Over a decade ago, numerous countries all around the world began to recognise the increasing rate of C02 emissions and the negative effect this was having on our environment. On 11th December 1997, a number of countries signed up the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement made under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, who committed to reducing their rate of carbon emissions. The UK was just one of the countries who signed up to the treaty.
The UK is the 8th highest carbon emitter worldwide and our buildings make up for 50% of all energy consumed. It is forecast that a large proportion of our existing buildings will still be in use in 2050, so improving their energy performance is a huge priority.
The Government has introduced the Energy Performance Buildings Directive (EPBD) in order to make buildings more energy efficient.The aim of the Government’s EPBD is to promote improvement of energy performance of buildings through cost effective measures. As part of the EPBD, 2 types of certificates have been introduced in more to make buildings more energy efficient.
