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ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES (EPC)….. from October 1st 2008 any residential property that is being offered to let must have an EPC

From October 1st any property that is being marketed must have an EPC. The EPC is intended to help prospective tenants compare the energy efficiency and environmental impact of various properties they look at. This will be of interest to tenants as it will indicate how expensive a property will be to heat and light.

An EPC which shows a property to be environmentally unfriendly and have poor efficiency, may encourage landlords to make improvements which will benefit tenants and the environment. These improvements will be suggested in the EPC.

An EPC is only required if the property is being offered to rent to new tenants (it is not required if a tenancy is being renewed).

An EPC will be valid for 10 years

EPCs have to be prepared by accredited Domestic Energy Assessors (DEA).

Ways to make your energy rating as high as possible:

  • Insulating your property is the most cost effective measure you can take. Cavity wall insulation and loft insulation can be reasonably straight forward
  • If your boiler is over 15 years old it’s probably best to replace it
  • Fit a hot water tank jacket
  • Double glazing will reduce noise and lower heating bills – but it is fairly expensive
  • When choosing new appliances look out for the Energy Saving Recommended logo, and chose the most energy efficient in their category

Further information can be obtained from:

www.homeinformationpack.gov.uk
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
www.hipassociation.co.uk
www.communities.gov.uk/epbd

EPC helpline 0845 365 2468

Order an EPC on line at www.metropolisenergyassessors.co.uk or call them on 020 7350 2650

ECO CHARTER

GREEN MISSION STATEMENT:

As a company we are very conscious of the environment and as such we have started a ‘Green’ initiative to try to limit our impact. This will involve a number of changes for the company, some small, some large as we make a concerted effort to improve our ‘Green’ credentials.

We have already made a number of steps to date but we do view this as a long term commitment and will strive to continue this initiative long into the future.

1. COMPANY CARS

As a large part of our day is spent driving round the local area viewing properties, we decided the first thing that needed addressing was our choice of company cars. We have started a programme of changing our company vehicles to those with lower emissions and better fuel economy. We have recently taken delivery of our first two replacement cars, these being the highly regarded Toyota Prius hybrid cars and over the coming months the remainder of our fleet of pool cars will be changed to more Eco-friendly vehicles as our current car leases expire.

2. OFFICE BASED INITIATIVES

We have implemented the best practice policy in our offices in an attempt to reduce the usage of office based resources. This falls into a number of areas.

- OFFICE LIGHTING

Window displays are particularly important to offices on busy thoroughfares and are integral to marketing properties for rent. In order to save energy our window displays are on timers, limited to just a few hours per day and we have recently installed energy efficient LED fascia lighting systems to replace our old fascias.

- GENERAL ECO AWARENESS

All staff at Green Locations are encouraged to use resources responsibly and considerably.

With internal lighting, external lighting, over filling kettles and energy use generally. We compare our output year on year and a percentage of any savings that are made go towards an environmental charity.

Everyone in the company is asked to ensure their pcs are switched off at the end of each day (the energy used by machines on stand-by is very significant).

- RECYCLED PAPER

We have changed our policy on paper. From July 2008 all of our stationary is made of 100% recyclable material – this includes:

  • Headed notepaper
  • Compliments slips
  • Business cards
  • Folders
  • Information packs
  • Property particulars
  • Envelopes


RIDE2WORK PROGRAMME

We are registered with Evans cycles as participants in the Ride2work scheme whereby employees can make significant savings when purchasing bicycles. Of our 13 employees, currently two managers cycle to and from work each day and we hope this will encourage more staff to join the scheme.


FUTURE PLANS:

Aim to switch energy suppliers to a “green” provider to provide energy from renewable sources.

All waste produced to be recycled.

All new company cars to be lower emission models.

Any energy savings to be donated to an environmental charity.

Year on year to reduce the energy usage of the company where possible.

Encourage staff to join Ride2work scheme.