A Building Energy Rating or BER for short is similar to the energy label for a household electrical appliance like your fridge. The label has a scale of A to G. A-rated homes are the most energy efficient and G the least efficient.
A BER is simply there to check how efficient your house is at using energy and will rate how much energy it will use and how much carbon it will produce. It covers energy used for floor area heating, overall water heating, ventilation and lighting. This is calculated by an official BER Service engineer on the basis of a standard occupancy and is expressed as primary energy use per unit floor area per year, resulting in the issue of a BER certificate.
From the 1st of January 2009 a BER certificate is compulsory for all homes being sold or rented. If you are buying or renting a new house or apartment now, you are entitled to a BER - so do ask the seller/landlord or their agent for it. Likewise if you are selling or letting premises you need to provide a Certificate for your property.
All new homes (even when not for sale) must have a BER certificate before they are occupied as detailed under S.I. 666 under
http://www.environ.ie/en/Legislation/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/
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Ireland has discovered the need to increase awareness of our carbon footprint and energy waste and the cost of this will now prepare us to re-think the construction of buildings and using the materials and knowledge available to us create not just an Enviromentally Friendly House but one that is comfortable and meets the needs of a modern Irish Family, which are cheaper to maintain and have a higher resale value.
By 2020 all houses in Ireland must be carbon neutral structure but there's no reason not to achieve it today.
