ENERGY SAVING BLOG

Now that we are facing a recession, do we really need to have more trouble with
paying more when we offer our houses for sale? On top of paying to your estate
agent, your solicitor and your taxes is the government seeking to further rip you
off by introducing a mandatory energy rating? Let’s see what the ministers have to
say for themselves:
“This final phase of BER implementation from 1 January, 2009 is a very positive
step forward,” Minister Gormley said.  “It provides real, valuable information to
consumers about the properties they have an interest in, and about the likely
energy costs of running them.”
The Advisory Report which is an integral part of the BER system also points to
potential improvements which can be undertaken by the new owner, at his/her own
discretion and timescale, which will serve to cut fuel and energy costs further, and
improve the environmental impact and comfort of the building or dwelling.
Influencing the personal choices and behaviours of individual consumers in this way
is crucial to Ireland’s success in reducing energy usage and CO2 emissions and to
meeting our wider Climate Change obligations.”   
Minister Ryan stated: “The first step in solving a problem is to understand it.  A
BER Certificate and the accompanying Advisory Report will inform people how good or
bad their home is at keeping in heat and what they need to do to improve it.  I
expect that the information people get from the BER process will make a lot of
people think about how much money they are losing through poor insulation and will
lead to much interest in retrofitting insulation and other energy efficiency
measures in their homes, providing a useful boost to the construction sector.  I
have made available |25 million for 2008/09 to assist people with these upgrade
works through the Home Energy Saving Scheme.”
Addressing some recent commentators who described the initiative as an unnecessary
burden on property owners at a time of market uncertainty, Minister Gormley said:
“Nothing could be further from the truth.  The cost of a BER assessment is modest
compared to the value of the asset and, since it represents a commercial fee for
services rendered, it is no different from other service fees. It is imperative,
however, that consumers get value for the money they spend.  As with any other
service, I strongly advise consumers to shop around among the registered assessors
in their area in order to get the most competitive quote they can from a quality BER
assessment provider”. 
Looks like this time the new legislation may actually help consumer instead of
putting a further burden on Irish people. We say: shop around and make sure that the
quotes you get from BER Assessors include VAT and the SEI fee for registering a BER
Cert, so that you don’t get any nasty surprises when you get your invoice!!