It would be so easy to massively improve the effectiveness of DECs, so why is government not doing it?

Display Energy Certificates (DECs) are probably the most undervalued and poorly utilised element of the UK Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) regulations. Lack of investment has allowed the software and methodology to become out of date, the format change made them  less impactful, enforcement is virtually non-existent, and the legislation itself largely misses the point.

However, it does not need to be this way. The cost of the improvements needed for them to have massively more impact is negligible. This is an inexcusable wasted opportunity that must not be allowed to continue.

Proficiency has produced a report identifying where the real power of DECs lies, and the easily achievable improvements that will harness that power. 

Some of the main points are 

• A lack of engagement with DECs
• The need for some form of minimum energy efficiency standard to apply to them
• The carbon factors are out of date and need to be brought into line with those used in non-domestic EPCs
• The building type benchmarks are also out of date and need to be updated to reflect 18 years of changes to how buildings are used, including of course the massive impact of the growth in remote working.
• The ability to provide a Recommendation Report when a DEC is not required or cannot be produced needs to be reinstated
• There are situations where a DEC needs to include some satellite buildings for it to be more accurate
• DECs for qualifying buildings below 1,000 m2 also need to be renewed annually as the highest value comes from identifying the year-on-year trend

Read the full report HERE


Published 22-08-2025