From July 2008, commercial buildings with a smaller floor space than 10,000sqm of usable space will be required to have Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to demonstrate how energy efficient they are.

Currently commercial buildings with over 10,000 square metres of usable space are affected by the new legislation.

Sarah Dunkerley, Awarding Body for the Built Environment’s (ABBE) operations manager, said: “People are becoming more familiar with the idea of domestic energy assessment for homes, which the government introduced as part of Home Information Packs. The next challenge is to make people aware that commercial buildings now need these certificates too.”