‘No energy efficiency certificates issued’

The government appears not to have issued a single energy efficiency certificate for new dwellings even though EU regulations laying down specific requirements were implemented in 2007, the Labour Party said.

All new dwellings approved by permits issued by the Planning Authority since January 2007 are supposed to comply with the new regulations and have a certificate to show it. The regulations were strengthened further by new measures introduced in January 2009.

Opposition spokesman for sustainable development Leo Brincat said that in spite of the regulations, the government had not issued a single energy efficiency certificate on a new dwelling since then. “Initially, it was announced that there were problems processing the tender dealing with the purchasing of software to be used for the verification of these standards. Then the government took a significant amount of time before getting a team of qualified assessors together to conduct audits on energy efficiency requirements,” he said.

He added that the process had still not formally begun, although according to the government it should have started in April.

New properties since 2007 are meant to abide by a series of regulations, including the need to have walls and roofs of a certain thermal resistance, and proper insulation.

Furthermore, buildings with permanently-installed heating and cooling systems need to have thermostat controls, and lighting should have an adequate number of switches to regulate unnecessary energy consumption.

Buildings should also have an adequately-sized reservoir so that rain water can be collected and used for flushing of toilets and, in large developments, for irrigation of green areas.

The Building Regulations Office Service Division, which falls under the Resources Ministry, held courses in May and June last year for architects and engineers to qualify as assessors.