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Sustainable homes
Published in Derek Worthing, Nigel Dann, Roger Heath, of Houses, 2021
Derek Worthing, Nigel Dann, Roger Heath
The primary government method for calculating the energy performance of dwellings in relation to the requirements of the Building Regulations is the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). SAP takes into account: the materials used in the construction of the dwellingthermal insulation of the building fabricair leakage ventilationefficiency and control of the heating system(s)solar gains through windows and doorsthe fuel used to provide space and water heating, ventilation and lightingthe use of renewable energy technologies.
Energy and Environmental Monitoring
Published in Dejan Mumovic, Mat Santamouris, A Handbook of Sustainable Building Design and Engineering, 2018
Alex Summerfield, Hector Altamirano-Medina, Dejan Mumovic
Ideally such data should comply with a standard or accepted classification systems, to avoid the proliferation of incompatible data across studies. By remaining consistent with the inputs to national benchmarks, provides researchers with the means to compare results across standard categories and typologies, and hence judge the relevance of their sample the national stock or to the results of other studies. For instance, where other information is lacking, building age can often be used to help infer construction type and hence U-values; this may not be identified as a specific year of construction but by an age band, such as ‘1985 to 2000’. The question is: what age bands would be best to choose? Another point is the definition of floor area of the dwelling, from the external to internal dimensions or to considering heated areas only or including all enclosed areas. Such differences can amount to a variation of more than 20% of the area. The best policy is to seek out definitions that are used as part of a national standard. One starting place in the EU is the data behind the Energy Performance Certificate that is increasingly mandatory across the building stock. For the domestic sector in the UK, the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) lies at the heart of carbon emission calculations used to comply with building regulations (BRE, 2005; ODPM, 2006a,b). The reduced SAP uses a simpler set of items, combined with typical assumptions, to estimate the SAP and annual energy usage. In MK1 we were fortunate in already having construction details and plans from MK0, that it was relatively straightforward for MK1 to note changes to layout or the heating system.
Introduction
Published in John Roberts, Alan Tovey, Anton Fried, Concrete Masonry Designer's Handbook, 2014
John Roberts, Alan Tovey, Anton Fried
The main objective of the revision of the 1995 Approved Document 12.9 was to reduce CO2 emissions but without introducing unacceptable technical risks. The requirements are applicable to dwelling and other buildings whose floor area exceeds 30m2. Material changes of use are now included in the Approved Document. For example a conversion of a barn to a house will need to meet the new thermal insulation requirements. Alternatively when an exposed element of an existing dwelling is substantially replaced (i.e. roof, ground floor, exposed wall, windows or semi-exposed wall) it will be necessary to upgrade the insulation to meet the new requirements. When a dwelling is created, or there is a material change of use, a calculated energy rating must be provided using the Government's Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). Whilst a SAP rating is a necessary requirement, there is no obligation in the 1995 Approved Document to achieve a particular level. Although the resulting value will influence the required Uvalue for roofs, exposed floors and windows. The require ments for U-values of external walls may under future changes be related to the SAP value or boiler efficiency.
Ethical issues in domestic building performance evaluation studies
Published in Building Research & Information, 2019
This is not the case in buildings: whilst procedures may exist for testing individual components in buildings (e.g. British Board of Agrément, British Standards Institute, International Association for Testing Materials, National Association of Testing Authorities), evaluation of the complete building is rarely undertaken. As a result, very little is known about the effectiveness of contemporary building performance and consequently methods for predicting performance are not robust. For example, in UK housing the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) calculation is used to demonstrate compliance, and is often erroneously thought of as a predictor, whereas it is a comparative tool for limited aspects of energy use in the home (Kelly, Crawford-Brown, & Pollitt, 2012). What this means in practice is there is no routine modelling of how the building is expected to perform or work. What does this mean for design? The constraints of funding, procurement timescales and legislation are such that it may be said that contemporary architects are ‘styling regulations’. The connections between design, construction and performance have also been undermined by changes in contractual arrangements such as design and build in which the contractor takes over design responsibility, and may novate architects to produce design information. Consequently, architects have found themselves moved from leaders of the construction process to subordinates.
Impacts of energy-efficiency investments on internal conditions in low-income households
Published in Building Research & Information, 2018
Wouter Poortinga, Shiyu Jiang, Charlotte Grey, Chris Tweed
The intervention measures included external wall insulation (with mechanical ventilation), new windows and doors, boiler and heating system upgrades, and connection to the gas mains network. The measures were recorded for each participating household. In this study, 35 intervention households received external wall insulation, nine received new windows and doors, 48 received a new boilers or heating system, and 20 were connected to the mains gas network. Of the 48 properties, 32 received two measures and 16 received three measures. The most common combinations were external wall insulation with a new heating system (n = 19), and a connection to the gas mains network with a new heating system (n = 13). Nine properties received external wall insulation, new windows and doors, and a new heating system. Seven properties received properties received external wall insulation in combination with a new heating system, and were connected to the gas mains network. Figure 2 shows that, on average, the measures increased the standard assessment procedure (SAP) energy and environmental performance ratings of the intervention households from 52 (SD = 12) to 66 (SD = 5), which equates to rising from an energy performance certificate (EPC) band E to band C.
First evidence for the reliability of building co-heating tests
Published in Building Research & Information, 2018
Richard Jack, Dennis Loveday, David Allinson, Kevin Lomas
For regulatory purposes, the expected energy demand and carbon emissions of buildings are based on calculation tools, e.g. in the UK the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) (BRE, 2011, 2014). Such tools utilize the design drawings and building surveys to calculate the thermal performance of the building fabric based on construction properties as measured in laboratory conditions, and by a limited number of in-situ tests. However, whole-house performance measurements have provided considerable empirical evidence for the existence of a ‘performance gap’ between the predicted energy performance of a house and that actually measured in-situ (Gupta, Gregg, Passmore, & Stevens, 2015; Johnston, Farmer, Brooke-Peat, & Miles-Shenton, 2016; Palmer, Godoy-Shimizu, Tillson, & Mawditt, 2016; Stafford, Bell, & Gorse, 2012; Zero Carbon Hub & NHBC Foundation, 2010).