British Property Federation welcomes Green Building Council Report

The British Property Federation has welcomed the launch of a UK Green Building Council Task Group Report recommending that the owners and occupiers of commercial buildings should be required to show a Display Energy Certificate, which rates a building’s energy performance.

Patrick Brown, Director of Sustainability and Construction, said: “The BPF is supportive of a roll-out of DECs to the non-domestic sector.  The complex patterns of energy procurement, use and control in commercial buildings, and the split responsibilities of landlords and tenants, can often hide opportunities for cost-effective reductions in energy use, and the reputational driver of displaying a rating can help to encourage landlords and tenants to work together. 

“When you think that the majority of non-domestic buildings are rented, lots of potential carbon savings arising from better use of buildings should be unlocked via the simple step of collecting energy use data and reporting it.

“We especially welcome reference in the report to the free to use tool which we developed with the Carbon Trust – the Landlord Energy Statement and Tenant Energy Review (LES-TER) – which helps landlords and tenants to report to each other on energy use.”