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The HVCA subsidiary BESCA has launched a training and accreditation scheme which will provide opportunities for Energy Assessors to carry out inspections and write reports on air-conditioning systems required under EPBD legislation.
The aim of the inspection, required under the European Union's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), is to provide information about the performance of air-conditioning systems, and to identify opportunities to save energy and cut operating costs. Under the legislation it will be illegal to sell or let any commercial building without a current, valid air-conditioning inspection report covering all installed air-conditioning equipment. The legislation imposes statutory duties on owners and operators to comply.
The deadlines for carrying out these inspections, both in dwellings and non-dwellings, are imminent. All systems with a cooling capacity of 250kWr or more must be inspected by January 2009. Any new systems over 12kWr installed since January 2008 must have an inspection within the first five years, and any other system over 12kWr must have a first inspection by January 2011. Subsequent inspections for all systems are required every five years.
Bob Towse, HVCA Head of Technical and Safety, said: "These deadlines represent a significant opportunity for the industry. We believe there are many skilled individuals who would be ideally qualified to undertake these new mandatory inspections and assessments, which represents additional business activity for them.
"All persons carrying out these inspections must not only be competent, but also a member of a Government-approved accreditation scheme such as the one now launched by BESCA."
BESCA's new accreditation scheme is the only one that certifies assessors to inspect both Level 1 (simple, packaged or VRV) and Level 2 (complex, central-cooled air or water) air-conditioning systems.
The BESCA scheme, which is designed for experienced air-conditioning engineers, requires applicants to have taken appropriate training before becoming accredited, and to maintain their knowledge in order to retain their membership. The HVCA offers suitable training schemes to provide engineers with the technical competences they require when they apply for accreditation under the scheme.
Engineers interested in the opportunity can find details of the two-step training and accreditation process at www.besca.org.uk.
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There is an obvious need for the industry to be more energy efficient and pay more attention to the ways in which energy is both used and wasted. Do you think we have the products on the market to meet our needs?
