SAP assessments (often referred to as SAP EPCs) are designed to measure the energy performance of all new dwellings, conversions and extensions.
However confusing they might appear, SAP assessments are a core element in the design of any residential scheme, and an essential part of existing Building Regulations.
SAP assessments have been mandatory for new homes (Part L) since 1995, and for this reason, most developers have a working knowledge of their content. You need these calculations to make sure your building complies with Part L (England & Wales), Section 6 (Scotland) or Part F1 (Northern Ireland) of the most recent version of The Building Regulations. Introduced by the government in 1995, these laws are concerned with the conservation of fuel and power. It is recommended that you get your SAP assessments as early in your project as possible, so if your building should fail, our team can give you advise you on how to improve.
The role of SAP assessments are threefold:
- To calculate the energy-related costs of a dwelling. The resulting figure is called a SAP Rating
- To evidence compliance with building regs (Part L)
- To generate data required to put together an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
A slightly different SAP calculation may also be required when building an extension or carrying out a conversion. If you are building in Scotland, bear in mind that different requirements apply, so please make additional checks.
SAP assessments are produced by calculating U values of all fabric elements in a dwelling. The property’s volume, heating and hot water efficiency are all also added to the SAP assessments that will go on to produce the SAP EPCs.
Energy Statement
We are often asked to produce an Energy Statement by clients to demonstrate that their proposals will either meet the requirements or often to better them for planning. The SAP assessments and the SAP EPC are at the core of the input that goes into the production of the Energy Statement.
The Energy statements that we produce are in the main in relation to developments affected by the London Plan.
The Energy Statement often requires that the SAP assessments demonstrate a proposed Dwelling emission rating in excess of the Target emission rate of the notional dwelling in order to discharge the planning condition. We have on a number of occasions acted for clients who required an energy statement demonstrating that the Sap assessments we produced would produce dwellings that score a 35% improvement on Dwelling emission rate. Through the production of our SAP Assessment, SAP EPCs and the Energy Statement we are proud to have a 100% successful discharge rate on all Energy statements, SAP assessments and SAP EPCs issued.
FAQs
Q) Which accreditation scheme are you under for the production of your SAP EPCs?
A) We currently have all our assessors lodging SAP EPCs through STROMA but will always have SAP EPCs accredited by an MHCLG approved scheme who are audited for their role as accreditation scheme for SAP Assessments and SAP EPCs.
Q) How does a SAP EPC differ from a regular EPC?
A) A “regular EPC” is known as an Rd SAP EPC. This stands for reduced data SAP assessment. Under the Rd SAP assessment conventions, a large element of the data that is input reverts to the year of build that is input by the assessor during their survey
Q) Is my SAP EPC likely to score higher than a regular EPC?
A) Yes! If an office that was built in 1900 and converted to a flat in 2010, the Rd SAP assessment will presume construction details relating to the presumed standard of the time. IF the SAP assessment is carried out it will produce a more accurate SAP EPC that will take in to account the investment made by the developer in insulation to the fabric element and uplifting the SAP EPC score through the SAP Assessment.
Q) I have been asked to produce an energy statement demonstrating a 25% uplift in the dwelling emissions rate on a block of flats we are building in Ealing. There is no Gas to the property and to have an adequate Gas feed added will add £80k to the development costs. Can you help us to meet the requirements while keeping our development costs down through the production of SAP assessments?
A) Yes! We have achieved this on a number of occasions. Our assessors are multi accredited and spend several hours a week dedicated exclusively to expanding their knowledge of the latest technology and building fabrics to help clients achieve the best bang for their buck in development costs. This has a direct knock on effect on us being able to produce SAP assessments, SAP EPCs and Energy Statements demonstrating compliance where other assessors have failed.
Q) Can you produce an Energy Statement for a mixed use scheme?
A) Yes. We have on several occasions produced an Energy statement for commercial sites with residential development above. This type of Energy Statements incorporates a SAP Assessment and SAP EPC for each dwelling within the residential development and also assesses the Commercial utilising an SBEM or DSM calculation. The resulting Energy statement shows that the scheme is compliant as a whole.
