About Energy Assessments
Ingham Domestic Energy Assessors (IDEA) is a Shropshire based husband and wife organisation formed specifically to carry out Domestic Energy Assessments and we are working in collaboration with EnergyPlus and ShropshireHIPs.
On August 1 2007 it became mandatory for all houses that are being sold and have four bedrooms or more, to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), this forms part of the Home Information Pack (HIP). From September 10 2007 three bedroom houses are included and it is likely that all houses for sale will require an EPC by the the end of the year. The EPC for this sector is the first part of an EU Directive that will require all buildings to have an EPC whenever they are constructed, sold or rented by January 2009.
The energy assessment takes measurements to analyse the cost of heating, water and lighting for a house and makes recommendations to improve the energy performance of the house. National software is used in the production of the certificate which gives the house a rating between A and G. It is a similar scale to that used on domestic white goods, such as fridges.
The EPC will also inform householders what improvements to the energy performance of their house they could make to reduce the CO2 emissions. We feel a Domestic Energy Assessment will be a useful part of encouraging the British population to be more efficient in its energy use.
The Energy efficiency of UK Housing
The energy efficiency of our housing stock could be vastly improved.
Some Facts
In 2004 homes were responsible for 30% of the total UK energy use and 27% of Carbon Dioxide emissions
Between 1990 and 2000 there was a 30% growth in domestic energy consumption
If all empty cavity walls were filled with insulation we could cut carbon dioxide emissions by 7 million tonnes per year.
8% of homes have no loft insulation, whilst around 14 million homes have insufficient loft insulation
Every household in the UK creates around 6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year
The average home in Britain will get an E grade on an A to G scale. New homes built to 2006 Part L building regulations will get a B- or C+. To gain an A rating a new home would have to achieve a 60% cut in carbon dioxide emission over and above the 2006 Part L requirements
The following is a synopsis of a press release from 2004 put out by National Home Energy Rating (NHER), National Energy Centre, and can be downloaded from the side bar. »
