With little more than a month to go until the United Kingdoms departure from the European Union, many businesses and industries are still non-the-wiser as to what the future looks like, deal or no deal.
A recently released government report highlights a ‘worst case scenario’ whereby we can expect World War Z style carnage; with food shortages, severe border delays and riots a real possibility, rather than just a cocktail of problems facing Brad Pitt before he saves us all with inhuman like stamina and inexplicably well-groomed hair.
Despite the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the whole Brexit process the majority of business regulations and procedures will likely remain unchanged, in particular the UK and EU backed energy performance of buildings directive, or succinctly phrased, EPBD.
Many people working in commercial property roles have questioned whether the UK will still enforce building compliance regulations that were created and implemented by the EU, even after our departure. The stark truth of it is that energy and building compliance is an industry that may have been born in the belly of Brussels, but it has been raised and nurtured here in the UK.
The EPBD has created a whole new industry here which is now comprised of a range of services such as TM44 air conditioning inspections, commercial EPCs and ESOS assessments which have all been developed and put in place to help businesses improve their energy efficiency, reduce their impact on the planet and from a commercial perspective, save them a whole lot of money.
This tells us that the likelihood is the UK will not only continue to implement the EPBD regulations but enhance them, holding businesses to even higher standards of energy efficiency where their commercial properties are concerned. This is becoming an even likelier scenario now that Greta Thunberg has galvanised people around the globe, taking on government and business leaders to demand more action be taken against the threat of climate change.
Though, as Greta and her army of everyday people know, businesses and governments can often be guilty of greenwashing to improve their image and keep us quiet. But as the impact of climate change becomes more evident, one must be optimistic and hope that business and government leaders will come good on their promises to significantly reduce our impact on this planet through stricter enforcement and adherence to green initiatives like the EPBD.
Only time will tell what impact Brexit will really have on commercial building and energy compliance, but EU regulatory frameworks like the EPBD have laid the foundations for us to build our energy-efficient houses on.
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