Building standards approved energy assessment software: guidance

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Guidance on approved calculation software used for energy assessment in Scotland.

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• Building standards

Calculation software implementing the UK National Calculation Methodology (NCM) is used in Scotland for three purposes:

•demonstrating compliance of new buildings with Standard 6.1 (Energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions) under building regulations

•producing Energy Performance Certificates for new buildings and where existing buildings are to be sold or rented and for display in ‘public buildings’

•for production of Action Plans or Display Energy Certificates in buildings subject to The Assessment of Energy Performance of Non-domestic Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2016

Approved domestic software

Delivered energy, carbon dioxide emissions and energy ratings for dwellings are calculated using the UK Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure for the Energy Rating of Dwellings (SAP). The Building Research Establishment (BRE) website lists SAP software approved for use in Scotland.

The current edition, SAP 10, applies to all building warrants submitted on or after 1 February 2023 and also for all EPC production from the same date where each approved software tool is approved and available for use.

Information on calculation tools approved under SAP 10 for use in Scotland, as well as the SAP 10 documentation and a link to the SAP 10 conventions document, is on the BRE SAP 10 website. A list of approved RdSAP software for existing dwelling EPCs will also be provided, once the timetable for implementation of SAP 10 for existing dwellings is confirmed.

For building warrants submitted before 1 February 2023, SAP 2012 remains the current edition for building regulations compliance and for EPC production.

Information on approved SAP 2012 tools, as well as SAP2012 documentation and a link to the SAP 2012 conventions document, is on the BRE SAP 2012 website.

Approved non-domestic software

The methodology for calculation of non-domestic building performance in the UK is the Simplified Building Energy Model (SBEM). From 1 February 2023 the applicable versions of SBEM for building regulations purposes will be v6.1d and v6.1e. One of these must be used to demonstrate compliance with standard 6.1 (Energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions) for all building warrants applied for on or after that date.

For building warrants submitted before 1 February 2023, the applicable version of SBEM is v5.6d.

For EPC and Action Plan lodgement to the Scottish EPC Register SBEM v5.6 tools remain accepted. The next update to the Register (scheduled for February 2023) will confirm a move to lodgement of data from only v6 tools for EPCs and Action Plans to ensure that the improvements delivered by this most recent revision of SBEM are applied.

Users are directed to the updated documentation on v6.1d and 6.1e for Scotland available on the NCM website and to the updated NCM Modelling Guide for Scotland and Non-domestic Building Services Compliance Guide.

SBEM has a basic user interface, iSBEM, which is a free tool. iSBEM is updated to reflect amendments in section 6 of the technical handbooks or improvements to the tool functionality. The latest version which is suitable for use in Scotland is listed below and is available for download at NCM. SBEM is also implemented in commercial front-end software tools (FI-SBEM) that interface with the SBEM engine and Dynamic Simulation Modelling tools (DSM).

Approved software tools can be used both to demonstrate compliance with Standard 6.1 of the building regulations and for producing EPCs or action plans, as set out in the tables below. Software approved for EPC use implements the current schema via EPCgen and the facility to produce an XML file for lodgement of data to the Scottish EPC register. Software approved for production of Display Energy Certificates and Advisory Reports also produces an XML file for lodgement of data to the Scottish EPC register.

The process for validation and approval of software tools for use in Scotland is described in the Scotland NCM software validation DSM and FI-SBEM software validation document.

Section 6.1 Compliance

For building warrant applications for a new building submitted on or after 1 February 2023 the following iSBEM, FI-SBEM and DSM software are approved for use in Scotland to demonstrate section 6.1 compliance.

For building warrant applications submitted from 1 October 2015 to 31 January 2023 the following iSBEM, FI-SBEM and DSM software (NCM v5) are approved for use in Scotland to demonstrate section 6.1 compliance.

EPC production

The following iSBEM, FI-SBEM and DSM tools are currently approved for EPC lodgement on or after 1 February 2023.

Lodgement can still be undertaken using older v5 tools or a new v6.1e tool. The Scottish EPC Register will accept both versions as the lodgement schema is unchanged. It is the intention that Scotland will switch off v5 lodgement later in 2023 once current tools have migrated to v6.

The following iSBEM, FI-SBEM and DSM tools are currently approved for EPC lodgement prior to 1 February 2023.

Action Plan production

The following iSBEM, FI-SBEM and DSM tools are currently approved for Action Plan production on or after 1 February 2023.

Lodgement can still be undertaken using older v5 tools or a new v6.1e tool. The Scottish EPC Register will accept both versions as the lodgement schema is unchanged. It is the intention that Scotland will switch off v5 lodgement later in 2023 once current tools have migrated to v6.

The following iSBEM, FI-SBEM and DSM tools are currently approved for Action Plan production prior to 1 February 2023.

The following tools are approved for production of Display Energy Certificates and Advisory Reports on or after 1 September 2016

Contact

E-mail: buildingstandards@gov.scot

Telephone: 0131 244 6511

Post: Scottish Government Building Standards Division Almondvale Business Park Denholm House Livingston West Lothian EH54 6GA

1.30 June 2025 Approver supplier tables updated.

2.14 November 2023 Update to reflect addtional iSBEM, FI-SBEM and DSM software tools.

3.7 July 2023 Approved supplier tables updated.

4.11 April 2023 Information on approved domestic software added and other information updated to link to new guidance.

5.15 February 2023 Revisions made to software lists.

6.3 February 2023 Updated to reflect the availability of iSBEM, FI-SBEM and DSM software tools for use in Scotland for section 6.1 compliance, Energy Performance Certificate lodgement and Action Plan production.