A Home’s Energy Efficiency Through BER

Recently, it comes to my attention that even buildings bear their own energy efficiency system.  All I thought is that only appliances need this to be called standardized.  Now even building must bear their energy certificate known as BER certificate.

But first, what is BER?

Building Energy Rating or BER is an energy efficiency grade issued to know the building’s energy performance. The calculation, issued by qualified controller or assessor has an A to G rating scale to determine the energy standard.

Why BER?

By checking the building’s energy efficiency, landlords or owners will know if their building needs improvement in order to save energy and money.

A BER Certificate shows it all

Registered BER assessors, after thorough surveys and test will issue a BER certificate that will determine the energy level of the building.  Using a scale of A-G, with A as the most efficient, buyers or possible renters will understand what is the status of the energy efficiency of the building. BER cert is like the energy label of the home appliances. The certificate shows the name and address of the building, BER number, date of issue and expiration, its BER assessor number and the company number of BER assessor.

Passing the energy efficiency

I understand that there is no pass or fail in the BER cert of the building. Make sure to talk to a licensed BER assessor on advising on things you can do to make your home more efficient. Sometimes, these improvements have incentive grants from the Sustainable Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

Tips for buyers or renters

·         Check if the property you’re interested in buying or renting has a BER cert.

·         Be reminded that houses or apartments constructed after January 1, 2007 must have a BER cert.

·         If they are sold or rented after January 1, 2009, the owner must also present a BER cert.

BER cert has a validity of 10 years.  If the building already has a BER cert, and the owner decides to make changes or reconstruction, they need to apply for another BER test and survey.  And another BER cert will be issued pertaining to the present standard of the building.

What is BER?

The sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, released figures that proved that 200,000 Irish homes got a BER (Building Energy Ratings) certificate. These figures were very less in the year 2010. 2010 witnessed an issue of 100,000 homes with BER certifications. This certificate was introduced in the year 2007 as a part of the European Directive so that it could increase the efficiency of homes. Every year there is a steady growth of BER certifications which is a sign of understanding home owners. Another reason for this increase is because of the mandatory requirement of the certification at the time of selling or renting a place.

What is BER?

It is an indication of the total efficiency of the house which rates your home on a scale of A –G. A high performance is denoted by an A and the least performing home is denoted a G. Along with a BER certificate you will also get an advisory report that includes all the necessary changes you would have to make to get a high efficiency home.

There has been a rise in the awareness of BER over the last few years with 6/10 people acknowledging the awareness of the term.

How can you increase the performance of your home?

·         Increase the insulation of the walls, attic as well as the floor.

·         Make sure that the hot water cylinder and pipe-work are insulated properly.

·         Install advanced energy efficient glazing systems.

·         Install proper ventilation to increase the efficiency of your home

·         Install modern heating devices that have a better power rating for better performance

·         Replace your old boiler with a new one to increase efficiency and increase your BER ratings

·         Installing renewable sources of energy is the best way to increase the efficiency of your home and also increase the power ratings of your home.

How to get this certificate?

To obtain this certificate an assessment must be carried out by a BERassessor who is trained under the National Framework of Qualifications and also registered with Seal.

Easy and Effective Ways to Improve Your Building Energy Performance

BER certificate is one of the mandatory document that is required for renting or selling a property. Every person wants to sell his/her property at better rates and having a BER certificate with good rating goes in their favor. Many firms provide BER assistance to their customers and you can get more knowledge about such firms online.

Are you getting worried about BER of your building? Here are some tips for you to improve building energy rating:

1. Replacing the halogen and incandescent light bulbs with the low energy bulbs like LED and CFL bulbs helps in improving BER.

2. Using the excluder tape to draught seal all the letter boxes, doors and windows improves building energy performance.

3. Cover copper hot water cylinder with a lagging jacket will also help in improving BER. Replace this cylinder if it is older than 15 years.

4. Excess ventilation results in energy wastage and to avoid this, you could install controlled vents in every room of your building.

5. Heating systems will also have a great influence on the building energy performance. We can see many advanced boilers in the market these days and these boilers are more efficient than the old boilers. Thus, you could install advanced boilers in your building, replacing the old boilers to improve building energy performance.

6. Use effective heat control system in your building to achieve the best rating.

Following the above tips will definitely help you in improving your building energy performance in a great way within a very short period of time. Check the building energy performance of your building from time to time after making necessary improvements in your buildings to get the best rating.

Benefits of improving building energy performance:

1. Improving building energy performance helps you in saving your energy bills.

2. Co2 emissions can be minimized in a great way by improving building energy performance.

Why late, approach a BER assessor today to check your building energy rating!

Why A BER Assessor Is Important

For checking if your home is energy efficient or not and to get a BER certification, it is important to get it inspected by a professional BER assessor. As a BER assessor is able to determine the best sources for your home that are eco friendly, availing their services would work on a positive note. As buyers are looking for homes, which is energy efficient, having a BER certification for your home will surely cash in something extra for your home. When it comes to quality services, a professional BER assessor will check the below listed aspects before giving the BER certificate:

• Sizing, exposure, and measurements of the home and the area in which it is built
• Material that is used for the construction process
• Process of thermal insulation and the fabric that is used for building the same
• Responsiveness of the heating system and material uses for the same
• Ways where natural resources are being used
• Fuel quality used for heating
• Other sources of energy that is being utilized in homes

Along with checking the above-mentioned elements, a BER professional will provide the below mentioned features:

• Grants Application process
• Finance application if required for maintaining and enhancing the energy resources
• Management and supervision during installation
• Audit checks
• Maintenance and development of audit reports
• Providing certification once analysis is complete

With numerous service providers, you can narrow down your search by searching them online as per your area code. Once you come across professional assessors, you can contact them and ask for price quotations. Compare prices from at least 5-7 professional assessors so that it is easy for you to select the one, which is offering the best services at affordable rates. In addition to this, having a check on the tools and equipments used for analysis would help in knowing the professionalism of the company from which you will be taking the BER services. With a professional BERassessor at your services, you can easily modify your home and make it energy efficient and eco friendly. 

How to Get the BER Certificate Instantly?

A BER certificate plays a very important role whenever you are planning to sell your property. A property indicates your social status and the number of people buying and selling a property is increasing in number day by day these days. It is the BER certificate which decides your property valuation. In other words this certificate will help the buyers in knowing how strong your building is. Most of the buyers these days are checking this certificate before buying a property in order to find the best property within their budget. The BER ratings starts with A1 (most efficient) and ends with G (least efficient).

The various components on which a BER rating depends include floor dimensions, door sizes, ventilation, roof dimensions, construction type, insulation levels, windows sizes and wall dimensions. The annual energy usage for lighting, fans, pumps and water heating will also have an impact on BER rating. There are many companies which are providing the BER cert services. You could always give your first priority to a company which offers BER Cert along with BER guidance. The BER guidance will definitely help you in improving your property BER rating, which in turn helps you to sell your property at a good cost.

BER cert has also become compulsory while giving your property for rent. However as few companies are providing detailed advisory report along with this certificate. Thus you can take the help of that advisory report in order to make necessary improvements in your home to save energy. There are many search engines in online which help you in finding a good BER service provider. You could take the appointment from a good BER service provider in online in order to save your time as well as money.

Importance of BER Assessor

Calculating the energy efficiency of your home has become one of the important aspects as it helps in determining various essential points that is required for an energy efficient house. Today a prospective buyer needs to check the BER certificate from the buyer so that they are able to believe that the home that they will be purchasing is energy efficient. To get the best results of the BER analysis, it is important to get the services of professional BER assessors. Once you contact a professional assessor, they will be checking the following points listed below:

• Exposure, geometry and size of the home
• Construction material that is being used for making the dwelling
• Building fabric and the different elements of thermal insulation
• Heating system and the characteristics along with responsiveness
• Opening for natural resources of energy
• Fuel that is taken into use for heating purpose
• Alternate energy sources

Listed below are the additional features that a professional BER assessor will provide

• Applying for grants
• Applying for finance if required to maintain the energy sources
• Management of the process during installation
• Once work is complete, providing a certificate for the same
• Conducting audit for energy sources
• Develop and maintain reports for the audits

People looking for BER certificate professional can search for them online. As there are numerous service providers, you can search for them as per your requirement and area. Once you contact them, ask for the pricing of the complete process so that you can have idea about the cost that will be incurred. In addition to this, checking the prices with other assessors will also help in finalizing on any one of the service providers which is offering latest techniques of assessing the dwelling at cost effective rates.

Once an assessor comes from a professional BER company, they will look into all the essential elements that are the key factors for providing a green certificate for the home. With sophisticated gadgets and experience of handing the BER survey, a professional assessor is the one who can guide you in the right direction of having a eco-friendly and energy efficient home.

Role Of BER Accessors In Awarding BER Certificates

The importance of building energy rating has become very important these days. This is the reason why real estate companies have started putting a strong focus on this area. If BER certificate of a building or home mentions it as highly energy efficient, there is a very high prospect that it will attract a large number of buyers. BER assessors are highly trained professionals who are responsible for auditing the building. When a thorough analysis of the building is completed by the BER assessors, the owner or the real estate company is awarded with the BER certificate containing necessary information such as location, name and address of the property, BER rating, date of expiry etc.  All building and residential irrespective of their age must go through BER audit and obtain a valid certificate. However, the process is only valid for the properties which are available for sale or rent to other parties.  All apartments and residential houses sold after the year 2009 must obtain the BER certificate from the department of sustainable energy as it is a minority legal obligation for all real estate companies.  If the BER rating of the building comes out to be low, it is advisable that owners must install energy efficient equipment in the building.

Guidelines for obtaining BER certificate from the department of sustainable energy

Department of sustainable energy, Ireland is the parent organization which is responsible for awarding BER certificate. Both real estate companies and individual property owners can apply for BER certificate. DEAP or Dwelling Assessment of Energy procedure is often used to calculate the BER of building, commercial complexes and private residential properties. Sustainable Energy Department of Ireland also uses software which can calculate the exact amount of carbon di oxide emission from the building or a house.  This is the reason why the department recommends using appliances which are highly energy efficient and release low emission.  Real estate companies and agents must obtain a BER certificate if they plan to rent or sell the house.  A through assignment of the energy sources is carried by the accessors to make sure that the property does not violate the guidelines set by the department of sustainable energy.