Climate Change and Legislation            

Climate change is becoming an increasing concern and is affecting the health of our planet. The governments 'Energy White Paper' Feb 2003, highlighted some alarming issues including:

-Arctic sea ice has thinned by 40%

-Sea level rising an average 1-2mm every year

-A 12 times increase in the use of the Thames Barrier over the last 5 years.

The Kyoto Protocol 2002 is a worldwide agreement committing many nations to reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 92% of 1990 levels by 2012.

The EU Directive 2002/91/EC is intended to raise awareness of energy use in buildings and lead to investment in energy efficiency measures.

From the EU Directive:

-Article 7 :'...when buildings are constructed, sold or rented out an Energy Performance Certificate ...is made available to the prospective buyer or tenant...'

-Article 10 :'...the certification of buildings...are carried out in an independent manner by qualified and accredited experts ...'