2.2 Overview of Part L2 2021 compliance analysis

In the IES Virtual Environment all building regulations compliance testing is performed in the VE Compliance View. This covers range of regulations for England, Wales and Northern Ireland as applied to both dwellings and non-dwellings, together with their counterparts in Scotland.

The starting point for a compliance analysis is the input of geometrical data in ModelIT. The Template Manager, a central resource available from all Views, is typically used next to set up room system and ventilation parameters. Apache View, while not essential for compliance testing, commonly plays a part in the input of data for ratings (compliance and EPC) analyses that is shared by other Apache View applications, and Views such as SunCast and MacroFlo may also be invoked. The purpose of this section is to provide an overview of the roles played by the different parts of the VE in the compliance testing process.

ModelIT handles the input of the building geometry.

The Template Manager provides facilities for setting room conditions for a range of thermal applications. In the context of ratings, it also allows the specification of room activities that define the standard occupancy and plant operation conditions that apply in NCM procedures. In compliance tests these standard conditions automatically override certain of the Room Data settings that would otherwise be taken from the Room Template.

Apache View covers thermal applications such as heating and cooling load calculations, and simulation outside the context of ratings. The analysis in this View applies to the real building, for which all the input data is under your control. Where data is shared between the real building and the actual building, this data may be entered in either Apache View or VE Compliance. Examples of such shared data include:

· Location

· Constructions

· HVAC systems

· Renewables

VE Compliance covers thermal analysis specific to UK ratings analysis (Building Regulations compliance and EPCs. Some of the data required by ratings is shared with Apache View, as indicated above, and may be entered or edited in either View. Other ratings-specific data must be entered in the VE Compliance View. This includes:

· Regulatory framework – e.g. Part L2 (2021) (assumed in the list that follows)

· Building type

· Room activities (may be specified by means of templates)

· Data relating to lighting and lighting control

· Heat bridging data

· Stage of analysis (Design or As Built)

· Data required by the BRUKL compliance calculator, including addresses, system characteristics and air-tightness properties