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Enigin News - Incentives and Clarity Needed for Building Energy Efficiency Improvements

Enigin News - Incentives and Clarity Needed for Building Energy Efficiency Improvements

THE UK property industry warn that the government’s “Green Deal” on its own is unlikely to deliver the revolution in energy efficiency that is needed to reach UK emission targets.

The British Property Federation (BPF) has urged the UK government to take action to bolster the Green Deal by:

providing additional fiscal incentives to help make the scheme more attractive
sanction a roll out of Display Energy Certificates
and give greater clarity on how the energy efficiency regulations on privately rented property, which are to be brought in from 2016 and 2018, will work.

It is expected that the regulations will outlaw the letting of all F and G Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) rated properties from 2018. However the detail of the regulations are to be set out in secondary legislation at a later date. The BPF feels a clear road map could help foster interest in the Green Deal by tapping into fear of obsolescence.

Tackling energy performance in existing buildings is crucial because over 90 percent of non-domestic stock was built before 1986 when requirements for better thermal performance began to be introduced. Much of the stock built before then is relatively poor by today’s standards. With annual replacement rates of only 1 to 2 per cent, around 60 percent of the existing stock will be with us in 2050.

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “Tackling energy performance in existing buildings is a crucial, but so far neglected element of any credible strategy to reduce energy demand and for mitigating the climate impact of property.

“It is clear that in non-domestic buildings, the Green Deal will not result in the level of change required by 2050. Additional fiscal incentives may be required to attract both owners and occupiers to participate amongst competing commercial and legal issues.

“If fiscal incentives are the carrot then government must also clarify its stick approach by giving greater detail on the introduction of minimum standards as soon as possible to give the industry sufficient time to gear up, with a clear idea of the government’s intentions going forward.”

Enigin are already helping many landlords and property owners see a healthy return on their energy saving investments through using Enigin plc's EnergyMaps programme, further incentives and clarity on future policies will aid decision makers to improve energy efficiency.

EnergyMaps provides energy efficiency data, proving the savings being made in energy use, energy costs and emissions. The EnergyMaps programme is available exclusively through regional Enigin Distributors in the UK and globally - contact your local Enigin Distributor now and start saving.

Picture of London: looking up Centre Point, St. Giles Circus<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/"></a> &nbsp; &copy; Copyright <a title="View profile" href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/14700">Chris Downer</a> and licensed for reuse under this <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>.

Wednesday 18th January 2012