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Energy Performance Certificate (or EPC) explained
What is an Energy Performance Certificate?
The
Energy Performance Certificate or EPC is the energy efficiency rating of a
property, precisely a building. The rating
is represented graphically on a scale
from A to G, where A stands for the most efficient energy performance and G
stands
for the least efficient energy performance. Side-by-side energy
performance of buildings, the EPC depicts the environmental
impact of a building
in terms of Carbon Dioxide or CO 2 emissions.
 The Certificate will include recommendations on ways to improve the
home's energy efficiency to save you money and help the environment.
Why is the Energy Performance
Certificate so Vital?
EPC's are a direct outcome of the European Union Directive 2002/91/EC, inspired
by the
Kyoto Protocol that aimed at cutting back on energy consumption and
ecological deterioration due to CO 2 emissions. Incorporated
in Part 5 of the UK
Housing Act 2004, this directive requires all houses and buildings in UK to have
EPCs by 2009.
About
40% of UK 's energy consumption results from domestic uses - due to
lighting, heating, air-conditioning and other household
uses. The issuance of
EPCs will be a concrete step in curtailing this massive consumption. They not
only give an estimation
of the energy efficiency, EPC's also have necessary
information to help improve the energy-efficiency of a home/building.
EPC's
provide complete details about Energy Savings Trusts that help
house-property- owners with special grants and/or discounts
to carry out
necessary improvement work.
Lowering of energy consumption will cut down on carbon emissions simultaneously.
This way, EPCs not only help save money and energy, but also successfully
contribute to the cause of environmental
improvement.
EPCs & HIPs
An Energy Performance Certificate is the most vital 'required'
document in a Home
Information Pack. Included in the HIP as part of Government's initiative to
support a greener housing
market, EPCs have immensely helped the buying/selling
process, making the process transparent and fast.
Again,
EPC's are helping buyers take the right decisions by providing them
adequate information. Actually, the better the rating,
the higher is the energy
efficiency of the property and the lower the fuel bills. With lower energy
consumption, expenses
will be less and the impact on the climate will be
favorable. This being the case, a property with a good energy performance
rating
will invite more buyers.
With suitable advises on ways of saving energy and cutting carbon emissions,
EPC's
have helped property sellers enhance their reliability; the buyers too are
benefited in that they can now make their new
homes energy-efficient and
bio-friendly.
Issuing
EPC's
In compliance with the European Directive for the Energy Performance of
Buildings, all member countries
of the European Union have been directed to
introduce EPC's as a measure to curb energy wastage and harmful ecological
consequences. Hence, the UK government now requires the sellers to submit EPC's
as part of Home Information Packs.
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