Buildings are about people; they work in them, meet in them, and ultimately spend the majority of their waking lives in them. Therefore, the quality, and cost of renting a building is important to a prospective building tenant.
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for buildings rates their energy efficiency in kWh per square meter in an annum (kWh/m2.a). At its simplest, the EPC is a measure of the energy efficiency of a building over a year. The rating is from A to G, where A is an extremely energy efficient building and G is for an extremely inefficient building. This difference in efficiency dictates how much a building owner will pay for electricity usage for the building.
In any given rental agreement, the tenant will have to pay for utilities such as electricity, water, refuse and waste disposal. Electricity costs are passed on directly to the tenant by the building owner. Therefore, it is prudent for tenants to rent buildings that have a good energy efficiency rating indicated by their EPC rating since this will impact their operating costs. In essence, a building with a poor EPC rating means that the tenant is paying an additional cost that could be mitigated if the building was more energy efficient.
Furthermore, building tenants are now more sensitive to the environmental impacts of business activities. An inefficient building uses more energy than is necessary and it means more coal (in South Africa) than is necessary is being burnt by the power stations to meet that energy demand. This contributes to global warming, and does not alleviate the stress on our stressed energy utility.
In conclusion, conscientious business owners and tenants should consider the EPC rating of the building they want to rent or are renting. EPC is part of the environmental legislative framework in South Africa and in other countries. It is meant to encourage building owners to improve their energy efficiency to limit carbon emissions attributable to the building sector. It is important that once a building owner receives an EPC rating, they work to improve it by improving their buildings energy efficiency.
Ölinga (Oelinga) is a South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) accredited inspection body for the issuing of energy performance certificates for buildings. We are engaged in EPC assessments across the country. Learn more at www.oelinga.com.
FAQ
What is an EPC and how do I get one? https://www.oelinga.com/energyperformancecertificates
What are EPC Regulations in South Africa? https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202012/43972gon700.pdf
How can I improve my building energy efficiency? https://www.oelinga.com/post/epc-is-just-the-start
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