# Commercial EPC Upgrades | A better commercial EPC > Work out which upgrade moves your commercial EPC rating furthest per pound, then get a quote from one contractor. Guidance on MEES and EPC B. Source: https://commercialepcupgrades.co.uk --- # The cheapest route to a better commercial EPC is usually the lighting In most commercial buildings a lighting upgrade moves the rating furthest per pound. Find out what yours needs, then get a quote from one commercial contractor. - One contractor, never a panel - No obligation - [07367 293494](tel:+447367293494) ## It is nearly always the lighting Not because we sell lighting. Because it is the cheapest fixed service in a commercial building to replace, the assessment reads it directly, and it needs nobody moved out while the work happens. - It changes what the assessment reads A non-domestic EPC models the installed fixed services. Replace the fittings and you change an input the model takes seriously. - It is the fastest thing to do Weeks, not months, and normally zone by zone around the people using the building. - It is the lowest capital on the list Heating plant, glazing and fabric all move a rating further. All three cost multiples of a lighting job. ## A deadline is generating the demand, not a sales pitch The minimum energy rating a commercial building needs in order to be let in England and Wales has risen before, and the expectation is EPC B from 2031. Most older commercial stock is nowhere near that. That turns an energy question into a lease question. A building below the standard is a building you may struggle to let, refinance or sell, and the moment it becomes a problem is a lease event rather than a letter from an inspector. The useful thing to know is that a non-domestic EPC is an asset rating of the building and its services, not of your metered use. It looks at the building and its fixed services, which is why changing the lights can move a certificate while turning them off at night cannot. Payback on commercial lighting is around a year under continuous operation, and longer on shorter hours, which is why it is almost always where a sensible plan starts. Sources - The government has proposed that privately rented non-domestic buildings over 1,000 square metres in England and Wales reach EPC B from 2031, where cost effective. It is not yet law. [Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) in the non-domestic Private Rented Sector: interim response, DESNZ, 2026](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/non-domestic-private-rented-sector-minimum-energy-efficiency-standards-epc-b-implementation/outcome/minimum-energy-efficiency-standards-mees-in-the-non-domestic-private-rented-sector-interim-response) - A non-domestic EPC is an asset rating: it is based on the fabric of the building and its services rather than on metered consumption. [A guide to energy performance certificates for the construction, sale and let of non-dwellings, DCLG, 2014](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-performance-certificates-for-the-construction-sale-and-let-of-non-dwellings) - Payback on a commercial LED retrofit depends primarily on operating hours: around a year where lighting runs continuously, and longer in a building lit for normal office hours. [LED revolution puts lighting top of the energy efficiency agenda, Carbon Trust, 2014](https://www.carbontrust.com/news-and-insights/insights/led-revolution-puts-lighting-top-of-the-energy-efficiency-agenda) ## Which measure moves a rating furthest per pound This is the only question worth answering first, and the answer is not always lighting. In a building with good plant and bad lighting it is. In an ageing office it is a sensible first step that will not get you to a B on its own. - Lighting (LED replacement) BEST VALUE Lowest cost per rating point in most buildings - Lighting controls RANK 2 Often better value than fixtures alone - Heating controls and zoning RANK 3 Cheap, but limited headroom on its own - Solar PV RANK 4 Moves the rating and the bill, higher capital - Heating plant replacement RANK 5 Large improvement, large capital - Fabric and glazing WORST VALUE Usually the worst value per point let alone per pound Relative ranking, not a measured scale. Bars show order of value per rating point in a typical building and carry no units deliberately. Your building can reorder this list entirely, which is what a survey is for. ## What each upgrade actually does to a certificate ### Lighting Usually the cheapest route to a better rating, and the one most buildings start with. ### Lighting controls Cheaper than fixtures, frequently worth more on the certificate. ### Heating and hot water The biggest lever, the biggest bill, and rarely the first move. ### Commercial solar Moves the rating and the bill, on a longer horizon and a bigger cheque. ### Insulation and fabric Scores well, pays back slowly, and then works for forty years with nobody touching it. ### Glazing and windows The weakest part of the fabric, and the reason you can dim the lighting at all. ### Air conditioning and ventilation Ventilation has to happen, so the measure is recovering the heat rather than using less air. ### Building management systems The one measure that can quietly undo every other measure in the building. ### Heat pumps Changes the fuel as well as the efficiency, which is why the rating effect is not obvious. ### Metering and monitoring Saves nothing on its own. Tells you where everything else should go. ### EV charging Adds load rather than removing it, and competes for the capacity everything else needs. ## The decision is different in each of these Not a different page with the noun swapped. The measure mix, the person who decides and the thing that drives the cost are genuinely different in a shed, an office, a shop and a multi-let terrace. ## What applies today, and what is expected next Written to be useful rather than definitive. Proposals in this area have moved during consultation, and we say so on the page rather than pretending to a certainty nobody has. ## We are not the contractor We publish the guidance on this site and we pass your enquiry to one commercial energy efficiency contractor, who quotes you directly. We do not survey buildings, supply equipment or install anything, and we do not sell your details to a panel of callers. That is worth saying plainly, because plenty of sites in this market read like a contractor and are not one. If you would rather go straight to someone, call the number at the top of the page. ## Questions landlords and FMs ask first ### What is the cheapest way to improve a commercial EPC rating? ### Does switching to LED definitely improve the rating? ### Are you a lighting contractor? ### What does an upgrade cost? ### Do you cover the whole of the UK? Next step ## Find out what your building actually needs Tell us the building type, the floor area and the rating you are on now. One commercial contractor comes back to you with a quote. No panel, no cold calls. Or call [07367 293494](tel:+447367293494). Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm.