DEC FAQs
Display energy certificate FAQs
Who needs to display a Display Energy Certificate?
Under this legislation it is the responsibility of every occupier of a building affected by these Regulations to display a DEC in a prominent place clearly visible to the public, from 1 October 2008 unless there are exceptional circumstances. Action is required now to ensure annual energy information is available by 1 October 2008.
This obligation was introduced by law1 and is to be enforced by Trading Standards Officers.
A Display Energy Certificate shows the energy performance of a building based on actual energy consumption as recorded annually over periods up to the last three years. DECs need to be updated each year. Property managers affected by this law will need to have annual energy meter readings and are advised to start collecting meter readings now to ensure they have sufficient data ready for 1 October 2008.
1 SI 2007:991 The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) 2007.
What buildings will be affected?
Only buildings occupied or part occupied either by a public authority or an institution, that provides a public service, and expect to be visited by the public to a large number of persons and who are therefore frequently visited by those persons, and with a total useful floor area1 greater than 1000m2 are affected by this legislation.
Where a building is partly occupied by a public authority or a relevant institution, the authority or institution is responsible for displaying a DEC and having a valid advisory report. Other private organisations occupying the building, irrespective of the size they occupy, do not need to display a DEC.
1 The Total useful floor area is defined as the total area of all enclosed spaces measured to the internal face of the external walls. Included are areas of sloping surfaces such as staircases, galleries, raked auditoria, and tiered terraces where the area taken is from the area on the plan. Excluded are areas that are not enclosed such as open floors, covered ways and balconies.
Introduction
This guide describes the obligations that come into force on 1 October 2008 for public authorities and institutions providing public services to a large number of people that occupy buildings (or parts of buildings that have been designed or altered to be used separately) where the total useful floor area of the building (or part that has been designed or altered to be used separately) exceeds 1000m2 and which is frequently visited by the public.
1.1 Why Display Energy Certificates are required
The purpose of introducing Display Energy Certificates (DECs) is to raise public awareness of energy use and to inform visitors to public buildings about the energy use of a building. DECs provide an energy rating of the building from A to G, where A is very efficient and G is the least efficient and are based on the actual amount of metered energy used by the building over a period of 12 months.
An affected organisation must display a DEC in a prominent place clearly visible to the public and have in its possession or control a valid advisory report. The advisory report contains recommendations for improving the energy performance of the building.
The introduction of DECs will for the first time give publicly accessible information on the energy performance of public buildings. It is important not only that the public sector complies but that it is seen to be setting an example. Environmental performance is increasingly important to reputation. Accordingly if there is any doubt over whether a DEC is required, it would be good practice to produce a DEC in any event.
1.2 Buildings requiring a Display Energy Certificate
A DEC and advisory report are required for buildings with a total useful floor area (see Glossary of terms for a definition) over 1,000m2 that are occupied in whole or part by public authorities and by institutions providing public services to a large number of persons and therefore frequently visited by those persons.
For the purposes of the regulations, a building is defined as, 'a roofed construction having walls, for which energy is used to condition the indoor climate, and a reference to a building includes a reference to a part of a building which has been designed or altered to be used separately '.
For a building to fall within the requirement for a DEC it must:
- have a roof and walls; and
- use energy to condition the indoor climate. This is the case where the building has any of the following fixed services: heating, mechanical ventilation or air conditioning.
A building can either be:
- the whole of a building; or
- part of a building, where the part is designed or altered to be used separately1.
Only buildings, with a total useful floor area greater than 1000m2, occupied either by a public authority or an institution providing a public service (referred to as relevant institutions) to large number of people and therefore frequently visited by those persons are affected by this legislation.
Private organisations, including those that may share a building with a relevant institution, do not need to display a DEC, but may elect to do so on a voluntary basis.
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