The introduction of Display Energy Certificates (DECs) form part of the implementation in England and Wales of the European Directive 2002/91/EC on the Energy Performance of Buildings.
DECs are required for public authority buildings, as well as those buildings where the occupant provides a public service, if they are frequently visited by members of the general public and have over 1000m2 gross internal floor space.
The DEC is designed to consider how well a building is being managed by calculating its operational rating from actual energy usage information. DECs are valid for a period of one year and in subsequent years will show up to two years previous operational ratings allowing improvements that are made to be demonstrated.
A valid Advisory Report is required alongside the DEC. This document details recommendations for improvements and is valid for a period of 7 years.
The DEC must be displayed in a prominent place that is clearly visible to visiting members of the public and should be no smaller than A3 in size to enable easy viewing. The occupier must hold a valid Advisory Report although there is no requirement to have this document on display
A DEC must by law, contain:
- The Operational Rating as determined by the government approved methodology.
- The Asset Rating from an Energy Performance Certificate for the premises if this is available.
- The Operational Ratings from previous DECs. If historic energy consumption data is available a DEC can be produced for the previous two years, thus allowing previous year’s information to be shown on the current DEC
- A reference value such as a current legal standard or benchmark