions. DECs show the public how efficiently
public service organisations are using energy in their buildings.
What is a Display Energy Certificate?
A display energy certificate (DEC) shows the energy performance of a
building based on its actual annual energy consumption and the CO2 emissions that result
from that energy use. This is shown as a rating from A to G, where A has the
lowest CO2 emissions (best) and G the highest CO2 emissions (worst). The rating is also shown as a number . A typical building of its type would have a rating of 100. A building with twice the typical CO2 emissions would have a rating of 200 (or G).
A DEC must be accompanied by an advisory report containing recommendations for improvement of the energy performance of the building. The DEC must be renewed every year . The advisory report is valid for seven years.
DECs are produced using Operational Rating software. Buildings may also require an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) if it is sold, built or let. The EPC rating shows the performance of the building's fabric and fixed services. By contrast the DEC rating shows
how well the occupier is using energy within a building and the trend over the last three years.
The DEC assessment
The occupier, in collaboration with the Anderson Mechanical Services, will need to know the floor area of the building being assessed and to obtain actual meter readings or consignment notes for all fuels used in the building, over the period of one calendar year
(365 days).
This information can be obtained from a number of sources, including:
. On-site energy meters
. The building landlord or his representative
. The utility supplier
. The district heating/cooling provider.
To produce the advisory report, the occupier, in collaboration with the energy
assessor, needs to gather information about the building needed to make recommendations. This can be done from either a walk around survey or a desk based survey, depending on the energy assessor's knowledge of the building.
In order to produce the DEC and advisory report, the accredited energy
assessor will need to access standard reference information from a web-based service
called the Common Information Point (CIP), which is provided by the Government. Once
produced the DEC and advisory report are lodged in the national register www.ndepcregister.com
Find out more information? Get a quote?
Tel: +44 (0) 28 38 891 320
Email: energyassessments@andersonmechanical.net