Net Zero Performance Certificate (NZPC)

987.  Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) provide households with information about the energy efficiency of their home. There is scope to utilise the EPC system better to help to support people to retrofit their homes. Currently, the EPC measure does not work for net zero. The EPC rating of a property can sometimes show a worse score after installing a heat pump because of the inclusion of the cost of heating in the score, and this assessment being based on outdated assumptions. EPC ratings can overestimate the cost of running a home with a heat pump due to outdated measures of heat pump efficiency and the history of gas prices being artificially lowered in comparison to electricity prices (because the gas bills would bear fewer policy costs). The figure below shows how strongly bills projections would have changed between 2019 and 2022.704 Under the Energy Price Guarantee, the same amount of energy usage in a G-rated dwelling as in 2019 would incur a bill of £6500 compared with £1500 in a B-rated building.705 This measure needs to be improved as a priority.

Figure 5.14 - Typical household energy bills