EPCs for Commercial Buildings

3.6 Collecting the information required for an Energy Performance Certificate

The energy assessor will need to understand the internal layout of the building and for what purposes it is designed to be used. This is to understand the energy demands of each individual space (zone) in accordance with its designed use.

The information that will be required to produce an EPC includes:

• the individual spaces or zones in use within the building, and their dimensions (either as verified from plans or as measured). This information is most readily provided by building plans
• the activities conducted within the zones. Examples of zones include retail space, office space, kitchens, storage etc
• the heating and ventilation services for each zone (including type of system, metering, controls, fuel used etc.)
• the lighting and controls used for each zone
• the construction of the fabric of the building and thermal efficiency of the materials used: roof, floors, walls and glazing.

If there are no plans for a building, the energy assessor will need to survey the building and gather the appropriate information. If you have up-to-date information and plans for your building this process will be less time-consuming. The energy assessor is responsible for ensuring the information used in the energy calculations is accurate and, even where detailed plans are available, may need to validate this information by making a site inspection.