Bristol PR agency welcomes new BRE/ESTA guidance on bridging building energy performance gaps

Content Communications Ltd, the Bristol-based energy marketing consultancy, welcomes new guidance from the BRE Trust and the Energy Services and Technology Association on bridging the energy performance gap in buildings.

Currently, many public buildings are facing a disconnect in their energy data, where energy consumption and costs can be almost double the initial predictions made during the building’s design. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are designed to show the predicted and actual energy use of a building respectively, however until now it has been difficult for businesses to reconcile this data in a meaningful way.

The new guidance (entitled Bridging the performance gap – understanding predicted and actual building operational energy) details how the UK government’s Green Deal Assessment Tool can be used to reconcile the differences between theoretical assessments and actual energy consumption. It is thought that this data could be used to help larger organisations complete their mandatory ESOS audits.

Alongside the new report is a sister publication entitled Producing the business case for investment in energy efficiency. This report will help building operators to make a financial case to board members for investing in energy efficiency improvements.

Joanna Watchman, Managing Director of the energy PR agency, comments: “Both of the guidance documents produced by BRE and ESTA have come at a crucial time. With the first ESOS compliance date fast approaching, energy managers and building operators need to get to grips with how to measure and present their data to make a compelling case for energy efficient upgrades.

“DECC figures show that businesses stand to save 13.5 times the cost of an ESOS audit by properly engaging with the scheme. The new guidance documents will provide an important part of gaining ESOS compliance as businesses start to focus on the auditing process.”

To find out more about the BRE – visit www.bre.co.uk.
Visit the ESOS Hub for all the info about ESOS Lead Assessors.

Content Coms is one of the UK’s leading B2B communications consultancies specialising in the energy, low carbon and technology sectors. If you’ve enjoyed our article, how about reading more of our energy news and analysis?