Part F - Northern Ireland

Under Northern Ireland Regulations Part F, it is a requirement to carry out a building carbon dioxide emissions rating for both new dwellings and non-domestic buildings.  The calculated carbon dioxide emissions (measured in kilograms per square metre of floor area per annum) for the proposed buildings or dwelling should be less than or equal to the target carbon dioxide emissions for the “notional building” or “notional dwelling”.  This target is for the provision of heating, hot water, ventilation, cooling and fixed internal lighting. 

For non-domestic buildings an assessment of the Building Emissions Rate can be made with the SBEM calculation tool, or other approved software.  This involves inputting the size, shape, services and activities of the proposed building into the calculation package to create a “notional building”.  The Target Emissions Rate is a function of the emissions from the notional building, multiplied by an improvement factor and an LZC benchmark.

Dwellings may be assessed using the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure for Energy Rating of Dwellings (SAP 2005).  The size, shape and ‘living area fraction’ of the proposed dwelling, along with proposed services provisions, are used to calculate an emissions rate for a notional dwelling.  An improvement factor of 20% is applied to the emissions rate from the notional dwelling to calculate the Target Emissions Rate for the actual dwelling.