As part of a wider reform of the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) framework, the consultation acknowledges the flaws in EPCs and calls for informed responses.
The CHEESE Project would like to highlight this opportunity for skilled professionals, tradespeople, academics and more, to add their voice for the improvement of EPCs. Of particular interest in relation to thermal imaging, is the headline metrics concept:
“The government is proposing that domestic EPCs use four headline metrics; ‘fabric performance’, ‘heating system’, ‘smart readiness’ and ‘energy cost’.“
The consultation text expands on the Fabric Performance metric further:
“Fabric performance: assessing the thermal performance of a building’s envelope and promoting the importance of well-insulated, comfortable, and energy-efficient spaces”
The reason behind the current call for feedback is explained as follows:
“An EPC system that provides a wider range of higher quality building performance data, in a clear and accessible form, will mean that people using EPCs are better able to meet their own goals. The benefits will be seen, not only in improved EPCs themselves, but also in areas such as improved value for money of government grants; improved targeting of private and consumer finance; and improved quality of effectiveness of regulations.”
EPCs often come under fire for not being fit for purpose. There is in fact very wide variation of energy performance within the band ratings given to properties, with the average of an E rating coming out as lower than a D rating (see below table)!
The consultation also contains proposals to require tenanted properties to meet EPC level C by 2030, so it will be even more important that ratings come from methods that are reflective of the actual property performance.
For those that would like to reply, the fabric performance section is right at the start and other sections are optional.
Closing date: 26 Feb 2025