KJ Tait

KJ Tait was responsible for the design and Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) modelling of a new residential block on Mansionhouse Road, Glasgow.

SAP modelling is the methodology used to assess the energy and environmental performance of residential sites. Completing a SAP assessment while the build is at planning stage ensures that the finished site will comply with local building regulations. This also allows the design team to ‘test’ the performance of low and zero carbon technologies, to ensure that the site is able to achieve low energy design.

For the Mansionhouse Road SAP assessment, the modeller worked with the Mechanical and Electrical Teams to create an exact model of each flat in the residential block. This included modelling the HVAC system and any low carbon technologies that the Design Team planned to use at the site. At Mansionhouse Road, this included low energy lighting throughout, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, an air source heat pump in each flat (to provide heating and hot water) as well as a waste water heat recovery system in each flat.

Our modelling showed that the block would pass all local buildings regulations and would therefore comply with Glasgow City Council’s planning requirements. Due to the low carbon technologies used, the site was also able to achieve:

• An Aspect Gold Level 1: CO2 emissions, awarded by Glasgow City Council to sites which achieve a 27% reduction on their Dwelling Emission Rate, when compared to the Target Emission Rate.
• An Aspect Silver Level 2- heating below 30kWh/m2 for flats.
• An Aspect Silver Level 3- 5% of the site’s annual energy demand for water heating from heat recovery or a renewable source.