Let’s talk EPC 4.

Tibor Rigo Blog 01/03/201617/03/2016Building Extensions, Building refurbishment, Flat Refurbishment, House extension, Loft Conversions, Loft insulation, mould removal, sprayed foam insulation 1 Comment

How to improve your home’s EPC rating

In the previous part we talked about what important pieces of information we can learn from a property’s EPC certificate. If you have read all 3 previous parts of this article series, by now you are aware that a building’s EPC rating does not necessarily depend on the age of the building or when it was last refurbished.

How can you turn your house into a healthy, economical, energy efficient home, or how can you make nearly double the profit when selling your property?

As we said in the previous part, a property’s market value can be increased by approx. 15-20% by refurbishing it (regardless of its EPC improvement). Taken into account the invested amount (the cost of the refurbishment) one will realise a profit of 6-8%; in some cases this may be as high as 10%.

Below you can see some of the added benefits of economical refurbishment:

Healthy building, (mould-free environment – can mean 10 extra years)
Economical operation of the building, you can save up to 50% on utility bills
Better EPC rating means another 8-15% increase in the market value – this can almost be converted into profit completely (total profit after economical refurbishment: 16-18%)
Reduced carbon footprint (less energy required) – environmentally friendly building
Increased comfort level
The property will be on higher demand, will sell quicker, easier
A well-planned scheduled refurbishment means saving time and money – a highly profitable investment that creates additional value

The increase in the EPC rating can be predicted when the refurbishment process is planned thoroughly, consciously.

The main steps are:

On-site inspection, diagnostics
Energetic calculations, project preparation, implementation schedule
Strict supervision in implementation, daily documented progress
Quality checked materials and technologies
Attention to deadlines
Accountability upon and after completion – even for the structure
Ordering new EPC certificate from independent firm
Repeated survey (if required), even for control purposes

As always, do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or just feel like sharing your thoughts.

(Quote the following code in your enquiry and we grant you a 10% discount of the price of your next project! NLTE4)

Let’s talk EPC 2.

EcoPropi Ltd. Blog 12/02/201614/03/2016Building refurbishment, House extension, Infra Heating, kill the mould, Loft insulation, mould removal, sprayed foam insulation 8 Comments

EPC rating

In the first part of the article we tried to provide a general overview about Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). Today we are going to explain what different ratings mean, and how they affect our everyday life.

To demonstrate these effects, we chose a home with the most common EPC rating on the British market. The diagram below belongs to such a house.

The EPC rating is 68 (level D). Most homes in the UK have a rating between 55 and 75, so we can say this example represents an average UK home. Now is this value good or not? I know I said this was an average value, so I might shock a few readers now when I say this value is very low. To tell you the truth only 2% of the British homes have a level B or higher rating.

Having today’s technologies and materials at our disposal it seems to me that this value is just not good enough. Although the climate varies on a large scale throughout Europe (think about the Mediterranean, Greece, Spain, Portugal and the northern countries such as Norway or Sweden) they manage to have a better overall rating in domestic EPC rating than the UK, regardless of their climate. This is because of the physical features of the buildings, the materials and technologies used, therefore the operations of the buildings are much more economical there (average EPC rating in Europe 75-80, in Germany this value is 85). Sadly the UK is significantly behind these countries in terms of domestic energy consumption.

The importance of thermal insulation started to become a factor in Europe since the ‘70s, whereas in the UK, energy efficient building technologies have only just started to be of high demand.

This results in quite significant arrears. We can still catch up to the leading European countries (in terms of high EPC rating domestic buildings), but we have to consciously design the new buildings and also plan the refurbishment projects.

The meaning of EPC rating 68:

cold, draughty floor
damp house
mould occurrence in corners, around windows, behind cupboards or in the bathroom – unhealthy environment
the changes in the outer temperature is perceptible inside the house even next to constant heating
high energy bills, high pollution emission

These conditions can easily be improved by professional diagnostics and the usage of modern building materials. Upgrading the windows to double-glazed or triple-glazed will not be sufficient on its own (it is a start nonetheless). To upgrade your house’s EPC rating to level “B” is easily achievable if you plan your next refurbishment project thoroughly and energy consciously – and it does not have to cost more!

How is this possible? What are the costs and how quickly will such an investment show financial return? We will elaborate these in our next article.

As usual, please feel free to share your comments, own experiences or relevant stories you may have.

To be continued…

(Quote the following code in your enquiry and we grant you a 10% discount of the price of your next project! NLTE2)

Technologies

EcoPropi Ltd. Technology 02/12/201514/03/2016Building refurbishment, Heat Pump, House extension, Injection, kill the mould, Loft insulation, mould, mould removal, rafter, Spray, Sprayed Foam, sprayed foam insulation, Surface Heating System 6 Comments

Overview of EcoPropi’s various technologies

Introduction, brief description:

Do you have mould/mildew in your home? Did you try to get rid of it, but it just keeps coming back shortly after the treatment?
Are your walls and floor constantly cold, making your home cold as well, even though the heating is on?
Do wet staines appear on your walls? Plaster falling?
Would you like to eliminate the hazards mentioned above, and at the same time, save on your energy bills, and improve your property’s value?

We offer complete planning and energy surveying buildings, assembling and upgrading insulation systems. We eliminate moisture penetration, thermal bridges and mould with the use of injection, spray foam insulation, etc.

We will increase the efficiency of the thermal insulation and build renewable energy systems as well, and as a result we will be able to reduce your energy bills and improve the comfort levelof your home.

Efficient technologies customized to clients’ needs:

Initial assessment of customer needs, full inspection of the property (heating and ventilation systems, structure, doors, windows, etc.) energy survey. Calculating energy consumption after renovation and preparing quotation for reconstruction.
Removing existing mould by treating the affected areas.
In the absence of waterproofed walls we carry out emulsion – injection in order to prevent water and soil vapor penetrating the structure.
Applying closed-cell foams on walls, joists and even on the existing thermal insulation and waterproofing the roof.
In some cases the conventional techniques can also be used effectively: bitumen felt, polystyrene board insulation.
Upgrading heating systems by installing condensing boilers, heat recovery ventilation, heat pumps and internal surface heating.

Our activities in details:

Needs assessment, energy survey, quotation:

Your living conditions and the value of your property could significantly be improved by investing in renewable energy. Whether you are selling your property, have just purchased one, or it is time to renovate it, it is worth considering a long-term profitable investment. Increasing the value in a way that you could feel every day. Getting rid of mould and the uncomfortable feeling of cold walls, unwarmed, draughty rooms and bad atmosphere… own a pleasant home!

In case of advanced insulation we provide energy survey if requested, hence changes become evident. You will be able to see the difference in the energy classification of your property, the value increases and your heating costs will decrease.

We provide a written quotation both for minor and complex insulation works.We use thermal imaging before and after renovation.If you are not satisfied with the appearance of your property (i.e: obsolete bricks, plaster) full facade insulation is recommended before renovation. We execute thermal insulation with state of the art foaming systems and reconstruct your property by faux brick wall panels.

Injection:

We eliminate moisture problems which are highly responsible for mould growth. The film, emulsion formed after injection prevents the moisture absorption into the brick walls.

The role of modern doors and windows:

If the walls are already well insulated and the heating system warms up the house, we should not let the heat escape through doors and windows. Often the weakest link is the window. They have an important role in building energetics.

Anti-mould paintings/coatings:

In many cases we see mould retardant paints, primers that promise us they eridicate mould forever. However, these are only temporary solutions. As a first step we eliminate the conditions of mould growth such as moisture, humidity, cold surfaces where moisture condenses and initiates mould growth. With our previously listed equipments we eliminate moisture penetration, cold surfaces and ventilate vapour. We use surface treatment (e.g: mould remover, special paint in order to kill the remaining mould) only after these actions, as the substances used to treat the surfaces will not achieve the same long-lasting result as injection and spray foam insulation.

Roof insulations

slab insulation

rafters insulations

additional rafter insulation

Wall and slab insulations:

(Quote the following code in your enquiry and we grant you a 10% discount of the price of your next project! NTECH)