Developers, surveyors, architects, building control heads and energy surveyors across the South West have been the first to enjoy a training course on changes to SAP, devised by insulation specialist Actis
SAP, the basics, how it’s changing and how insulation will need to adapt is full of in-depth, technical detail and looks at all elements which need to be taken into account when undertaking a calculation under the updated SAP 10.
Actis UK and Ireland specification manager Dan Anson-Hart, who devised the programme with the company’s technical director Thomas Wiedmer, said it had been extremely well received by building control heads and LABC members and partners drawn from across the region.
The Standard Assessment Procedure
This used to work out the predicted energy use and emission rate of a dwelling – assesses how much energy will be used, how much of it will be lost or gained, how efficient the home is at retaining heat, and ensures minimum fabric energy efficiency requirements are met.
The module looks at how a building’s energy efficiency is quantified by offsetting heat losses against heat gains and examines the eight areas which have been updated under the new, revised SAP 10.
It highlights changes to default y-values and reminds developers of penalties for those who don’t consider heat loss through building junctions.
It also looks at how one of the likely changes to Part L later this year will include a requirement for photographic evidence to confirm that the completed work matches the as-built energy performance.
And it illustrates how the scrapping of the old Accredited Construction Details means architects depend more on product-specific details supplied by manufacturers such as Actis to ensure as-built SAP is as close to what was predicted at the design stage.
A new set of Registered Construction Details
These details, designed by Actis and LABC for this specific purpose includes, among other features, nine suites of psi value details.
The wider RCD set, available here, also offers instant access to online tutorials to help builders reduce heat leakage through the weak points of an insulated building envelope and design out thermal bridging.
Anson-Hart said: “If these specific details are not available or provided a worsened default value will need to be used. New SAP10 is also making this default figure worse again, thus putting even more emphasis on the product-specific details.”
