Building Energy Ratings (BER)

On the 1st January 2009 the new Building Energy Regulations came into force.

This means that all homes offered for sale or rent will need a Building Energy Rating (BER) to accompany them. The BER system has been put into place under the energy performance of building EU Directive, which aims to make the energy performance of a building available. This allows any purchaser or tenant of a dwelling to make an informed choice and choose a home which has a higher rating and potentially less running costs than that of a home with a lower BER. Up to now electrical appliances such as fridges, washing machines, dryers etc have had to display their energy ratings, now building will have to do same.

The rating system runs on a scale where A is the best and G is the least efficient. Sub categories are broken down as shown by the BER scale below. BER relates to the primary energy kWh/m²/y. There is no limited standard and these ratings are valid for 10 years unless changes are made to the building.

There is no legal requirement on any dwelling to have any particular BER, however new buildings must conform to current building regulations which outline minimum standards, a building must achieve for its various elements such as, roof, walls, floors etc. If one were to construct a dwelling to this minimum standard then they would likely achieve a C rating on the BER scale.

In the future it envisages that the BER of a dwelling may have a significant affect on the saleability of a home, for instance should 2 houses of similar size and quality be offered for sale, one would obviously choose the one with the higher BER and potentially lower running costs. As a result one can already see developers advertising their homes for sale stating that they have and excellent BER.

In order to get BER for your home whether it is new or old you will need to engage the services of a BER Assessors. BER assessments must be carried out by registered BER Assessors who have trained under the National Framework of qualifications and are officially registered with Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI). There is a list of qualified Assessors on the SEI web site (www.sei.ie). All BER assessors have to meet stringent requirements laid down by SEI, including signing up to a clearly defined code of practice. This code of practice is also available on the SEI Web page. He or she will in the case of an existing property carry out an inspection of the building gathering such data as is required to make an accurate assessment. They will then issue you with BER certificate for the building indicating its energy rating.

The Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure

The energy which a building uses derives from its performance in a number of areas. These include not only design and construction but also the energy source, living habits and dwelling occupancy. Sustainable Energy Ireland has developed a Dwellings Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP) in connection with energy labelling regulations and also Building Regulations.
The calculations are based on a standardised use of a new dwelling. To enable sensible comparisons, people are assumed to live in a standardised way. The calculations consider:

Heat loss as a function of dwelling shape and size;
Heat loss through floors, walls and roof, taking insulation into account;
The thermal mass of the construction: heavyweight, lightweight, or in between;
Windows, roof lights and external doors;
Ventilation;
The type of fuel used;
e efficiencies.

Improving your BER

On a new build project the BER assessor can carry out his assessment on the plans and specifications proposed. From this he can tell you what that building is likely to achieve assuming it is built in accordance with the drawings and specifications. At this point one has the opportunity to amend the drawings and specification in order to achieve a better rating. As mentioned earlier the minimum standards required by the building regulation will give approximately a C rating. In order to improve this, certain areas can be looked at. However in practice it is extremely difficult to achieve an A rating using contemporary materials and design common in this country. To achieve an A class rating the house would need to be designed with such a rating in mind. This would radically affect the construction with high thicknesses of insulation being required, the position of the dwelling being paramount and the house being designed as a passive home throughout.
It would however be quite possible to achieve a B rating by improving the various elements and incorporating additional features such as the following described in the diagram below: