In October 2012 the government will launch the Green Deal. The Green Deal will allow homeowners to implement energy saving measures for their property without the need to pay upfront. The cost of the measures will be covered through the savings made on the home owner’s energy bills.

In order to identify a property for energy saving measures, the property must have a domestic Energy Performance Certificate “EPC”. The EPC will list the recommended energy saving measures which are available to the property. Each recommendation will show indicative cost, typical savings per year, rating after improvement and the level of Green Deal finance available. The level of finance available is indicated by using green ticks, orange ticks or no tick at all. Measures marked with a green tick are likely to be fully financed through the Green Deal. Upfront payment may be required for those marked with an orange tick. Measures without a tick are usually low cost recommendations such as “low energy lighting for all fixed outlets”  - these are not covered in the Green Deal. Using this information the homeowner will then be able to build a Green Deal package online at http://epcadviser.direct.gov.uk/epcadviser.html

The EPC which is produced by a Domestic Energy Assessor “DEA” has been revised and amended in order to incorporate the Green Deal and to be more useful to the homeowner. The accuracy of the EPC has also been improved. Due to the amendments made DEA’s are now required to do additional training and take a compulsory examination.

DEA’s who wish to continue practising and maintain their accreditation need to have completed the training and passed the exam before the amended EPC is introduced on the 6^th April 2012.

Peter Graham, Pali Ltd

http://www.paliltd.com/  

Peter Graham has been carrying out Energy Performance Certificates since they were first introduced in 2007. To this day he has an impressive portfolio and is one of the most experienced Domestic Energy Assessors in the country. Peter is now also a skilled photographer and creates impressive Virtual Tours on a regular basis, most of which are on high value properties.