National energy consultants, Base Energy has recently launched their online knowledge centre to help developers make sense of the ever-changing guidance for energy efficiency. This handy tool will attempt to keep the industry up to date with with the latest developments.
In conjunction to this, the companies qualified energy consultants will also offer FREE CPD (Continuing Professional Development) seminars to all interested parties. However, you need to be quick, as the the diary is already filling up for 2020.
Once again, Building regulations for energy efficiency requirements are set to change in 2020 and the team provide some insight as to what the industry should aware of at the start of 2020.
For clients starting new developments early next year this means new standards need to be met for this section of building regulations, and for assessors means learning a new piece of software.
However, changes to these documents aren’t always a bad thing, nor will it necessarily make it more difficult to achieve compliance in the respective areas of Building Regulations.
While quite often the changes are simply to refine the documents and make them easier to understand, inevitably they bring new criteria into the fold.
Base Energy Consultants break down some of the key changes in this article, hopefully drawing attention to how this will affect developments moving forward.
Changes in fuel and CO2 factors
In the past it has been difficult to pass a SAP assessment with electric heating (eg. panel heaters/electric boiler) due to its high carbon factor. SAP 10 will remove some of this burden. It plans to reduce the carbon factor of electricity from 0.519 kgCO2/kWh to 0.233 kgCO2/kWh, essentially making it easier to pass the SAP assessment with electric heating, good news! The Bad news is that Solar PV will have less of a positive impact on the SAP results, meaning more PV will be needed to meet local planning requirements on certain developments.
Thermal Bridging
Accredited Construction Details (ACD) is being removed and replaced with more precise thermal bridging data recording and calculations. There is little information on this so far, however we hope it will give designers a better understanding of how this affects heat loss in a dwelling.
Overheating Risk
Designers will be encouraged to reduce heat gains in areas other than ventilation through openable windows. SAP 10 has reduced the amount of ventilation that designers can assume is being gained from open windows.
Detailed Calculation of Thermal Mass Parameters
You will no longer be able to select a low, medium or high thermal mass as rudimental thermal mass parameter. They will need to be calculated based on build material, construction and kappa values.
Greater accuracy for Solar PV Impact
There are different CO2 reduction targets to take into consideration with the new calculations. The new formula will only factor in a PV supply to those flats directly connected.
Water Usage
A more precise estimate of water usage will be applied to the SAP calculation, inputting flow rates and fitting types.
Generally, the new standards will seek to make the calculations more accurate across the board. There is no confirmed deadline for release of the new software however the consensus is that we can expect it in early 2020. Both BRE and BEIS have released documentation and demo software to help you understand the changes SAP 10 is bringing and how prepare for any new technical aspects. Until SAP 10 comes into force (and once Part L/Section 6 is updated), continue to use SAP 2012 for Building Regulations compliance and EPCs.
For more helpful advise on how energy requirements for development projects, please visit Base Energy Consultants Knowledge Centre
