EPC Belfast “How is the Energy Performance Certificate Produced”
Live in Belfast, Northern Ireland? Want to know how energy efficient your home is? By having an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) assessment of your home, you’ll know your building’s energy efficiency rating.
Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs) are the specialists who assess the energy efficiency of your building. They perform a two-step process on your building, firstly on site, and finally when they do the data input back in the office. Let’s break down the complete process and determine what is involved in both steps of the process.
The EPC survey
The first part of the process requires the specialists to survey your building’s exterior. Typically, a surveyor takes the photos of the exterior used in the assessment process to determine whether the structure’s shape is energy-efficient. The purpose is to show the building’s structure whether it is detached, semi-detached- or flat. It requires the surveyor or assessor to take photos of the front elevation of the property.
After taking the photographs of the building’s front section, the assessor will take the rear elevation photographs. If your building has an oil boiler installed at the back of the house, its photos are taken as well. Anything potentially influential on the energy efficiency of the house is captured in the photographs by the assessor.
Once done with the home’s exterio, the Domestic Energy Assessor will begin photographing the building’s interior. It involves taking photos of the heating programmer, radiators, its valves, and wall thermostat. In case of your home or building features a gas heating system, then the assessor will record its make and model.
For homes or buildings with roof space, the assessor records the loft insulation along with its width. Besides, wall width, the wall structure, the material used in construction, and the insulation type are also recorded by the assessor.
Since windows impact the building’s energy performance, the DEA will identify and capture the window glazing and thickness. The last step in the site survey is recording the lights installed and the bulbs’ energy count.
Putting The Data In The Software
After collecting all of the required information via the site survey, it’s time to use the computer software and generate a Energy Performance Certificate. Cloud-based software is used where all the information is inserted via its interface, and the system generates the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
The energy performance is measured on a scale from 0-100, with 0 being the poorest energy performance and 100 being the best energy performance. Once the results are collected from the system, you get to know your home’s energy performance, and after that, you can take appropriate steps to improve it. A digital Energy Performance Certificate stays the EPC Record of Northern Ireland. This certificate has 10 years of validity.
We hope this article has helped you understand how energy performance certificates are produced in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
