Before Christmas the Government consulted on changes to the regulations introducing the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), postponing the first purchase of allowances for emissions for a year. However, it contained some worrying ideas about the landlord/tenant relationship, and it’s potentially another lost opportunity for air conditioning inspections.
Landlord/tenant relationships are complex and can be difficult. There are many forms of tenancy, and landlords take various positions on green or environmental terms in leases. Similarly, tenants are very diverse, with a wide range of views on energy performance and environmental responsibility. So the relative influence of landlords and tenants over energy use in rented buildings is also very varied.
Energy consumption in rented buildings is either “share” or “exclusive”. Shared consumption is energy obtained by the landlord for common areas of the building (e.g. atrium lighting) and may also include electricity for tenant consumption under shared, unmetered arrangements (e.g. central plant). This counts toward the landlord’s CRC responsibility.
There are tens of thousands of air- conditioning systems used in England and Wales. The great majority are of more than 12kw rated output. They should all have been inspected by 4 January 2011 or within five years if installed after 1 January 2008. Yet too many landlords just aren’t bothering with inspections. Inevitably many systems are using more energy than they need, without delivering effective cooling to the end users. This is an area where the existing energy performance to inform better management. And both the Landlord and Tenant Act and Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations specifically create a right of access by landlords for the purpose.
The success of CRC in rented non-domestic buildings depends critically upon incentivising energy-efficient behaviour within the constraints of leases and the 1954 Act by influencing landlord and tenant to use less energy. That is why CIBSE, the British Property Federation and the UK Green Building Council are working together to identify ways to get the CRC and the EPB Regulations, which cover air-conditioning inspections and Display Energy Certificates working together to achieve this.
Government is still open to ideas about CRC. Now is the chance to speak up, and steer it away from blaming it all on the landlord.
