Businesses and commercial landlords
Save energy and money for your business and find where to get support.
Below is advice and support to help you make your business more energy-efficient, reduce energy bills, and upgrade to low carbon and more efficient systems such as solar, heat pumps and electric vehicle charging.
We welcome your input. If you have suggestions for new information or resources, send an email to the Net Zero team.
Ways to make your business more energy efficient
Energy efficiency guides
- find low cost measures to start saving energy and money for your business with this guide for SMEs on the gov.uk website
- more information about low cost energy saving actions and long-term investments for businesses is in the Make Energy Saving Your Business guide on the gov.uk website
- the UK Business Climate Hub has more resources to help businesses reduce energy costs and cut carbon, including sector-specific guidance
- consider installing a smart meter - with a smart meter, you can better manage energy use and find ways to save energy, find out how to get a smart meter on the smart meters website
- learn more about low and zero carbon technologies for heat and power
- learn how to reduce emissions in your business with this free online training course with the SME Climate Hub
- for restaurants, find out how to be more sustainable with the Sustainability Toolkit produced by the University of Brighton and Restaurants Brighton
Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)
From 2028, it is expected that commercial properties will need C-rated EPC certificates. Find more about future proposed changes and funding for MEES on the Energy Advice Hub.
In the meantime, if you;re a commercial landlord, you'll need to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least E for you're building, unless you have registered a valid exemption.
If your property is currently empty, and you're not planning to let it, you don’t need to take any action to improve its rating until you decide to let it again.
Find more information about Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for non-domestic private-rented property on the gov.uk website.
An EPC helps you understand the energy performance of your property. If you’re looking to sell or rent your property, you need a valid EPC before it goes on the market.
See this useful guide to EPCs on the Energy Saving Trust website and find your property’s latest energy certificate on the gov.uk website.
Grants and financial support
Find business energy efficiency grants and schemes on the Ofgem website.
Develop the low carbon and environmental side of your business with the Clean Growth South East Hub.
You could get a grant to cover part of the cost of replacing fossil fuel heating systems such as gas or oil-fired boilers. Find out more about the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Grants of £7,500 are available for air source heat pumps or ground source heat pumps, and £5,000 for biomass boilers.
Find information about grants and finance for commercial low carbon energy improvements on the BHESCo website.
If you are in a building with a large roof, find out if you can get support for a community solar system to help your business save money and emissions on the Brighton Energy Co-Operative website.
Heat pumps and solar
Find out more about how heat pumps work and the different types on the National Grid website. Sign up for an energy survey of your business premises with BHESCo and find out how to reduce energy costs.
Get an estimate of how much electricity your roof might be able to generate on the arcgis website (click the layers symbol and select 'Sussex rooftop PV potential view').
Under the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) you will be paid for every unit of electricity that you feed back into the grid. Find out more about the SEG on the Energy Saving Trust website.
If you are a business that uses a lot of electricity and has a large roof, find out if you could be part of a community-owned solar system with Brighton Energy Co-operative.
Older buildings
If your commercial property is a listed building or is in a conservation area, see Historic England’s guidance on heat pump and solar pv installations.
Historic England provides pre-application advice to property owners in relation to Grade I and II* listed buildings.
The council has also produced a planning guidance note on improving energy saving and sustainability in conservation areas and listed buildings.
Be inspired
Take a look at how Brighton & Hove Energy Services Co-operative (BHESCo) helped install solar power, battery storage, and a low-carbon heating system at Fabrica Gallery.
This complex project brought together various installers, requiring careful system design to meet planning permissions for this historic building.
BHESCo carried out an initial energy survey, and project-managed the installation of 36 solar panels on the roof, a heat pump and battery storage.
A former chapel, the building has operated as an arts and events space since 1996.
Type of property: Regency building, Grade II listed.
Property built in: 1817.
Where: Duke Street, Brighton.
Previous status: Heating had been provided by 2 gas boilers.
Glazing: Bespoke-cut secondary-glazing panels were commissioned to improve the heat retention of the large stained-glass windows.
Over a year, it’s estimated that:
- the solar panels will generate around 14,000 kilowatt hours of renewable electricity
- bills will be reduced by around 45%
- carbon savings should be in the region of 40% which is 67 tCO2e over 25 years
Find out more about this project on BHESCo’s website.
Heat networks
In the future, more properties are expected to be heated through connection to a heat network. It may even become mandatory for certain building types.
Find out more about what a heat network is and heat network zoning on the gov.uk website.
Find out how to make a building heat network ready in this guide from Islington Council.
The consumer service for energy problems at Citizens Advice can now give advice about problems with heat networks.
Read about the work that BHESCo have been doing to develop low carbon heat networks in Sussex.
Choosing a qualified contractor
PAS standards
The Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2035 is the British Standard for whole house retrofit, designed to ensure best practice and improve energy efficiency in housing.
The PAS 2030 certificate verifies that installers are competent in carrying out energy efficiency measures within retrofit projects.
Find out more about the PAS standards on the National Energy Foundation website.
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) is an independent certification scheme that provides quality assurance for renewable energy installations.
Find out more about the MCS quality mark and the technologies it covers.
Trustmark
Look out for Trustmark registered installers.
Trustmark offers support for traders to be accredited for installing energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating.
Electric vehicles
Choosing an electric car or van can help you save money and improve air quality.
Learn more about the different types of electric vehicle, how they work and the benefits of owning one in the Energy Saving Trust’s electric vehicle guide.
Brighton & Hove offers an e-cargo bike scheme for businesses to use for short-distance deliveries. Find out how to get an e-cargo bike for your business on the eCargo bike accelerator project web pages.
The Beryl Bikes bike hire scheme in the city also partners with businesses. This includes corporate membership benefits which offer cheaper bike hire for employees and a salary sacrifice scheme. Find more information on the Beryl’s website.
Find out about electric vehicle (EV) charging in Brighton & Hove, how to find one and how to request an EV charging bay in your street.
Find out about EV chargepoint and infrastructure grants for commercial landlords. Commercial landlords can apply for up to 100 grants across multiple properties or for one property.