UK Government launches consultation for streamlining Display Energy Certificate regulations
The Government has today announced proposals which could see radical changes to the requirement for Display Energy Certificates (DECs) that are mandatory for approximately 54,000 public buildings throughout England and Wales.
Like most early news the tendency is to think of the most extreme scenario, in this case entirely scrapping the requirement for Display Energy Certificates (DECs).
In the consultation published today, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said it was considering “removing the legal requirement” for DECs in public buildings such as town halls, swimming pools and schools. At the moment, however, removing this legal requirement is only one of the multiple options put forward.
The consultation period will run until 11th March 2015, the outcome of which will be published within 3 months, and is likely to focus around the following options:
Do nothing: Retain the system exactly as it currently is.
Retain beneficial elements: Preserve the existing system but change elements of it to ensure that any additional burdens created by our regulations and the existence of separate Display Energy Certificate and Energy Performance Certificate regimes are intended and deliver benefits.
Eliminate all additional burdens: Preserve the existing system but alter it to ensure that there are no burdens created by our regulations and the existence of separate Display Energy Certificate (DEC) and Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) regimes.
Abolition: Remove the regulatory requirement for Display Energy Certificates, and introduce the requirement for qualifying buildings to have and display Energy Performance Certificates.
John Alker, Acting Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council, said: “Any suggestion of scrapping DECs for public buildings simply beggars belief. Government time and again trots out the mantra of not ‘gold-plating’ EU requirements to minimise administrative costs, but completely misses the potential benefits that going further offers.
“There are clear examples – including the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s own headquarters - where DECs have helped public bodies to reduce their energy use and slash bills by an amount that hugely outweighs the administrative costs.
“Rather than rowing back on DECs, Government needs to ensure they are better enforced, with a view to extending them beyond public buildings.”
For more information, the consultation document can be found here
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