Public consultation on proposals to amend the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) – (UK)

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published on 16 November 2016 a Public consultation on proposals to amend…

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published on 16 November 2016 a Public consultation on proposals to amend the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP).

This consultation proposes changes to how Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) assesses the energy performance of homes.

The SAP is a methodology used to assess the energy performance of homes and thereby helps deliver many of Government’s energy and environmental policy objectives.

The SAP assessment is used for many purposes – including compliance with Building Regulations, and to produce Energy Performance Certificates.

Reduced data SAP (RdSAP) is the methodology used to produce Energy Performance Certificates, which are required at point of sale or rental and used to support policy delivery for many Government schemes, including the Feed in Tariff and the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.

Depending on policy development, changes to SAP or RdSAP may require consequential changes to legislation, for example relating to Green Deal or the Energy Company Obligation.

It is proposed to make changes in respect of the following technologies or parts of fabric of the house.

Amendment 1 – Carbon Dioxide Emission Factors

Amendment 2 – SAP Heating Regime

Amendment 3 – Distribution Loss Factors for Heat Networks

Amendment 4 – Lighting calculation

Amendment 5 – Thermal bridging

Amendment 6 – Areas next to unheated spaces

Amendment 7 – U- values to walls in existing dwellings

Amendment 8 – Hot water methodology

Amendment 9 – Summer temperatures assessment

Amendment 10 – Mechanical Ventilation systems

Amendment 11 – Chimneys

Amendment 12 – Storage heating – secondary fraction

Amendment 13 – Solid fuel heating efficiencies

Amendment 14 – Solar PV – overshading

Amendment 15 – Solar PV – diverters

Amendment 16 – Product Characteristics Database – boilers

Amendment 17 – Heat pump default values

Amendment 18 – Technology costs

Amendment 19 – Heating Controls

In addition to the consultation document, draft specifications for the new versions of SAP are available on the BRE website with cSAP available through the ISAP site.

You can respond until 27 January 2017. Responses submitting in writing or by email to the postal and email addresses above will be accepted at the following addresses:

Email to: buildingheat@beis.gov.uk

Write to: Neil Witney

Department of Energy & Climate Change,

3 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2AW