The energy certificate is not just a bureaucratic step, but a useful tool for buyers and sellers
Whether you are a buyer or seller, you must have already come across data on energy certification needs. What exactly should be taken into account and what is the energy certificate really for? You might be surprised, but when it's made expertly, this document is actually full of useful information and guidance and is a good indicator of the important features of the property it refers to. The energy certificate is one of the tools needed for better presentation and presentation of the energy efficiency of your property to potential buyers if you are a seller. If, in turn, you are a buyer of a property you want to make sure that the property you have chosen is energy efficient and meets all the necessary standards. The energy certificate helps you make a decision when buying a property more easily. The purpose of energy certification is to classify the building into one of the energy classes, and to provide information to owners and users of buildings about the energy capacity of the building, the efficiency of their energy systems, and the quality and properties of the building. Classifying a building in the energy class determines its energy efficiency.
What is an energy certificate?
An energy certificate is a document that presents the energy performance of a building and is prepared by authorized persons for energy certification – energy certifiers.
Energy certification includes several segments: energy audit of the building, the necessary calculations for reference climate data for the expression of specific annual heat requirement for heating, specific annual heat energy requirements for cooling, specific annual energy supplies, specific annual primary energy emissions, specific annual CO2 emissions, determination of the energy class of the building and finally the preparation of the energy certificate itself.
The document is valid for ten years and contains general information about the building, the energy class of the building, the validity period of the certificate, data on the person who issued and made the energy certificate, data on the persons who participated in the preparation of the energy certificate, energy certificate mark, data on thermotechnical systems, energy needs of the building, data on the use of renewable energy sources, proposal of measures, more detailed information and explanation of the content of the energy certificate.
It is issued for a building, or a special part thereof, for which it is necessary to use energy to maintain the internal design temperature in accordance with its intended purpose, except for:
- a building used for holding religious ceremonies or religious activities
- a temporary building with a shelf life of two years or less, an industrial plant, a workshop and a non-residential agricultural building with low energy needs
- residential building that is used less than four months a year
- free-standing building with a total usable area of less than 50 m2.
The investor or the owner of the building is obliged to obtain an energy certificate before issuing the use permit, unless otherwise stipulated by the Law.
The owner of the building, i.e. its special part, is obliged to:
- obtain an energy certificate before selling, renting, leasing or leasing a building or a special part thereof
- submit an energy certificate or a photocopy thereof to the buyer, tenant, lessee or lessee
- present the energy certificate to the possible buyer, tenant, lessee or lessee
- in the advertisement for sale, rental, leasing or leasing of a building or a special part thereof published in the media, indicate the energy class of the building.
What is the energy class of a building?
The energy class is reported for reference climate data and is an indicator of:
- specific annual heat energy requirements for heating for reference climate data and algorithm prescribed space use regime and operating regime of technical systems,
- specific annual primary energy for reference climate data and algorithm prescribed space use regime and operating regime of technical systems, which in residential buildings includes energy for heating, domestic hot water preparation and ventilation/air conditioning
- and in the case of non-residential buildings it includes energy for lighting and energy thermotechnical systems for a particular type of non-residential building (office buildings, education buildings, hospitals, hotels and restaurants, sports halls, shop buildings, other non-residential buildings).
Residential and non-residential buildings are classified into eight energy classes according to the energy scale from A+ to G, with A+ denoting the most energy-friendly and G denoting the most energy-less energy-efficient class.
How is energy certification carried out?
The inspection of the building is carried out by authorized persons each in the part of their profession on the basis of the methodology of conducting the energy audit of buildings (a set of actions and procedures for conducting an energy audit of buildings, which also contains an algorithm for calculating the energy performance of buildings).
Energy audit of the building includes:
- preparatory actions,
- collecting all the necessary data and information about the building that are necessary for the implementation of the energy certification process of the building and determination of the energy class of the building,
- conducting control measurements as needed,
- an analysis of the consumption and costs of all forms of energy, energy and water for the period of the three preceding calendar years,
- proposal of measures to improve the energy efficiency of the building or to improve the energy performance of the building that are economically justified with the calculation of the return on investment period and the sources of prices for the implementation of the proposed measures,
- report and conclusion with recommendations and order of implementation of economically justified measures to improve the energy performance of buildings or energy performance of buildings.
In the process of conducting an energy audit of the building, analyses relating to:
- How to manage energy in the building
- thermal characteristics of the outer envelope (façade)
- heating system
- cooling system
- ventilation and air conditioning system
- hot water supply system
- power supply, distribution and consumption system
- electric lighting system
- water supply system
- measurement, regulation and control system
- alternative energy supply systems
New buildings
The energy certificate of the new building is issued on the basis of the data from the main design in relation to the rational use of energy and thermal protection of the building, written statements of the contractor on the works carried out and conditions of maintenance of the building, visual inspection of the building and the final report of the supervising engineer on the performance if there was an obligation to make it.
Existing buildings
Energy certification of an existing building includes the energy audit of the building, the necessary calculations for reference climate data for the expression of specific annual heat energy required for heating, specific annual heat energy requirements for cooling, specific annual energy supplied, specific annual primary energy emissions, specific annual CO2 emissions, determination of the energy class of the building and preparation of an energy certificate.
Existing buildings or their independent usable units sold must have a valid energy performance certificate submitted to the buyer before concluding a sales contract.
Individual independent usable units of buildings that are rented, leased or leased must have a valid energy certificate available for inspection to the lessee or lessee, before concluding a rental , leasing or leasing contract.
We offer clients who sign an exclusive representation agreement with Regent a free energy certificate and a property valuation. Contact us today and find out more about this great offer!
