§ Lord Brougham and Vauxasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps have been taken to develop and encourage the schemes for home energy labelling.
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§ Lord Cavendish of FurnessHome energy labelling tells householders, landlords and those responsible for housing stock how energy efficient their housing is. The Government have been considering how to promote the take-up of energy labelling in the UK and how best to ensure that the existence of different labelling schemes does not confuse the consumer.
With the co-operation of the National Energy Foundation and MVM-Starpoint, two organisations at the forefront of home energy labelling, the Government have decided to introduce a standard assessment procedure (SAP) for rating the energy performance of homes. This will provide consumers with a reference point and so enable them to make comparisons between labels, such as those issued on the MVM Starpoint scheme and the National Home Energy Rating Scheme (NHER). Like MVM Starpoint and NHER labels, the Government's procedure is based on the Building Research Establishment's domestic energy model. It will be published as a BRE paper.
The Government will require any labelling scheme wishing to use the SAP to meet certain quality standards. They will therefore only authorise organisations to use the SAP if they undertake to:
- — obtain a BS5750 certificate of quality assurance based on a Government Quality Statement. The quality statement will be designed to ensure reliability and consistency of SAP ratings, for example through a requirement that the labelling schemes deliver ratings within a specified number of points in the SAP scale in a specified proportion of cases. The required quality statement will be published after further consultation.
- — obtain confirmation from the Building Research Establishment that their computer software properly incorporates the new standard assessment procedure;
- — provide the Government with certain statistical data.
In view of their proven record and in order to avoid any disruption to the activities of the existing labelling schemes, the Government will give interim authorisation to MVM Starpoint and the National Energy Foundation to use the Government's SAP, upon confirmation by BRE that their software properly incorporates the SAP. This authorisation will be for 12 months, during which period they will be expected to seek certification under BS5750.
The Government hope by this initiative to expand the market for home energy labels by reducing the risk of confusion arising from an inability to compare ratings. They will be keeping developments under close review and will further refine these arrangements should that prove desirable. They will in due course bring forward proposals for consultation on the incorporation of the SAP into the requirements of building regulations.