On Tuesday, government gazetted new regulations that demand that buildings’ energy efficiency must be declared.
Owners must display a certificate of the building’s “energy performance” at the entrance of the building. The energy performance refers to the net energy consumed in kilowatt hours per square meter per year – including for heating, hot water heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting. An energy performance certificate must also be submitted to the South African National Energy Development Institute. The certificates are valid for five years.
The certificate must be issued by an accredited body.
Failing to display information about a building’s energy performance, or not submitting the necessary certificate, will be illegal.
The new rules apply to all offices and other private non-residential buildings (schools, malls and theatres etc.) that are bigger than 2,000 square metres. Government buildings larger than 1,000 square metres must also comply with the new regulations.
The department of mineral resources and energy will appoint monitors to check whether buildings have these certificates.
Similar energy performance certificate systems are currently in operation in the EU and the UK, where it was launched in 2007.
Source: Business Insider South Africa
Link: https://www.businessinsider.co.za/trending/energy-performance-certificates-2020-12
