Scotland misses EU energy standards deadline

Public buildings across Scotland are falling far short of meeting the EU’s Energy Performance Certificate requirements, with most government structures “performing disastrously,” according to a report this week in The Scotsman.

And it all started with such good intentions. Scottish officials were required to provide certification only for public buildings regularly visited by citizens, but chose instead to rate all government structures in an effort to set a good example. The results, unfortunately for the government, have proven less than stellar.

Officials not only failed to meet the Jan. 5 deadline for publicly posting Energy Performance Certificates on government buildings, but ended up discovering that many structures they did test for efficiency landed on the bad end of the ratings scale. Buildings that performed poorly on the EU’s A (best) to G (worst) efficiency scale included Edinburgh’s St. Andrew’s House (E+), Glasgow’s city council chambers (E) and the National Museum of Scotland (F+).

While every building that fails to meet the certification deadline could be subject to a £5,000 fine, officials say they’ll wait until March to give everyone more time to complete tests and put up certificates.

No need to pick just on Scotland, though. As The Guardian noted last month, public buildings alone across the UK are responsible for more carbon dioxide emissions than is the entire nation of Kenya.

Some example, eh?