All new dwellings built since January 2001 are required to have a certificate of 'standard assessment procedure' (SAP). This is a rating for the energy efficiency.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and energy used in the home is responsible for roughly 25% of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions.
Wasting energy costs money (your money!) whereas measures such as loft insulation often pay for themselves within a few years.
Energy saving measures also improve the quality of housing, helping to create warmer, healthier homes for old and vulnerable people.
A SAP energy rating gives a measure of the overall energy efficiency of a house, based on energy consumption for space and water heating. The rating is expressed on a scale of 1:120 the higher the number the more energy efficient the dwelling is.
The House Builders Federation has prepared a label that, as well as being used as a certificate, promotes the energy efficiency benefits of a new home over a second-hand one.
This label resembles those you see on fridges and other white goods: it contains a colour bar chart showing the energy rating of the new home charted against the average SAP and carbon index figures for the existing housing stock. The label is visually very simple with the SAP rating improving from red to green and the carbon index from grey to blue. There is also an overall arrow fading from blue (poor) to green (excellent).
It is possible that, if vendors are required to provide some kind of information pack to potential buyers, information on the energy efficiency could be a significant factor in a purchasers decision whether to buy a new or a second-hand property.
The system of providing an energy rating could be extended to cover existing homes: this would provide an opportunity to upgrade the existing housing stock, as vendors would have an incentive to make energy saving improvements. While the installation of double-glazing, loft insulation etc have been promoted as desirable, at present this does not necessarily make a big difference to the selling price. In the event that the sellers pack contained such information, this could become a significant selling point.