Energy Performance of Building Directive
Building Energy Rating Certificate - How aware are you?
What is the Kyoto Protocol?
Ireland, along with all EU Member States, has committed to reducing
its harmful CO2 emissions in order to meet the reduced targets set
out in the Kyoto Protocol. In Ireland nearly 1/3 of all the energy
related CO2 emissions arise from energy consumption for heating,
cooling, lighting and other services in buildings, this is rapidly
on the increase and is a major concern for the future environment.
What is the Energy Performance of Building Directive?
The EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) contains
a range of provisions aimed at improving energy performance in residential
and nonresidential buildings, both new-build and existing.
New Building Energy Rating Certificate - How does this
affect you?
Every home owner will be required to obtain a Building Energy Rating
(BER) certificate if they intend to sell or rent their house.
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It will impact on an estimated 170,000 sale or rental transactions
per year.
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It will mean that anyone buying a house will be able to check
the energy performance of the house and get an indication of
the annual running costs.
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It will allow house hunters to compare the energy performance
of two different houses on an equal scale.
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It will improve energy awareness in the property market both
for home buyers and developers.
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The awareness created by the energy rating certificate can
be expected over time to place a somewhat higher value on more
energy efficient properties.
Is there a need for this kind of legislation?
Yes, currently the energy performance of a house is not visible
and so it can’t be taken into consideration by homebuyers
or tenants. The Building Energy Rating (BER) will provide a clear
energy rating for a house thus making the energy performance visible.
For the first time this will allow home buyers to take energy performance
and energy costs into consideration in their purchasing decision.
When will it come into place?
It was transposed into national law on the 4th January 2006, full
implementations are as follows:
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1st January 2007 - BER of new dwellings;
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1st July 2008 - BER of new buildings, other than dwellings;
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1st January 2009 - BER of existing dwellings and other existing
buildings, when offered for sale or rental.
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