The average household in the UK creates about six tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, chiefly from the fuels that we burn - coal, oil and gas - and through routine activities like cooking, washing and keeping our homes warm. 

Some emissions may be unavoidable but most property and environmental analysts agree that home owners can reduce the emissions by a series of easy steps:

From December 2007 an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) has been required on every private property that goes on the market, regardless of the number of bedrooms, allowing buyers to compare the energy efficiency and heating costs of one property with another.

Most people acknowledge that this information will be good for homeowners - a section of the Energy Performance certificate (EPC) will highlight what they can do to improve their home's efficiency and the savings that will generate. Homes produce 27 per cent of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions, over 10 times the amount produced by aircraft, so the drive is on to improve domestic energy efficiency - and save money into the bargain.

The EPC will be issued after an inspection, typically lasting an hour, by a qualified Energy Performance Assessor. So what actually happens?:


Prior to the inspection the MM&I Energy DEA (Domestic Energy Assessor) will contact you or your representative to arrange a suitable date for access to the property.

Upon arrival the DEA will introduce themselves and explain the process that they are going to adopt to complete the assessment. This process usually starts at the very bottom floor and works from room to room.

The DEA will measure the property to work out its overall volume and produce a sketch plan of the property.

The age, construction type and insulation qualities of the walls need to be examined and also of any extensions that have been added since the properties original construction.

He/She will look at and take the details of any heating systems within the property and of the controls to these systems.

Once on the top floor they will look at the quality of any loft insulation present and measure its thickness.

Low energy lights that are in permanant fittings (ie not bedside lamps..etc) are counted and a percentage is calculated against non low energy lights present in the property.

The age and quality of windows and doors are examined and recorded.

The DEA will also be taking photographs of all these items, these photos are not for general viewing but for the records of the DEA in question and will be locked away in a secure computer storage location.

Befdore leaving the property the DEA will explain their findings and provide the owner with an opprotunity to ask any questions that they may have.

Once all these items are examined and recorded the DEA will produce a certificate explaining their findings and providing reccomendations to make the property more energy efficient if possible. This Energy Performance Certificate will then either be added to the HIP or if a stand alone EPC is required it will be e-mailed back to the vendor or their representative usually within 24 hours.