THE FUTURE OF ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES (EPCs)
Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) play a crucial role in advancing the UK’s retrofit goals by enabling professionals to assess building performance and inform decision-making. However, the current EPC system has faced widespread critique, with calls for reform to make it a more effective tool for large-scale, high-quality retrofit initiatives.
Recognising this need, the National Retrofit Hub (NRH) published The Future of Energy Performance Certificates: A Roadmap for Change, a comprehensive report advocating essential updates to EPCs.
The report draws on a literature review and engagement across the retrofit sector. This included workshops and a survey gathering insights from more than 300 people.
An eight-stage roadmap for EPC reform
The roadmap explores how EPCs can better support high-quality retrofit and help people understand their homes.
Its eight stages recommend:
- Set clear targets for improving EPCs and increasing their uptake.
- Improve cost and carbon metrics so they provide more useful information.
- Introduce confidence ratings to communicate the reliability of assessment data.
- Offer additional metrics with a better interface to meet different users’ needs.
- Improve recommendations to support better decisions about home upgrades.
- Connect information through Digital Building Logbooks so building data remains accessible and useful.
- Introduce more trigger points for obtaining or updating an EPC.
- Build public awareness through a national campaign and a proposed EPC rebrand.
These are NRH’s recommendations for change. They should not be read as a description of adopted government policy.
Read the roadmap
Read or download the report below to explore the evidence and proposals behind each stage.
LITERATURE REVIEW
In the below table, you can find recommendations for EPC reform from a variety of sources. For each we have provided our own summary, and highlighted key areas of focus. This resource is provided so that our community can understand the scope of the discussion, and recommendations already on the table.
The National Retrofit Hub does not directly endorse any of the documents linked, but are grateful to these organisations for engaging within the conversation.
This is a live resource, if you’re aware of other reports or ongoing work on the subject, please get in touch at info@nationalretrofithub.org.uk.
Please note, this list isn’t an endorsement by The National Retrofit Hub but we hope having all the information in one place will be helpful!
EPC REFORM CONSULTATION: OUR RESPONSE
Since May 2024, the National Retrofit Hub has been conducting an in-depth exploration into how EPCs could be reformed to enable the local delivery of good quality retrofit at scale. We conducted cross-sectoral engagement to build a consensus on the change needed.
We welcome the Government’s EPDB Framework Consultation, and hope to continue engagement to ensure EPCs deliver on their full potential.
This document should be read alongside the National Retrofit Hub Report ‘The Future of Energy Performance Certificates: A Roadmap for Change’.
Read our full response here.
WORKSHOP INSIGHTS
On 20th May, the National Retrofit Hub held an online workshop, bringing together members of our Working Group 1: Warm, Healthy, Net Zero Homes and Working Group 2: Supply Chain Products and solutions, plus other interested members of our network. There were 100 attendees at the meeting, with representatives with the following types of roles within the retrofit sector:
Consultants, designers and retrofit coordinators
Project managers
Planning consultants and officers
Researchers and academics
Policy makers / advisors
Social housing providers and estates managers
Energy modellers
Technical specialists and standards authors
Lecturers and training providers
Andrew Parkin of the Property Energy Assessors Association (PEPA) gave the audience an overview of the EPC process, and changes to date. We then presented the audience with a summary of existing recommendations, based on the literature review, and gathered their feedback through a mentimeter survey, and via comments in the zoom chat. We discussed the following themes:
Metrics
Consumer awareness
Upgrade recommendations included within EPCs
Validity period
Scope and purpose of EPCs
EPC data access
The NRH is supported by Innovate UK, The MCS Foundation, our partners and sponsors.
Our work on EPC reform is sponsored by:
