5.1 Room Data in the context of Part L2 (2021)

Each room has a set of attributes that describe conditions within it. This data, known as Space Data, provides input to the thermal analysis programs. In the VE Compliance view, Space Data is divided into seven categories:

· General – Room name and ID, Templates, floor area and volume data

· Building Regs – room attributes for Building Regulations compliance checks

· Space Conditions – heating and cooling set points and room thermal modelling settings

· System – parameters describing the system serving the room

· Internal Gains – Specification of internal gains to the room

· Air Exchange – Specification of infiltration, natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation

· Comfort (not used in Compliance)

· Transpired Solar Collector (not applicable to simulation-based ratings)

For most thermal applications, a single set of Space Data applies to each room. However, for Part L (2021) the picture is complicated by two factors:

1. Special room conditions are stipulated for UK ratings analyses;

2. There is a notional building which has room conditions that differ in some respects from those in the actual building.

This section deals with the conditions in the actual building. Here, certain space conditions are taken from data entered by the user (these are often specified by means of a Thermal Template), and others are dictated by the conditions laid down in the NCM methodology for the particular building type and activity applying to the space (in the main these are taken from an ‘NCM template’).

Each tab of the Space Data dialog must be considered separately to fully understand the way the NCM rules are applied. The basic content of the Space Data tabs, and the procedures for editing it, are described in the VE Compliance and Apache User Guides, as these features are common to all thermal applications and Regulatory Frameworks. The exceptions and special rules applying to Space Data in Part L2 (2021) are described below.