Energy performance certification (EPC) has been touted as one of the measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings globally. EPC is a star rating label issued by a recognized body after the building has been assessed by an energy performance assessor in accordance with EPC methodology and specific energy consumption (SEC) tool to indicate the energy performance of the building. It is a rating scheme that summarizes the energy efficiency of a building. It indicates the energy performance against a performance scale, designating how good or bad the energy performance of a building is. It is intended to inform the building owners or facility managers about the energy performance of their buildings.
EPC promotes energy consciousness across industry and energy efficien cy culture which improves energy efficiency, increases energy cost savings, and reduces emissions. The government of Ghana in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has initiated a program to establish a national Energy Performance Certification (EPC) Scheme for buildings in Ghana. The objective of the program is to assess and label 3500 buildings (offices, hospitals, hotels, schools, theatres, and commercial buildings with net floor area between 200-2500 m2) in 2 years. As part of the project, training of Assessors for EPC for buildings was organized across the three Energy Service Centres to build the capacity of participants in evaluating buildings using the SEC tool and EPC methodology.
Accra Technical University (ATU), in consortium with Institution of Engineering Technology (IET) Ghana and Centre for Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CREEI) is one of the centres entrusted with the training and the assessment of 40 buildings. The ATU Sustainable Energy Service Center has since undertaken the following activities. ATU organized an interactive and practical training for assessors for EPC for buildings. This interactive training brought together participants from the Greater Accra region to be trained by facilitators from the ATU consortium where the participants observed how to perform EPC assessment for buildings.
This project took place from the 20th of November to the 1st of December 2023 but owing to some unforeseen problems with approvals from building owners the project was prolonged to 23rd February 2024. Assisted in the assessment of 40 buildings (offices, hospitals, hotels, schools, theatres, and commercial buildings with net floor area between 200-2500 m2) within the Accra enclave. The University examined participants at the end of the training as part of the requirement of the project. 20 participants were trained.
The Sustainable Energy Service Centre is a consortium made of ATU, IET and CREEI set up under the office of the Vice Chancellor as a result of the MCC Compact II Energy & Demand-side Management Project to help bridge the gap between the demand and supply of electricity in Ghana.