A Public Building Energy Assessor issues Display Energy Certificates (DECs) on public buildings (buildings occupied or part-occupied by public authorities or by institutions or organisations providing public services).

Display Energy Certificates are based on real evidence and historical data on the actual energy performance of a building and provide an operational rating of the building as opposed to an Asset rating provided by an EPC. DECs only apply to the largest public buildings at the moment.

Why are DECs needed?

UK law requires a DEC to be produced for all public buildings over 1,000 sq m. This is a law that stems from the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

A DEC Assessor will produce a DEC which will show:

• The Operational Rating (OR), relating to the actual energy consumption of the building and its associated emissions

• A measure of how well a building is being used in practice, compared to a benchmark standard

DECs must be displayed in a prominent position within the building and updated annually. An advisory report will also be required, but only once every seven years.

Display Energy Certificates provide information to visitors about the energy performance of these buildings. This raises awareness of energy use in our public buildings and allows public authorities to show, over time, the benefit of the measures they are implementing to reduce their environmental impact. They will be helped in this by the Advisory Report that accompanies the DEC.

The Advisory Report details a range of possible measures that might be implemented to improve the energy performance of the property. Display Energy Certificates and Advisory Reports can only be prepared by qualified and accredited DEC Assessors.

Who can produce Display Energy Certificates and Advisory Reports?

Only Energy Assessors accredited to produce DECs and ARs for particular types of buildings can produce them.  This is a natural progression for a DEA to progress into the commercial arena.

To gain the qualification you will need to demonstrate your competence against the National Occupational Standards (NOS).  Once qualified and accredited you will then be able to undertake assessments producing operational ratiings and Advisory Reports which combine to provide the elements of Display Energy Certificates.

We are approved to offer you the DEC training and route to the qualification for all levels of ability.

What are the steps to achieviing the DEC Award?

It takes on average between 2 to 3 months to achieve accreditation for a typical candidate.

Undecided between the DEC and the Non Domestic Energy Qualification?

Here are a few facts to help you:

• The key step for both qualifications is developing the knowledge on the fabric and construction of commercial buildings and building services knowledge

• The retail sector is likely to want to offer DECs following the successful outcome in this phase so opportunities will grow

• It is a much easier step for DEAs and new entrants to move into DECs (for example, the software is a lot easier).  Then the natural progression from DEC is onto Non Domestic Assessment

Future developments for DECs?

The new Government have already indicated that they intend there to be a mandatory requirement for all public and private nondomestic buildings over 1,000 square metres to have Display Energy Certificates and there is a further incentive for commercial buildings to have a DEC carried out on their buildings as a first benchmark of energy rating to assist carbon reduction commitment plans

It is important to note that the legislation introduced in the UK is driven by the EU, and here

too it is clear that property as an industry is targeted for major changes to reduce its carbon intensity. Of particular significance is the political agreement reached in November 2009 on the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. This in itself will force through many changes we must respond to, most notably the commitment that all buildings built after 31 December 2020 must have high energy-saving standards and be powered to a large extent by renewable energy. Public authorities will lead the way two years earlier and part of the funding for these changes will come from the EU.

For more information on the training modules and an informal chat about our training, please call 01572 722814 or send an email to energyassessor@adaptandsustain.co.uk