Real Estate Energy Performance Certificate: This Calculation Error Penalizes Small Homes

The government has decided to make adjustments to the method used to calculate the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), which rates the energy performance of homes on a scale from A to G. 

Whether you’re a homeowner or a renter, you’ve probably already heard of the DPE, which was introduced in 2006 to assess the energy consumption of buildings when they are sold or rented. Changes are planned for how the DPE is calculated—which rates homes from A to G—particularly for the least energy-efficient homes, often referred to as “energy-wasting homes” and rated F or G. The dates when renting out properties in these categories will be prohibited are set for January 1, 2025, and 2028, respectively.

If you're wondering whether these changes affect your home, you can use an online simulator provided by the government. 

The government is announcing "simplifications" to address the "complexities" and "biases" of the new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). It has identified a calculation error regarding the proportion of domestic hot water in small-sized dwellings, which has been corrected by a decree that will soon be open for public comment. This correction is expected to exclude many dwellings smaller than 40 square meters from the "energy-inefficient" category.

A government simulator has been available since February 13 to help you determine whether your home is affected. You can use it by visiting the ADEME’s DPE-Audit Observatory website and entering your unique DPE number. It should be noted that the decree specifically applies only to homes smaller than 40 square meters, thus covering a large number of properties.

Government estimates suggest that a large number of small homes rated C could see improvements in their energy performance. However, it is important to note that the simulator’s results are not official documents. You will need to wait for the decree to be published in the Official Journal on July 1, 2024, to obtain your official certificate, which is required for a sale or rental.

With this revision to the calculation method, the government aims to correct disparities for homes smaller than 40 m² and make the energy performance rating thresholds more equitable for these smaller units. Approximately 140,000 homes in this category are expected to be excluded from categories F and G, which could improve the energy performance rating of more than 3 million properties smaller than 40 m².