EPS & EIA Environmental Performance Statement / Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental Performance Statement (EPS)
Energy Audit
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)

An Environmental Performance Statement (EPS) is a written statement that accompanies a planning application. It provides detailed information on a range of environmental conditions and indicates how these will be affected by the proposed development. Applicants of proposed developments over a certain size will be expected to also fill out the sustainable buildings sections of the EPS to ensure that their proposals incorporate sustainable design measures as far as possible.

On larger planning applications it will be necessary to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Environmental Impact Assessment under the Town and Planning (EIA) Regulations 1999

Energy Audit

Energy Assessors London's Energy Audit will provide you with the information, advice and means to reduce your building's energy consumption and save you money.

The energy audit will include a comprehensive energy survey; which will consist of floor plans, a detailed inventory of the buildings construction and thermal elements, including information about the glazing, lighting, HVAC systems, insulation, heat loss and air permeability factors.

Utility bills over a minimum 13 month period will assist in providing detailed energy usage data and will allow the energy auditor to evaluate the facility's energy/demand rate structures and energy usage profiles.

The report will be able to identify energy-conservation measures appropriate for the property, given the relevant operating parameters. The building’s location and environment will be taken into account as will the type of energy demands required. The recommendations will include low & Zero carbon technologies, such as ground source heat pumps, photo voltaic and solar panels, energy efficient light fittings and lamps, and control management systems.

A detailed financial analysis is performed for each measure based on detailed implementation cost estimates, site-specific operating cost savings according to your investment criteria. We will also provide information on pay back periods and advise on the enhanced capital allowance scheme and interest free loans.

Within the next 24months all commercial premises over 500sqm will be required to have a Display Energy Certificate on their premises which tells the public how efficient your premises are. The government's aim is to tie in energy efficiency with business rates in the near future.

In addition to the physical energy audits, we have experience in energy tariff audits on water, gas and electricity bills. You can reduce costs without taking any risk as we don’t charge upfront fees for the energy tariff audits. The tariff audits are “performance based”, so unless and until we deliver actual tangible real savings and you end up with lower water, gas and electricity bills, you will owe us nothing. It is simply, NO SAVINGS, NO FEE.

From our experience, verifying the accuracy of invoices, evaluating the cost effectiveness of accounts, identifying unnecessary minimum billing charges, and discovering redundant billing fees can often uncover potential for refunds and savings resulting in the thousands of pounds.

Our energy tariff audit services on water, gas and electricity deliver:

A full analysis of current and past usage to ensure all tariffs are correct and provide the lowest possible cost.
An audit of all energy bills for errors and overcharges.
A detailed report produced at the end of the project contains all errors and overcharges including an explanation of areas for cost savings.

Additionally we can also, on your company's behalf, contact your energy provider and correct any billing errors uncovered during the audit process. The aim is to obtain a refund/credit for the full amount of the overcharge (within the statute of limitations). As we deal directly with the right contacts in the energy departments, we cut through "red tape" to get available refunds quickly.

To Book an Energy Audit call 020 8930 5668

1. The term 'environmental impact assessment' (EIA) describes a procedure that must be followed for certain types of project before they can be given 'development consent'. The procedure is a means of drawing together, in a systematic way, an assessment of a project's likely significant environmental effects. This helps to ensure that the importance of the predicted effects, and the scope for reducing them, are properly understood by the public and the relevant competent authority before it makes its decision.

2. Environmental impact assessment enables environmental factors to be given due weight, along with economic or social factors, when planning applications are being considered. It helps to promote a sustainable pattern of physical development and land and property use in cities, towns and the countryside. If properly carried out, it benefits all those involved in the planning process.

3. From the developer's point of view, the preparation of an environmental statement in parallel with project design provides a useful framework within which environmental considerations and design development can interact. Environmental analysis may indicate ways in which the project can be modified to avoid possible adverse effects, for example through considering more environmentally friendly alternatives. Taking these steps is likely to make the formal planning approval stages run more smoothly.

4. For the planning authority and other public bodies with environmental responsibilities, environmental impact assessment provides a basis for better decision making. More thorough analysis of the implications of a new project before a planning application is made, and the provision of more comprehensive information with the application, should enable authorities to make swifter decisions. While the responsibility for compiling the environmental statement rests with the developer, it is expected that the developer will consult those with relevant information, and the Regulations specifically require that public authorities which have information in their possession which is relevant to the preparation of the environmental statement should make it available to the developer.

5. The general public's interest in a major project is often expressed as concern about the possibility of unknown or unforeseen effects. By providing a full analysis of a project's effects, an environmental statement can help to allay fears created by lack of information. At the same time, early engagement with the public when plans are still fluid can enable developers to make adjustments which will help to secure a smoother passage for the proposed development and result in a better environmental outcome. The environmental statement can also help to inform the public on the substantive issues which the local planning authority will have to consider in reaching a decision. It is a requirement of the Regulations that the environmental statement must include a description of the project and its likely effects together with a summary in non-technical language. One of the aims of a good environmental statement should be to enable readers to understand for themselves how its conclusions have been reached, and to form their own judgments on the significance of the environmental issues raised by the project.

6. Environmental impact assessment can therefore be helpful to all those concerned with major projects. The following paragraphs describe the procedures for deciding whether EIA is necessary in a particular case and, where it is, for carrying out the assessment. The procedure is intended to make the most of the potential benefits of EIA, while keeping the process as simple and flexible as possible, and avoiding any duplication of existing planning procedures.

Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC)

From 1st April 2010, medium to large energy users will be required to measure and report their energy usage including electricity, gas and fuel oil). From 1st April 2011, any users must also purchase emissions allowanaces from the RC scheme - effectively, permits to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide.

You may already have been contacted by the Environmental Agency about your new obligations but do you know exactly how CRC will affect you? CRC forms part of the UK Government's drive towards a low-carbon economy and is intended to encourage energy efficiency. The scheme provides financial incentives to reduce energy use by putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions. There is also a corporate reputational incentive in that all the organisations which used (in 2008) more than 6,000MWh of electricity, through half hourly meters, will be named in a public performance league table, against which a bonus or penalty payment will be calculated. Organisations that consumed less than 6,000MWh of electricity in 2008, but are metered on a half hourly basis, will be required to make their information disclousure online or through an agent like Energy Assessors London.