We are happy to announce that City Science will be leading a CIBSE steering group to update the BS12831 standard that governs how heat loss calculations can be carried out. The group will take the views of industry leaders to understand how the standard can be updated to incorporate the use of new innovations in heat loss monitoring.
Context
Heat loss calculations are most commonly used either during an EPC assessment or when sizing a new heating system. This is usually done through the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) approach, in which a survey of the property is done to estimate the thermal performance of each component of the building. Such an approach is required by MCS to qualify for the boiler upgrade scheme, which gives homeowners a £7,500 grant when upgrading their gas boiler to a heat pump.
These approaches do not provide accurate heat loss calculations, and a number of innovative new approaches developed through the heat pump ready programme can produce superior results through smart meter data, temperature monitoring & building simulations. City Science’s own innovative SMETER and Heat Pump Sizing tools are included in this programme. However, these approaches are not compliant with the BS12831 regulations and consequently any heating system fitted using them would not qualify for the boiler upgrade scheme. There is a clear need to update the regulations in order to catch up with the new innovative solutions.
The Steering Group
The Steering group will be jointly led by City Science and the University of Sheffield, with assistance from Hoare Lea & Purrmetrix. The group will consist of industry experts from Build Test Solutions, the Heat Pump Federation, Energiesprong and others. They will meet quarterly to discuss how the new regulations can best meet the needs of the industry. A key discussion point will be the validation process for new heat loss calculation approaches. The regulations should be methodology agnostic but should be required to meet certain tolerances on key metrics.
The group will guide the development of a technical memorandum that will be submitted in 2025, with the hope that the standards will be updated by the end of the year. The technical memorandum will be written by City Science, the University of Sheffield and Purrmetrix.
We are excited about this opportunity to influence policy and to enable innovation to maximise its impact.
To find out more about our approach to heat loss calculation contact our team today: info@cityscience.com