Space Data & Constructions

With one exception, data displayed on this tab is the same for all thermal applications. The exception is the NCM Template, which is displayed only for Part L 2006.

The template automatically assigned to the room as a function of its ‘activity’ (see Building Regs tab) to specify those aspects of Space Data that are dictated by the NCM methodology only for use in L2 (2006) compliance simulations.

The content of this tab varies with the Regulatory Framework, so is covered in its entirety here rather than in the <VE> Compliance User Guide.

Tick this box to include the room in the building regulations analysis. By switching off rooms using this box you can perform separate analyses on different parts of the model.

Simulations in <VE> Compliance will include only the rooms that have this box ticked. If an included room is adjacent to an excluded room, or a room in an inactive layer, the adjacency is treated as a ‘reflexive boundary condition’, which means that conditions in the adjacent, non-included, room will be assumed to be the same as in the included room.

This setting determines how the room will be treated for Part L1 (2006). The options are as follows:

Heated space – the usual designation, applying to all occupied spaces within the insulated building envelope (whether they are directly served by heating plant or not).

Unheated roof – assign this type to a ‘cold’ roof space that has insulation defined by the user as either at joist or rafter level. Rooms assigned this type will not be explicitly modelled in the notional building but incorporated in the elements linking the unheated space with adjacent conditioned spaces.

Glazing cavity – windows, rooflights & doors connecting heated rooms with this space will be treated as external. This type is included to cover cases where a glazing cavity is treated for modelling purposes as a separate space.

Unheated buffer space – this room type applies to spaces such as car parks, unheated stairwells and other spaces that form a buffer between the conditioned areas of the building and the outside. This type should only be assigned to spaces lying outside the insulated building envelope. Rooms assigned this type will not be explicitly modelled in the notional building but incorporated in the elements linking the unheated space with adjacent conditioned spaces.

Dwelling living area – this room type identifies the proportion of the dwelling that is set aside as ‘normal’ living areas; this includes in open plan spaces the lounge, kitchen and dining if this is a single space.

Unheated, separated dwelling conservatory – identifies an unheated, separated conservatory for Part L1. For definitions of conservatory and separation see ADL1 paragraphs 1.58-1.62 and SAP 2001 section 3.3.3. Glazed partitions between heated rooms and unheated, separated conservatories are treated as external glazing for the purposes of solar gain accounting in the L1 Target U-value Method and the Carbon Index Method. For all L1 methods an unheated dwelling conservatory is treated as part of the fabric for the calculation of heat loss from adjacent spaces (ADL1 paragraph 0.8).

Dwelling conservatory ≤ 30 m² (Scotland) – this room type only applies to the Scottish Building Regulations and should be ignored for the purposes of Part L.  A heated conservatory, whether separated from the dwelling or unseparated, should be assigned the type ‘Heated space’.

Internal void or warm roof – this room type applies to ceiling and floor voids, and to ‘warm’ roofs – those with insulation at rafter level. This type should be applied to unheated, unoccupied spaces that lie within the insulated building envelope.

 

Part L (2006) requires certain attributes to be entered for constructions in addition to the data required for other thermal calculations. This data is entered in the constructions database program APcdb. The additional attributes (broken down by construction category, and including attributes required for Part L2 (non-domestic buildings)) are:

Tick this box if the window is a display window. Such windows are exempt from certain L2 (2006) requirements.

The SAP procedure which features in Part L1 has its own classification system for glazing types. Glazing types used in L1 SAP analyses must have the appropriate glazing type set.

The Part L1 SAP procedure requires the degree of overshading to be specified for each window. Select an appropriate option from the list. In accordance with the SAP method, rooflights are automatically set to ‘< 20% Very little’.

Select a frame material from the drop-down list. This determines the required glazing/door U-values for Part L1 and Part L2 (2002).

Select from the following types:

a)       personnel door

b)      vehicle access or similar large door

c)       wall or roof element that is not to be treated as a door for the purposes of Part L

d)      smoke vent

e)      high usage entrance doors

Doors of types b, d and e form special categories in Part L. Type c is provided to allow door drawing facilities in ModelIT to be used to create wall or roof elements.

Part L2 (2006) requires an allowance to be made for non-repeating thermal bridging. In the <VE> implementation this is handled via a coefficient expressing this component of heat loss as a multiple of element area. This can be thought of as an addition to element U-value. The default value of 0.035 W/m ² K represents a typical value for office spaces built to the standards of the Robust construction details defined in IP 17/01 ^[4] .

In the notional building, thermal bridging coefficients are set to standard values laid down in the NCM methodology document.

This tab on the dialogue at the lower edge of the <VE> Compliance screen allows you to view the results of Part L1 (2006) compliance simulations.

The Building Emissions Rate (kgCO ₂ /m2) calculated for the actual building.

The Building Emissions Rate (kgCO ₂ /m2) calculated for the notional buildings heating and lighting usage (C_heating & C_lighting).

The target building emissions rate, derived from the Notional Building Emissions Rate by applying the Improvement Factor and Fuel Factor using the formula:

TER = (C_heating × fuel factor + C_lighting )× (1 – improvement factor)

A preset factor determining the degree to which the TER must improve on the Notional Buildings Emissions Rate.

The Fuel Factor, which together with the Improvement Factor determines the degree to which the TER must improve on the Notional Building Emissions Rate.

The pass/fail result for Criterion 1. ‘YES’ if BER<TER, ‘NO’ otherwise.

Click on this button to view the compliance checklist using inputs from the actual and notional building calculations, together with the data entered in Building & System Data and the results of the Criterion 2 U-value checks.

This button shows the SAP worksheet.

This button shows the SAP worksheet for the DER calculation.

This button shows the SAP worksheet for the notional building calculation.

This button shows the results of the overheating assessment for the SAP Appendix P calculation.

This button shows the input data used for the SAP calculations.

The worksheets for DER, Notional, Overheating and Input data should all be used as part of the Building Control Submission. Future versions of the <Virtual Environment> will include the Compliance Checklist for building control submission once this data is published.