Stroma carries out first commercial building energy assessment in the UK 
(21/04/2008)
Stroma Accreditation, the Communities & Local Government (CLG) approved governing accreditation body for both commercial and domestic energy assessments, has become the first company to issue an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for a non-domestic building.
The Energy Assessment was carried out by Rob Molyneux, Senior Energy Assessor at sister company Stroma Technology, who recently became the first accredited Energy Assessor in the country qualified to carry out Level 4 and 5 assessments for commercial buildings. Stroma Technology, specializes in helping builders and contractors to achieve air tightness and acoustic compliance and operates a team of engineers throughout the country, making it one of the countries largest UKAS-accredited testing bodies enabling it to provide all forms of assessment to Part L including SAP and SBEM calculations.
Rob completed the first ever actual non-dwelling assessment to Level 4 on one of the company’s offices, in advance of the mandatory requirement on all non-dwelling buildings over 10,000m² due to be introduced on 6th April this year. The unit was assessed using the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM) tool and its accompanying user interface iSBEM.
Rob Molyneux said: “It is fantastic to be the first to carry out the first commercial building energy assessment in the UK. The whole process was made very straightforward by our sister company Stroma Accreditation being able to process very quickly the EPC.”
Stroma Accreditation has confirmed that the assessment has now been officially lodged on their system. By working closely with CLG, Landmark and other parties, Stroma offers a clear route for energy assessors from design software and actual energy assessment, through to lodgement of the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) and the RR (Recommendation Report).
Stroma Accreditation provides software and training to enable energy assessors to carry out Level 3, 4 and 5 assessments. The training provided enables energy assessors to understand the on-site requirements as well as the design based assessment techniques for carrying out SBEM and DSM assessments and subsequent lodgement of the EPCs.
Approximately 220,000 commercial buildings will need to be assessed each year in the UK, which includes approximately 15,000 newly constructed buildings. The UK government’s implementation timetable for phasing-in the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) requires that, from 6th April 2008, all construction, sale or rent of buildings other than dwellings with a floor area over 10,000m² will require an EPC.
This will then be followed in July 2008 by a requirement for EPCs on the construction, sale or rent of buildings, other than dwellings with a floor area over 2,500 m². From 1st October 2008, this will be extended to construction, sale or rent of all remaining buildings other than dwellings. Display Energy Certificates shall also be required for all public buildings larger than 1,000 m2.
Stroma Accreditation offers two routes to scheme membership for Building Energy Assessors. The first of these, via the National Occupation Standard (NOS) Qualification, is currently available for commercial energy assessment to level 3 Diploma. The two further levels (4 and 5) is via Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) which ecognizes existing competence within the industry, offering a fast track and cost effective route to scheme membership.
Neil Bleakley, Technical Director of Stroma Accreditation, explains: “It is a great achievement for Stroma Technology to have the first accredited Energy Assessor in the country for Level 4 and 5 commercial buildings especially because it allowed them to carry out the first assessment on one of our offices. The fact that we could also lodge the assessment and issue the EPC through Stroma Accreditation offers a very clear route for all new and existing non-dwellings. We are delighted and expect this will be the first of many commercial buildings that our members will be assessing over the coming months. It is vitally important that buildings achieve the requirements, as part of reducing carbon emissions from commercial properties.”
Neil Bleakley, continues: “The industry will require more Assessors in July which is why we are encouraging anyone interested in becoming an Energy Assessor to apply for scheme membership either through the NOS or APEL route. The fact that the APEL assessment is free of charge, which will determine which route is necessary to take, is an excellent offer.”
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