The EPC explained

The certificate will tell you:

• Energy Efficiency rating
• Environmental Impact CO2 rating
• Estimated energy use, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel costs of this home
• Summary of your home’s energy performance related features
• Recommended measures to improve your home’s energy performance

Energy Efficiency Rating

The energy efficiency rating is a measure of the overall efficiency of a home. The higher the rating the more energy efficient the home is and the lower the fuel bills will be.

Environmental Impact CO2 Rating

The environmental impact rating is a measure of a home’s impact on the environment in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The higher the rating the less impact it has on the environment.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) shows the energy current and potential energy rating of a property, known as a ‘SAP rating’. A ‘SAP’ rating stands for Standard Assessment Procedure and is the governments recommended system for producing a home energy rating. The SAP charts have been divided into 7 bands ranging from A-G. Each range has a set amount of ‘SAP’ points. Each chart has a current and a potential energy rating out of a maximum of 100 points (being maximum efficiency). As follows:

Estimated energy use, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel costs of this home

This tells you your current and potential energy use and carbon dioxide emissions per year. It also shows your estimated current spending on elements such as lighting, heating and hot water and what they potentially could be if you made the recommended improvements.

Energy Performance Certificates are the only new component in the Home Information Pack. EPCs tell home buyers and sellers how energy efficient a property is by giving it a rating from A - G, where A is the most energy efficient, meaning lower fuel bills, while a G rating is inefficient, meaning higher fuel bills. The Energy Performance Certificate will also show the buildings environmental impact by indicating its carbon-dioxide emissions. The EPC will give recommendations for cost-effective improvements to help save energy, reduce fuel bills and carbon emissions and improve the buildings rating. It is estimated that by following the recommendations in an EPC, and average of £300 a year can be saved in fuel bills. The potential rating is based on all the recommendations being implemented.

The biggest consumption of energy in the home is spent on heating the property itself, and on heating water. Some homes generate heat more efficiently, for example using a condensing boiler for both (central) heating and water; other less so, perhaps using electric radiant fires for heating and an immersion heater for the water. Likewise, some houses are better insulated than others, and by conserving heat need to generate less.

The more efficient a house is, the less energy it should consume; and hence should enjoy lower fuel bills and, importantly, be responsible for lower CO2 greenhouse gas emissions.

How will the buyer benefit

The Energy Performance Certificate will identify cost effective improvements buyers can make to reduce fuel bills and carbon emissions and to make the property more energy efficient.

How will the seller benefit from the EPC?

The Energy Performance Certificate will identify cost effective improvements to reduce fuel bills and make the property a more attractive prospect.

Why should buyers/sellers trust the Energy Assessment?

All Domestic Energy Assessors must be members of an Accreditation Scheme set up to ensure that their work can be trusted by sellers, buyers and lender.

Who are DEA's

Domestic Energy Assessors will produce the Energy Performance Certificates required for inclusion in the HIP.  They will also be able to produce EPC’s for rented properties from 1st October 2008.

What happens to Energy Performance Certificates once they're complete?

All domestic Energy Performance Certificates are lodged in a central database. Energy Assessors (through their Accreditation Schemes) lodge them as they produce them, and each is given a unique reference number. Access to the database is restricted, so only those who have the unique reference number can access the certificate for a particular property.