Office Owners Overestimate their Buildings' Energy Ratings

Two-thirds of office landlords believe their buildings will get higher energy performance ratings than those anticipated by experts.

The results of a survey by Building and the British Council for Offices, ahead of the Think 08 conference, revealed that 67% of office landlords and occupiers expected their buildings to receive either a C or D rating. Only 27% anticipated a rating of E to G. An E is equivalent to the 1995 version of Part L of the Building Regulations.

Brian Scannell, managing director of energy assessment company NES, said survey respondents were ‘very optimistic’. He said: ‘People assumed their homes would be mid-range but the average rating was D. I'd be surprised if we had a significant number of C-rated buildings.’

John Field, an assessor with energy management consultant Power Efficiency, said he had come across a couple of buildings built in the eighties and nineties that had just ‘scraped’ a C rating. He said, ‘Most air-conditioned buildings constructed at this time would be D or E.’