Product category:
Air Conditioning Services
News Release from: Efficient Air | Subject: European Directive on Energy Performance
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 September 2005
CIBSE inspection turns the heat up
Advisory working group of Trade Associations to advise the ODPM on the implementation of the European Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings
Darren Bryant, managing director of energy management consultancy Efficient Air is part of a working group that advises the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the content and implementation of the forthcoming Energy Performance Of Buildings Directive So what? I am fortunate enough (or am I?) to sit on an industry advisory working group of Trade Associations to advise the ODPM on the implementation of the European Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 23 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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We are looking specifically at Article 9 "Inspection of Air Conditioning".
No one can deny the importance of energy management, and the vital role it must play in saving energy, reducing CO2 emissions and ameliorating global warming.
It is particularly important to Efficient Air and all our clients.
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Domestic and non domestic buildings account for around 40 per cent of all the energy consumed in the EC.
EC research has indicated that by improving the energy efficiency of buildings, we can reduce building energy costs by as much as 22 per cent.
According to my sums by January 2009 the UK would need 1500 trained inspectors.
But do we need another report from yet another working party?.
Will it not add yet more fog to an already murky regulatory landscape? Regrettably - for it takes up time that I can ill afford - we do.
This issue is far too important to leave solely to the politicians and their civil servants.
They say that the devil is in the detail, and ARTICLE 9 of the EPBD requires: - regular inspection of air conditioning systems over 12kW - preparation of a report on the inspection - an assessment of the capacity of the system, with recommendations for its improvements.
The major issue is where the army of inspectors will come from.
Certainly not from members of the existing HVAC industry, already suffering from a technical skills shortage and new blood.
There are over 250,000 non domestic buildings in the UK qualifying for a regular 3 year air conditioning inspection.
According to my sums by January 2009 the UK would need 1500 trained inspectors, experienced in a wide range of technical aspects including refrigeration and cooling distributions, air movement and treatment, building control set points and cooling load calculations for a given area.
Efficient Air has piloted the first air conditioning inspection according to the requirements of Article 9 on CIBSE headquarters in Balham.
Whilst the exercise identified some major energy saving opportunities, the skills required to find opportunities and make recommendations on other buildings would be similar to that of an experienced mechanical and electrical engineering consultant, biased towards energy efficiency.
"Our estimates are that the EPBD Article 9 will bear a cost to the UK of GBP150m per year from 2009 onwards" To attract this level of expertise to the new inspection marketplace the building owner will ultimately pay.
Our estimates are that the EPBD Article 9 will bear a cost to the UK of GBP150m per year from 2009 onwards.
This cost needs to be viewed as an investment as the inspections should produce many recommendations which, if the building owner chooses to implement, will assist in achieving the carbon emission reductions that the directive was set to achieve.
Any views on this subject from readers would be most welcome.
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