Welcome to DW EPC

The EPC is generated by specially designed and bespoke-developed software called SBEM which, in summary, evaluates each type of service installed in the shop, office, industrial, retail or leisure building, and evaluates the effect of the mode and materials of construction of the office, industrial, retail or leisure building and the type of occupancy (use) of rooms, areas or spaces (and groups these areas together, or sometimes divides them up, into zones) within the building. The heating, cooling, ventilation and illumination installations are referred to as the services and are the electrical and mechanical appliances and installations which light and condition the interior of the shop, restaurant, office, industrial, retail or leisure building.

HVAC (in full: Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning):
For the EPC for each office, industrial, retail or leisure building, the efficiency of the office, industrial, retail or leisure building space and water heating is evaluated. In East London office, industrial, retail or leisure buildings generally require heating because of the relatively long and somewhat inclement winters. Hot water supply is normally provided to sinks and basins. Modern boilers can heat space and water more efficiently than most of the older boilers and this does help to improve the EPC rating. The modern tenant often expects air conditioning because they want their staff and customers to be comfortable all year round. The commercial property sector is extraordinarily diverse and as such, many different climate control solutions are possible: split system chiller units are a common installation in smaller shops whereas huge office, industrial, retail units may employ a much larger centralised HVAC system with external air-handling units and large centralised boilers. The mode of cooling installation and the type and extent of control provided to local areas within the property can have a major effect on what the office, industrial, retail or leisure building achieves for its EPC rating.

Illumination:
The kind of lighting in a office, industrial, retail or leisure building can greatly affect its efficiency and its EPC rating. Two important factors in lighting are the intensity and the colour rendering properties. Also, different kinds of illumination with different levels of brightness are required depending on the application; supermarkets and beauty salons may have very different requirements but more lux (illuminance or density of luminous flux) does not necessarily mean more energy use because the efficiency of lamps varies dramatically. Natural light may help during the day with good morning light sometimes available in East-facing rooms; but realistically, artificial lights are often used for most of the day in office, industrial, retail or leisure buildings in East London because the level of natural light outside is not reliable and this is worse in winter because of the shorter days we have in the UK. The EPC rating can be significantly improved by making upgrades to the lighting, i.e. by replacing lamps or lamp fittings with low-energy lamps. The principal factors relating to the fabric of the building are heat loss and solar gain. The presence of sufficient insulation in the roof, walls and floor of the office, industrial, retail or leisure building helps keep a building warm in winter and can prevent it from overheating in the summer. Whilst windows do provide natural light (which can mean less reliance on artificial lighting), they are the primary source of heat gain on sunny days; shops, office, industrial, retail or leisure buildings are at risk of becoming uncomfortably hot in the summer months and this inevitably means greater use of cooling and climate control systems. Applying solar reflective film or fitting shading devices to windows can help reduce the heating effect of the sun’s rays on the office, industrial, retail or leisure building.

Staff must have the right thermal environment to maintain their productivity, and considering there may be some physical work, lifting etc, involved, Health & Safety concerns must be observed; likewise customers’ health and safety must never be ignored. In summary, it is vital to fully consider all aspects of the performance of any prospective office, industrial, retail or leisure building particularly its insulation and solar protection provision. The EPC evaluates these aspects when producing the score for the office, industrial, retail or leisure building and this in turn contributes to the EPC rating.

Our energy assessors will inspect your office, industrial, retail or leisure building (carefully assessing the building fabric and the M&E services, i.e. heating, lighting, etc) and will produce your commercial EPC and a brief recommendations report which includes practical suggestions (generated by the SBEM software) to improve the energy efficiency of your office, industrial, retail or leisure buildings or other commercial premises. We have made value and professionalism our guiding principles. We bring the assurance of being BRE-accredited and qualified, and also we are RICS-regulated. General information and advice can be found at the Carbon Trust.