From April 2018 a new legal standard for minimum energy efficiency will apply to rented commercial buildings.
At the moment commercial buildings have an energy efficiency rating that goes from A – G. F and G are the worst performing. What the new law will do is introduce a minimum standard of E and that means that buildings cannot be rented out unless they meet that standard.
Industrial buildings are exempt from the new standard and Steve Gardner, sales director of Leicestershire-based luminaire specialist, Ecolighting, is calling for this to change.
“As things stand there is no accepted means of measuring an industrial building’s energy efficiency. As a result, occupiers have no way of telling if the building is efficient, inefficient or somewhere in between,” he says.
He continues: “A system that gives industrial property an energy efficiency rating would be hugely beneficial to both existing occupiers and those looking to rent or lease a new unit.
“For example, it would allow tenants and prospective tenants to negotiate better rental fees with landlords if the building was clearly not as energy efficient as it might be.
“Equally, it would enable those landlords that have invested in the energy efficiency of their units to charge premium rents if they had a credible system of measuring and demonstrating the building’s performance.”