2.3 Real, actual, notional and reference buildings
The definition, creation and purpose of these three buildings can be summarized as follows.
The real building is the building that you see in the Apache module. It is the building as designed, and with the occupancy and plant operation conditions expected to apply in reality, rather than the standard conditions stipulated for UK ratings analysis. In the Apache module it forms the basis for the analysis of heating and cooling loads and simulations.
The actual building is the building as designed, but subject to standard patterns of occupancy and plant operation for UK ratings as defined in NCM. The actual building is the building displayed by default in VE Compliance. It has the same geometry and construction as the real building but its activity settings (occupancy, internal gains, heating and cooling set points and minimum ventilation rates) and plant operation conditions are assigned standard settings in VE Compliance as a function of the NCM activities assigned to its rooms. It is also subject to rules governing the calculation of infiltration and auxiliary energy. Aspects of the actual building that are shared with the real building may be edited either Apache View or VE Compliance.
The notional building is a version of the actual building modified to conform to a clearly defined set of standards relating to glazing area, constructions and system characteristics. Its purpose is to provide a benchmark or target against which to measure the performance of the actual building. The notional building is subject to the same occupancy and plant operation patterns as the actual building. Under the SBEM method the notional building for VE-SBEM cannot be viewed in VE Compliance as it is created internally by the BRE SBEM tool.
The reference building is the basis of setting the energy rating scale for Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for England (and Wales). The Asset Rating rates the CO2 emissions from the Actual building in comparison to a Standard Emission Rate (SER). The Standard Emission Rate is determined by applying a fixed improvement factor to the emissions from a Reference building.
The contents of 2.3 Real, actual, notional and reference buildings
