MEES compliance across a 150-property council portfolio
A full compliance audit that took a local authority estate to 96% compliance ahead of the deadline.
Elmbridge Borough Council, a local authority in Surrey, contracted CSR Sustain to meet minimum energy efficiency requirements and get to grips with MEES compliance across its property estate.
Client: Elmbridge Borough Council · Location: Surrey
- A meticulous portfolio-wide compliance audit establishing a reliable baseline
- A meticulous portfolio-wide compliance audit establishing a reliable baseline
- Identification of potential exemptions where they legitimately applied
How the programme ran
Full MEES compliance audit
A complete Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards compliance audit across a portfolio of circa 150 properties.
Multi-standard assessment
EPC assessments, DEC assessments and TM44 air-conditioning inspections delivered alongside the audit.
Forward compliance planning
MEES studies identifying cost-effective routes to EPC compliance, plus planning against future tightening of the standard.
What made this difficult
Patchy portfolio information
Plant running outside occupancy schedules, with control settings drifting through seasonal change and manual overrides.
Fast-approaching deadlines
Plant running outside occupancy schedules, with control settings drifting through seasonal change and manual overrides.
Future standard uncertainty
Plant running outside occupancy schedules, with control settings drifting through seasonal change and manual overrides.
The outcome
RThe council achieved 96% compliance against the April 2023 MEES deadline, with firm plans and costings in place to reach full compliance. Work continues on planning for future deadlines.
Lessons
- Establishing a reliable baseline is the prerequisite for everything else
- Compliance planning works best when embedded in capital expenditure cycles
- Early action creates room to spread cost across budget years
