BER Certification

All school buildings must now comply with the requirements of the Energy Performance Buildings Directive (EPBD). The relevant legislation is Building Energy S.I. No. 666 of 2006 European communities (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2006 and subsequent legislation.

This directive is part of Europe’s strategy to meet its commitments to the international Kyoto Protocol which took the form of an agreement to limit emissions of green house gasses.

The key requirements of the EPBD are:

1. Consideration to be given to the provision of alternative energy systems in the design of any large building.

2. All public buildings (> 1000m²) will require an Energy Performance Certificate displayed in a visible location.

The Department of Education and Skills has taken the view that all new schools regardless of size and extensions greater than 500m² will require an Energy Performance Certificate displayed in a visible location.

It is a requirement of the above that consideration be given to the provision of alternative energy systems in the design of any large building (>1,000m²) for which a planning application is made, or a planning notice is published. A person who commissions the construction of a large new building shall ensure, before work commences on its construction, that due consideration has been given to the technical, environmental and economic feasibility of installing alternative energy systems in the proposed large building, and that the use of such systems has been taken into account, as far as practicable, in the design of that building.

The alternative energy systems to be considered shall include the following:

(a) Decentralised energy supply systems based on renewable energy

(b) Combined heat and power systems

(d) Heat pumps

The Department of Education & Skills has reviewed the application of the above technologies in school buildings with respect to technical, environmental, economic feasibility and operational issues and concludes that it is not practical to include these applications in the design of a school building at this time. Low energy design has been incorporated in school design on a hybrid basis by maximising natural resources and utilising technologies. Maximising natural resources involves focusing on areas such as passive solar design, good natural daylight, natural ventilation and air infiltration. The Department has focused on utilising technologies in a number of areas including heating, lighting, water efficiency and air tightness testing; these are incorporated into the Department’s technical guidance documents. To avoid unnecessary additional evaluations for each project which do not deliver any further benefit or insight the Department of Education & Skills has produced the following standard guidance following evaluation of alternative energy systems for school projects.

Please click on the links above to view more about each of these.

BUILDING ENERGY RATING – NEW BUILD SCENARIO:

A person who commissions the construction of a non domestic building (e.g. school) on or after 1 July 2008 shall, before such building is occupied for the first time, secure a BER certificate and advisory report in relation to the building and shall produce a printed copy of such BER certificate and advisory report to the building control authority in whose functional area the building is situated, on demand being made by that authority for its production. Click here for full details on this topic.