August 15, 2005—A software tool commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and developed by BRE will soon be available to help with assessing building energy performance.
Such assessments will be needed for all new—and many large refurbished—buildings to comply with the revised Building Regulations and to produce the energy rating that will be required from next year under the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, BRE points out.
The tool, known as SBEM (simplified building energy method), is a software package that simplifies the job of the national calculation methodology for buildings. It demonstrates a building’s compliance with minimum energy performance standards and works out its EPBD asset rating. This rating shows how much energy the building uses under standardized design conditions and will have to be made available to prospective purchasers and tenants.
The tool consists of three elements: the SBEM energy use calculation tool; an interface (known as iSBEM) by which the user of the tool can input the necessary information on the building’s geometry, construction, activities and service systems; and a set of databases—of activities within buildings, descriptions of wall, floor, roof and glazing systems, and details on heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting systems—which the tool can draw information from.
For more information, visit the Web site.
