News
Staff Awards:
Wayne Cronshaw who is studying for his BA (Hons) in Building Services, was recently awarded through UCLAN, the Construction Development Alliance Young Designer of the Year Award 2011...well done Wayne!
Staff News:
New Members of Staff:
We are pleased to welcome to our design team Gavin Lang, Electrical Design Engineer, Raza Sederati, Mechanical Design Engineer and Tony Austin who joins us as a part-time consultant.
Further News:
DO YOU NEED A DISPLAY ENERGY CERTIFICATE?
If your building is over 1000m2 is occupied by a public authority or provides a public service and is frequently visited by the public then you need a DEC.
Since 1 October 2008, DECs have been a legal requirement in every building over 1000m2 that is occupied by a public authority or an institution providing a public service to a large number of people which is frequently visited by the public (e.g. schools, hospitals, government or local authority buildings).
DECs work on an A-G efficiency scale, with A being the most efficient and G being the lease efficient. DECs display the energy usage of a building alongside carbon emissions produced and are design to inform the public about energy efficiency in public buildings and promote improvements to buildings that will make the country more sustainable.
DECs complement Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) which are a requirement of buildings when they are built, sold or let. Whilst an EPC shows the performance potential of the building itself and its services (such as heating, ventilation and lighting), a DEC shows how well the occupier is actually using the building.
Display Energy Certificates must be updated annually. They are accompanied by an advisory report containing cost-effective measures to improve the energy rating of the building. Although the certificate is required to be updated annually, the report is valid for seven years.
Trading Standards have the duty of enforcement and the penalties are £500 for failing to display a DEC at all times in a prominent place clearly visible to the public and £1000.00 for failing to have possession of a valid advisory report. In addition to these penalties, it is still necessary to commission the documents.
PSA are qualified to offer this service and enquiries should be made to either myself or Dale Green.
WHY USE A CIBSE LOW CARBON ENERGY ASSESSOR?
TRUE VALUE FOR MONEY
Paying to have a DEC (Display Energy Certificate) produced is an unavoidable legal requirement but with a CIBSE LCEA (Low Carbon Energy Assessor) the service you receive will be of real value to your business. CIBSE LCEAs are experts who do more than simply count carbon; they produce tailored advisory reports to help you cut the energy costs and carbon emissions of your buildings.
EXPERIENCED PRACTITIONERS
All CIBSE LCEAs have prior experience of energy management and assessment. The recommendations they make will be based on sound knowledge and experience of what works in practice and will enable you to take simple, low costs steps towards saving energy and reducing waste.
PSA are qualified to offer this service and enquiries should be made to either myself or Dale Green.
WHAT IS BREEAM?
BREEAM is the leading environmental assessment method for buildings. BREEAM is advocated at Government level as a robust means of setting standards and assessing the sustainability.
BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable design and has been widely acknowledged as the measure to describe a building’s environmental performance. Credits are awarded in nine categories according to performance, credits are then added together to produce a single overall score on a scale of Pass; Good; Very Good; Excellent; and Outstanding. A Certificate will be awarded on successful conclusion.
The operation of BREEAM is overseen by an independent Sustainability Board, representing a wide cross-section of construction industry representatives.
PSA offer full BREEAM Assessments for all forms of BREEAM, enquiries should be made to either myself or Jimmy Dobson.
Steve Pettit
C.Eng.,MCIBSE.,FI.Hosp.E.,MIEE
