According to results of recent surveys conducted by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), property professionals are increasingly asking for full versions of commercial Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), instead of a low-cost standard report. Specifically, these clients demand detailed surveys from their energy assessors, because they intend to implement some or all of the accompanying recommendations.

EPCs have the potential to make a real difference in building services jobs for commercial properties. According to the aforementioned surveys, more than 50 percent of property professionals in the UK rated EPCs as being “very important????. Almost 40 percent of the country’s energy assessors said that 50 to 75 percent of their clients were aware of the value of commercial EPCs.

An EPC provides both owner and buyer of a commercial property with information on its energy efficiency, by giving the building a standard energy and carbon emission efficiency grade from “A???? to “G???? (“A???? being the most efficient). To enhance and ensure the quality of future building services jobs, part of the EPC is a report that lists the potential rating the property could achieve if its owner or buyer made the recommended changes.

It is therefore important that those with building services jobs urge their clients to not only request full surveys from their energy assessors, but also implement the recommended changes detailed in the EPCs. The benefits will be considerably enhanced energy performance and reduced fuel bills, which make the property more attractive.