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The EPC assessment was conducted by John Field, also the first CIBSE-accredited assessor.

鈥淓PCs are not just another annoying piece of EU red tape,鈥� said Field. 鈥淓PCs will make great energy efficient building design visible. CIBSE鈥檚 Low Carbon Energy Assessors can go further than simply providing a building energy certificate. They can help commercial landlords and building occupiers to do more than just count carbon. They can help control it.鈥�

The 30 000 m2 20-year-old Cottons Centre on the banks of the Thames was given a C rating, 鈥渆quivalent to a B rating for a new building鈥�, said the assessor John Field of consultancy Power Efficiency.

At a gathering within the building鈥檚 main atrium overlooking the river, Field presented the certificate to Richard Ratcliffe, executive director of the UK property portfolio for St Martins which has upwards of 70 buildings on its books.

鈥淭he money we spent has been worth it,鈥� said Ratcliffe. 鈥淲e look at long-term investments and it鈥檚 about keeping an asset up to value.鈥�

St Martins spent around 拢10m about four years ago on a category A upgrade to half the building鈥檚 services, including new chillers and air handling units as well as lighting systems and controls.

An EPC rates buildings on a scale of A being highest to G the lowest. Cottons Centre鈥檚 certificate notes that if the building were typical of similar existing stock, it would have had an E rating.

From 6 April EPCs will be required under European rules for all commercial buildings over 10 000 m2 if they are put on the market to be sold or rented, or are new and about to be commissioned. If the building goes on the market before 6 April, it need not have an EPC until the sales contract is about to be exchanged.

(See the feature on energy certificates in the April issue of 黑洞社区 Services Journal)