Building Regulations BREEAM SBEM SAP COP FIT Payments RHI Payments
Building Regulations
Building Regulations are a body of rules that govern and constrain the design, construction, alteration, and repair of buildings. Such regulations are based on requirements for the safety, health, and quality of life of building users and neighbors, and will vary. SEE MORE
BREEAM
BREEAM, or Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method is an environmental standard that rates the sustainability of UK buildings. The BREEAM assessment aims to minimize environmental impact by ensuring sustainability best practices are in place while also lowering organizations' costs through energy efficiency. SEE MORE
SBEM
SBEM, or Building Energy Model Calculation, is a Government defined process in accordance with UK Building Regulations part L. An SBEM is the calculation of the energy performance of a new commercial building wether it be an Industrial Warehouse, School, Hotel, Office etc. SBEM calcs are required on all commercial buildings to achieve Building Control sign off. SEE MORE
SAP
SAP is the Governments 'Standard Assessment Procedure' for energy rating of dwellings. SAP provides a simple means of reliably estimating the energy efficiency performance of dwellings. SAP ratings are expressed on a scale of 1 to 100 the higher the number the better the rating. SAP is calculated by predicting heating, and hot water costs. They depend on the insulation and air tightness of the dwelling also efficiency and control of the heating system. SEE MORE
COP
COP is the Co- Efficient of Performance, this is the ratio of energy input compared with the amount of energy output of heating and cooling devices.
Simply explained if you buy 1 KW of energy input this can produce 4 KW of heat energy output (COP of 4), so the higher the figure is, the more efficient the equipment, or alternativly purchase £1.00 worth of fuel and the appliance would give you your £1.00 worth of purchased energy plus an equivalent of a further £3.00 worth of energy free.
Manufactures will only display their average COP as this figure can vary from install to install depending on fluctuating weather conditions.
Example of COP of Heat Pumps below:
11 Kw air source heat pump COP of 4.55
11 Kw ground source heat pump COP of 4.60
11 Kw water source heat pump COP of 4.70
It can be seen that there is not a great deal of difference between the various Heat Pumps, however they are over 300% efficient compared wth an average gas boiler at aproximatly 95%.
FIT Payments
FIT is the payment you will recieve for electrical generation in accordance with the clean energy cash back scheme, the scheme pays you for producing your own " Green Energy" for the following technologies: SEE MORE
- Solar PV.
- Wind Turbines.
- Combined Heat & Power.
The scheme was introduced in April 2010 to help the Government achieve its emission reduction target, they have committed to an agreement that 15% of our total energy, will be produced from Green Technologies by 2020.
Once you claim the tariff it is gauranteed for the full period and is index linked, which means tariffs will be adjusted pro-rata to the retail price index. The tariff payments are tax free for the private individual, for commercial or business investors the payments are taxable, please seek suitable sdvice.
The tariffs are set as the table below and payment is for each KW hour of electricity produced, thes figures are the proposed revised tariffs due to take effect on installations registered from 12th December 2011.
- P.V. under 4kw new building before occupation @ 21.0p/kwh
- P.V. under 4kw existing occupied building @ 21.0p/kwh
- P.V. greater than 4kw but not exeeding 10kw @ 16.8p/kwh
- P.V. greater than 10kw but not exeeding 50kw @ 15.2p/kwh
- Wind turbine under 1.5kw @ 36.2p/kwh
- Wind Turbine exeeding 1.5kw but not exeeding 15kw @ 28.0p/kwh
- Combined Heat & Power 2kw capacity (first 30`000 units) @ 10.5p/kwh
This Information is for guidence and was correct on 01/11/2011
How it Works
Generation Tariff paid to you by your energy provider, paid per KW hour of energy production.
Export Tarif paid to you for electricity you generate, dont use and then subsequently feed back to your energy provider, this is paid at 3.1p per KW exported, this is normally based at 50% of your generation meter reading. You have the option of opting out and negotiating a better rate with your energy supplier.
Bill Savings because you will be generating your own electricity you will reduce the amount of electricity purchased off your supplier.
RHI Payments
RHI is the proposed payment for the heat production part of the clean energy cash back scheme. They are due in 2012 and are simular to the FIT and cover the installation of:
- Solar Thermal.
- Heat Pumps.
- Biomass.
The exact details of how they are to be calculated has yet to be published, it is expected that the heat production will be measured using the Standard Assesment Procedure (SAP) and the tariff will be paid on this calculation. SEE MORE