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If you’ve ever been involved in a commercial project, you’ll know it can feel like juggling multiple things in the air at once. One decision affects another, and everything seems to have a knock-on effect on the complexity and eventually the budget.
Commercial Energy Efficiency, and in particular Section J compliance, is one of those balls flying in the air ready to hit you in the face. But we are here to catch it for you and protect you from a black eye. Like most things the sooner in the process you look at it the more chance you can respond to things without causing extra cost or issues.
The first step for most Commercial projects in the energy efficiency compliance journey is usually to get a Section J deemed-to-satisfy report done, this is the simplest type of compliance but also the least flexible. If a section J report does not achieve the outcome you desire, then you will need to go to one of the other more advanced pathways like a JV3 performance solution.
What is a Section J Report?
New commercial buildings that contain conditioned spaces are required to meet energy efficiency requirements. One pathway to show compliance is via a Deemed-to-Satisfy method outlined in the NCC Vol 1 in Section J. The document that outlines how your proposal meets the requirements is usually called a “Section J Report”.
The report goes through each sub section in the NCC section J and itemises how your project will show compliance with that section. Some aspects that Section J covers are: building fabric, or what the exterior of the building is made from and what insulation level it achieves, and in this section also contains the exterior glazing requirements of the building. Building Sealing, Artificial Lighting wattage allowances based on expected room usage. And other aspects.
The report provides a reference for the building surveyor to easily check compliance for your project.
When Do You Need a Section J Report?
When should you get a Section J report?
- New commercial building construction with conditioned spaces.
- Commercial Change-of-Use can trigger a new energy assessment, check with your building surveyor.
- If a renovation has major changes to the exterior shell of a building, can trigger a new energy assessment, check with your building surveyor.
The Section J Assessment Process
We know Section J so you don’t have to. The NCC is not the easiest thing to read and get your head around. So having someone on your side that can just tell you what you need to know and what is relevant to your project is invaluable and a real time saver. Here is our process:
Initial Project Review
We take a look at your proposed plans and if you have a specification in mind we can give you our initial thoughts and if we see any red flags, we can point them out to you early.
Section J – Detailed Calculations
Using details about the project’s climate zone and construction methods, we can get the required ceiling and floor insulation from the relevant sections of the NCC. We then go through the process of entering all the building’s details into a “Facade Calculator” to get the glazing and wall insulation specifications. Things like all of the exterior wall areas and glazing areas, shading devices etc are taken into account. This will tell us what kind of glazing we’re looking at – whether single glazed aluminium frame or double glazed, or if we need special tinted windows etc.
Preliminary Specification
At this stage we’ll email you with a specification that would be compliant for your project. You can use this to get quotes and determine if it’s the right fit for your project. If the quotes come back within budget and all is good, then you’ll update the plans with the specification we provided and let us know, and we’ll do up a final report for you to submit to the building surveyor with your final plans. If for whatever reason the specification isn’t a good fit, then we can look into other pathways like a performance solution, which is a more complex report but can be more flexible if you have specific needs.
Section J – Report Generation
If all is good, we do up a final report and stamp the final set of plans that contains the specification that we sent in the previous step ready to submit to your building surveyor.
Benefits of Professional Section J Assessment
Engaging qualified assessors for your Section J Compliance offers numerous advantages:
Cost Identification: Don’t get surprised down the line by large ticket items like high performance glazing, the sooner in the design process you engage an energy assessor the less surprises you will have later in the project.
Avoid compliance headaches : A proper Section J report means your building surveyor can easily tick off the energy requirements without delays or back-and-forth queries.
Common Section J Compliance Challenges
Commercial developments often face specific challenges when meeting Section J requirements:
Glazing Performance
Glazing is kind of an unknown until you put it though the Facade Calculator so this part can be a real surprise for some people.
Self-closing doors
This may seem a bit strange and specific, but you would be surprised how often it pops up. But Section J is a bit broad in its requirements for self-closing doors in all types of commercial buildings even those that are kind of residential, like a self-contained “Assisted Living” home which falls into Commercial Class 3 if you had a large sliding glass door opening onto a 50m² room this would technically need to be a self-closing door according to section J. which has caused a lot of problems in the past.
Section J vs. Performance Solution
A Section J deemed-to-satisfy report is the straightforward option – it’s like following a recipe. You meet the specific requirements laid out in the code and you’re guaranteed compliance. It’s quicker and cheaper to produce, but you’re locked into using the materials and specifications that the code dictates.
Performance Solutions
A performance solution is a lot more flexible and can be tailored to your exact project. If something in the Section J is a deal breaker, then you can look into this as an option. Even though the report itself is quite a bit more complex and costly, for the right situation it can be a lifesaver.
Conclusion
Getting a professional to look at your project early in the design process to get some feedback can be a really good idea for a commercial project. Building designers and Architects are not expected to be experts in all fields so getting advice early is a good idea.
Then when the project is further along and ready for quoting, send it through and we can give you a preliminary section J energy assessment.