Perspective
Buildings
Building design
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Creating user-friendly EPCs
Energy performance certificates or Energy Labelling has been used in the Danish building sector since 2006. About half of the building stock in Denmark has an EPC. The certificate assigns an energy rating on a scale ranging from A (high energy efficiency) to G (poor energy efficiency) and lists cost-effective measures for improving the energy performance of the building and the savings potential related to the measures.
In 2021, the layout of the Energy Labelling Report was redesigned to make it easier to understand for the house owners. At the same time, a new subsidy scheme was introduced, making it a requirement to have an EPC in order to receive funding. The subsidies are targeted the worst performing buildings. Only buildings with a label D or below can receive subsidies.
Responsibility and public availability
The responsibility for implementing the EPC lies with the Danish Energy Agency (DEA), including the daily operations, supervision, quality assurance and future development of the scheme. All EPCs are registered in a central database administered by the DEA and are displayed on its public website www.sparenergi.dk. The EPC is based on a calculated energy consumption with information from on-site inspections and other sources of information. The EPC of single-family houses constructedless than 25 years ago can take place without an on-site visit to the building. For older buildings and before new buildings are taken into use, an on-site inspection is required. The validity of an EPC is 10 years. All public buildings with more than 250 m2 of useable floor area are required to have a valid EPC, which must be displayed publicly on site. All the certificate’s other key information is made available to the public through the central web-based information server www.boligejer.dk and on the site www.sparenergi.dk for energy renovation.
Increasing the value of houses with EPCs
The DEA has conducted a study on the relationship between house prices and an EPC’s rating. One of the key results was that the EPC rating has a clear and significant influence on the house price and the buyer’s willingness to pay a higher price for a higher energy rating. For example, in the case of a 100 m2 house with a C-label compared to a D-label house, it was found that this capitalised into a willingness for buyers to pay a premium of EUR 6,000 for the higher rated house. This effect is most significant in major cities. Going from from label G to F resulted in an even higher increase of the price of the house EUR 8,000.
This article is a part of the “Building Renovation – Realising the untapped potential of the built environment” White Paper. Featuring in-depth cases and insights from key Danish players, the white paper offers a toolbox of ideas, technologies, and frameworks for future-ready buildings.
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Energy efficiency in industry
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