Elmhurst Almanac:

At Elmhurst Energy, we believe that Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) need to be updated in order to better support the journey to net zero, address fuel poverty, and enhance the quality of our buildings. This call to action has been raised within our new 2023 Almanac that was recently published.

At Elmhurst Energy, we believe that Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) need to be updated in order to better support the journey to net zero, address fuel poverty, and enhance the quality of our buildings. This call to action has been raised within our new 2023 Almanac that was recently published.

Our Almanac, ‘Turning the Dial’, calls on the UK Government to adopt what we refer to as the ‘Three Cs’ approach to EPCs. This approach would ensure that equal focus is placed on energy cost, energy consumption, and carbon emissions in EPCs.

This change is needed as part of the EPC Action Plan, first published in 2020 and still to be implemented fully. Elmhurst Energy’s Managing Director, Stuart Fairlie says:

“Against a backdrop of rising fuel poverty, environmental pressures and energy security concerns, EPCs are coming in for a lot of scrutiny and criticism. This is understandable, as the EPC as it exists now is over 15 years old. it was designed then simply as a cost metric, showing how expensive or cheap a home is to run.

“This is now too basic a measuring stick for the challenges we face today. People care about cost, energy consumption and carbon emissions. The time is now right to update the EPC so that it can more easily communicate vital information about the predicted and actual energy use and carbon emissions of a building.”

As well as detailing energy efficiency legislative and regulatory developments over the last year, the almanac features a list of future policy recommendations, including:

1. redesign the EPCChange the EPC to include the ‘Three Cs’: energy consumption, energy cost and carbon emissions.

2. use the ‘golden Triangle’ for EPCs - Provide the building’s asset ratingthe predicted energy cost and consumption of a building based on average occupancy, its occupancy rating - the predicted energy consumption of a building based on the people using it - and its energy consumption (the energy the building actually uses to run).

3. Ensure EPCs reflect the current state of a building - reassess and reissue an

EPC every time a building undergoes changes that would impact energy performance. no EPC should be older than three years.

4. make energy efficiency education a priorityContinue to prioritise consumer education around energy efficient living, using energy assessors to support this.

5. Keep updating assessment methodologiesContinue to invest in updating sAP, sBEm and rdsAP methodologies to reflect the introduction of new technologies and innovation.

In addition, we are calling for the increased use of qualified energy assessors to help advise homeowners and businesses to boost the uptake of available renewable technologies; rebalance the tax applied to fuels to favour low emission fuels instead of fossil fuels; use available technology to measure real-time building energy consumption and heat loss; and create a national standard for Net Zero buildings, including introducing an independent certification or competent persons scheme.

Stuart Fairlie added:

“This year Elmhurst turns 30 and we have already seen the announcement of a new department for Energy security and net Zero, and the launch of the new task force for energy efficiency just this week. We hope the new department, faced with so many calls to update EPCs, will take heed and help us deliver the energy efficiency improvements so desperately needed.”

What is Life Cycle Assessment?

life Cycle Assessment (lCA) is becoming a more important factor across the built environment as the focus remains on carbon emissions and their impact on the planet. lCA provides both the big picture and the fine details needed to understand a building’s lifetime impact on the environment and take the necessary steps to reduce it.

Before understanding lCA, it’s vital to understand the stages of greenhouse gas (gHg) emissions examined.

What is Whole life Carbon?

Whole Life Carbon is the sum of greenhouse gas emissions from the full life-cycle stages of a building and the relevant materials. This covers raw material extraction, transportation, manufacturing, construction, maintenance, renovation, and end-oflife/demolition.

A Whole Life Carbon assessment provides the broadest and most complete picture of a building’s total emissions across its lifespan and includes two subsets: n Embodied Carbon: the amount of GHG emissions emitted during the production of materials and during construction, as well as during operation (such as retrofit work) and end of life. n Operational Carbon: the amount of GHG emissions emitted once a building is in use. This includes the energy needed to heat, cool and power the building.

Assessing the amount of carbon produced throughout a building’s lifetime identifies ways to reduce the embodied carbon in the building’s specification as well as once the building is occupied. There is also scope to identify the potential circular economy benefits, such as by keeping materials in circulation and avoiding waste through reuse.

What is Embodied Carbon?

The measurement of embodied carbon is done by multiplying the estimated quantity of each material by a carbon factor (this is normally measured in kgCO2 per kg of material). With this information, decisions can be made on which materials to use throughout a project to reduce its environmental impact.

Due to increased awareness and innovation, our buildings’ operational costs and emissions have decreased over the last decade. The embodied emissions, however, have remained relatively constant since 2010. As a consequence, embodied carbon is becoming a greater proportion of a building’s Whole Life Carbon emissions – expected to be over half by 2035.

What is involved in a life Cycle Assessment?

A Life Cycle Assessment assesses the potential environmental impacts of a building and its materials. The assessment covers all stages of a building’s lifespan, including the raw extraction of materials, manufacturing, and end-of-life/demolition.

An LCA is usually conducted in four stages. These are goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation. The assessment considers all relevant environmental inputs and outputs, including oil, water and land use, as well as emissions into the air, water and soil. From this, factors such as the building’s Global Warming Potential (GWP), Acidification and Eutrophication (overfertilization) can be understood.

An LCA report allows for a greater understanding of a building’s impact on the environment and can lead to more informed decisions on the materials used. This includes which raw materials are involved, how they are produced, where they come from, and how they are transported. The goal of an LCA is not only to collate the necessary data but to facilitate decisions and lead to more sustainable and carbon-neutral buildings.

Since 2018, a Life Cycle Assessment report has been mandatory for all projects requiring a BREEAM rating. From December 2023, an LCA should be mandatory for all projects over 1,000 m2 or more than 10 dwellings. However, early adoption is encouraged.

We need to be able to create a process that can deliver assessments at scale. With approximately 250,000 homes being built every year, LCA needs to understand the needs of this market and develop a process that is practical and utilises the skills of the country’s accredited new build energy assessors. Furthermore, we should build upon what has been successfulwhen the market for LCA increases from a few hundred each year to hundreds of thousands, we will need a process that can operate at scale using readily available practical tools. SAP and SBEM are our National Calculation

Methodologies and are being used day in and day out by thousands of assessors operating under an established quality assurance framework at a reasonable cost. The methodologies are currently under significant review, which Elmhurst would be the first to say is overdue. We feel utilising 20 years of progress will accelerate this excellent initiative.