Due to performance issues energy efficiency ratings for building products to be downgraded. Energy companies will need to undertake up to 35% more energy efficiency work in order to meet targets set under the Energy Company Obligation scheme, under proposals set out by the government earlier this week.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced it plans to downgrade the energy savings attributed to energy saving products, such as cavity wall insulations and loft insulations, when calculating the overall carbon savings from building projects under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, which comes into effect in January 2013.
Under the ECO energy companies will be required to undertake a set amount of energy efficiency work each year. Work they undertake is given a credit based on its calculated carbon savings, which adds towards their overall target. If firms do not meet their ECO obligations they can be fined by the regulator Ofgem. Under the proposals, each energy efficiency installation will earn energy companies less credit towards their total obligation than the officially stated rating for each building product –which is typically assessed by the product manufacturers.
The move to reduce the ratings is aimed at accounting for the drop in performance of energy saving measures in actual homes when compared with test labs – referred to as the “performance gap”. These downgraded ratings are already used under current energy saving programmes the Carbon Emission Reduction Target and Community Energy Savings Programme.