Up to 200,000 people involved in rental-sale transactions in Ireland will need Building Energy Rating (BER) certificates each year, according to Rod Dowling, Technical Director for QRS Renewable Systems and SEI accredited assessor.

A BER (Building Energy Rating) is the standard calculation of the energy performance of a building, produced by a qualified assessor. "The certificate is an energy label, similar to the ones we can find in electrical machines. This building energy label will rate the energy efficiency of each house," he explained.

From 1 January of this year, new dwellings applying for planning application had to apply to have a provisional Building Energy Rating Certificate. From 1 July 2008, this also applies to non-domestic buildings and from 1 January 2009 this apply to all existing buildings, domestic or non-domestic.

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A person wishing to sell or let a house will be required to get a BER carried out by a registered BER assessor and to provide prospective buyers or tenants with this information. This aims at creating awareness among people of the energy value of their house and will affect the property market.

Dowling estimates approximately 200,000 people involved in rental or sale transactions will need a BER certificate every year in Ireland.

Energy Rating Assessor Procedure takes into account different factors, like exposure, floor area, materials, insulation, efficiency of heating control and design to calculate an overall energy value.

"BER allows house hunters and tenants to compare the energy performance of two different houses. If a house has C2 energy rating another one has B2, the latter is a more efficient house and will reflect on the amount of money spent in energy," Mr Dowling explained. "This means it has better materials and the carbon footprint of this house will be smaller."

SEI has currently a programme in place to train assessors in order to meet the increasing demand. Dowling estimates the number of SEI accredited assessors will have to increase three-fold by 2009. There are currently almost 200 assessors registered in the SEI official registry.

There are a number of companies currently able to provide energy certificates, including QRS Renewable Systems.

(JM)