What is the Building Energy Rating? How does it affect me?
The Building Energy Rating (BER) is an indication of the energy performance of a building. It reflects energy use for space heating, water heating, ventilation and lighting calculated on the basis of standard occupancy. It is expressed as primary energy use per unit floor area per year (kWh/m2/yr). All new homes built since January 1st 2007 need to have a BER assessment. All houses that are to be sold or rented from January 1st 2009 also need to have a building energy rating. The BER will promote awareness of the performance of buildings in terms of comfort, energy costs and CO2 emissions and will ultimately lead to a demand for better design and construction of buildings to give higher ratings.
