Just completed over 40 level 3 air con assessments, throughout the U.K.

Our business has now been up and running for 6 months. We have just recently  completed Air Conditioning Assessments for PricewaterHouse Coopers Edinburgh, Wellstream Int Newcastle and Elanders Ltd North Tyneside.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are quickly becoming established as part of every day life for landlords, letting agents, property owners, property agents, business agents, solicitors and others. However, there is still a great deal of misunderstanding about why & when EPCs should be commissioned, the benefits/pitfalls and what is the right price to pay.

In 2007 the UK government implemented EU Directive 2002/91/EC and launched the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations. The regulations are designed to reduce CO2 emissions of buildings. An EPC shows the asset rating of the building as an A to G energy rating, with G being the least energy efficient.   The Energy Performance Certificate is accompanied by a Recommendation Report, either as a separate document accompanying Non-Domestic Energy Performance Certificates or as an integral part of the Domestic EPC document, setting out basic ways in which the building's energy efficiency could be improved. For more specific, targeted energy efficiency improvement recommendations for your business, a full Energy Audit should be commissioned.

In 1985 the EIA Directive (EU legislation) on Environmental Impact Assessment of the effects of projects on the environment was introduced. It was amended in 1997. The requirements of the Directives are incorporated within UK law through "The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999" and their equivalents for other parts of the country. Not all development projects are covered by the regulations. In particular the regulations do not apply to most small scale development projects. I regularly receive questions from developers who want to know if their project is covered by the regulations and in this article I will describe the process to determine if the regulations apply to a particular project.