黑洞社区

If you鈥檙e going to fix a problem you have to understand the nature of that problem. That was the thinking behind the previous government鈥檚 introduction of a requirement for all public buildings of 1,000m2 or more to have an up-to-date display energy certificate.

DECs are a means of measuring the energy consumption of a building and must be drawn up by an accredited energy assessor using government-approved software. They are valid for a year and must be accompanied by an advisory report setting out measures that could be taken to improve a building鈥檚 energy efficiency.

In keeping with prime minister David Cameron鈥檚 pledge on entering office in 2010 that his would be the 鈥済reenest government ever鈥�, the coalition in 2011 announced in its Carbon Plan that it would roll out DECs to all commercial buildings by October 2012. Following intervention from chancellor George Osborne, however, the application of DECs to commercial property was withdrawn at the end of last year, a move that caused dismay in the industry and raised questions about the government鈥檚 commitment to sustainability. It was announced that, instead, commercial buildings would only have to display energy performance certificates (EPC).

Unfortunately, EPC is a misnomer, given they do not provide a measure of how a building is performing. Rather, they take into account a building鈥檚 design and theoretically predict the energy it should consume. A report by BRE, Mind the Gap, showed that there is a considerable margin of error between the performance of a building as measured by an EPC and its actual energy use as measured by a DEC. 鈥淩eal performance is better measured by the DEC,鈥� says Nick Hayes, head of sustainability at consultancy EC Harris and a former BRE employee. 鈥淭he EPC is really a bit arbitrary.鈥�

An example of how DECs could work is provided by developer British Land, which has spent 拢1.5m to save 拢3.3m in its occupiers鈥� energy bills, in a plan to reduce the carbon emissions that it can influence by 40% over three years. It says DECs would drive this behaviour in the wider market, with the potential to save 拢200m from lower energy consumption in the London commercial market alone. While there is no obligation for the owner of the building to undertake the recommended measures, the advisory report should provide a compelling argument for them to do so: up-front costs of efficiency works will pay for themselves over time through savings in utility bills. 鈥淥ne of the considerations is the financial cost, but then utilities are currently outstripping inflation in terms of cost,鈥� says Paul Dunn, head of sustainability at law firm Eversheds. 鈥淵ou could sell the idea to an organisation purely on financial terms.鈥�

Hence DECs would provide stimulus to the construction industry while helping the government meet its own legally binding target of cutting carbon emissions 80% by 2050. That鈥檚 why 黑洞社区鈥檚 Green for Growth campaign includes a call on the government to reinstate the commitment to DECs for commercial buildings and to prepare a trajectory for their extension to all buildings.

Quite apart from the benefits DECs would have, it is difficult to find any good reason not to introduce them, especially given wide and diverse support the policy had within the industry. Organisations that signed a letter to government calling for DECs include the UKGBC, the BPF and the RIBA. Many in the property industry are simply baffled by the government鈥檚 U-turn, believing that the decision was made for political reasons. According to Jont Cole, upstream chief operating officer at property firm Jones Lang LaSalle: 鈥淚 would be surprised if there was anybody actively lobbying against [the introduction of DECs for commercial buildings]. I think it鈥檚 more that the Treasury鈥檚 just concerned about the perception of additional regulation.鈥�

Red tape is the perennial bogeyman of all governments, and the coalition has vowed to help industry by tackling regulations that impose additional costs on hard-pressed businesses. But some in the industry think the move away from requiring DECs for commercial properties cannot be for practical reasons, given the actual cost of DECs to owners and occupiers. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that the costs involved are significant,鈥� says EC Harris鈥� Hayes. 鈥淎 lot of it is done on readily available data.鈥� Alan Somerville, director of strategic solutions at consultancy Capita, adds: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a costly thing to do. There are plenty of people out there who will do that work at a pretty modest cost.鈥�

And while one might expect consultancies to back the roll-out of DECs - after all, they might benefit from the subsequent work - developers and property firms too are unimpressed by the government鈥檚 decision.

Both the BPF, which represents commercial property owners, and business lobby group the Confederation of British Industry are backing 黑洞社区鈥檚 campaign. Indeed some developers are going far further than the DEC regulations would have required.

Lend Lease, for instance, not only uses DECs, but also measures the kilowatts of energy used in its buildings per square metre. 鈥淚f you think that DECs are a good way to measure the performance of a building, then why not tie legislation to it; make it something obligatory and transparent,鈥� says Pascal Mittermaier, Lend Lease鈥檚 head of sustainability. 鈥淚 think DECs are a good way forward. They would help innovative firms get recognised for what they are doing.鈥�

So, we鈥檙e in a situation where a policy that would have significant benefits has been scrapped, despite nobody apparently asking for it to be scrapped. Worse, rather than providing a boost to UK Plc - the ultimate reason for slashing red tape - the scrapping of DECs for commercial buildings has deleterious consequences for construction, one of the country鈥檚 biggest industries. Other than a few opposition MPs, nobody would disparage the coalition for performing another U-turn. It鈥檚 time the government listened to industry and did the right thing.