1. RdSAP principles

2. Concepts of RdSAP Dwelling Types Building Parts Dimensions Age Bands
Habitable Rooms

3. Dwelling Types Dwelling Type House Bungalow Flat Maisonette Park Home
Built Form
Detached
Semi-detached
Mid-terrace
End-terrace
Enclosed mid-terrace
Enclosed end-terrace

4. Building Parts
For simplicity of data entry the dwelling is divided into ‘main dwelling’ and ‘extensions’ Extensions may not be extensions in the conventional sense of the word, so we describe them as ‘parts’

5. Building Parts A building part: has only one roof type
has only one floor type
was entirely built in one age band

6. Building Parts

7. Building Parts 2 building parts (main + ext 1) 100mm insulation
suspended floor
suspended floor
Age band A
(pre 1900)
Age band A
(pre 1900)
2 building parts (main + ext 1)

8. Building Parts 2 building parts (main + ext 1) 100mm insulation
suspended floor
suspended floor
Age band C
( )
Age band A
(pre 1900)
2 building parts (main + ext 1)

9. Building Parts 2 building parts (main + ext 1) 100mm insulation
solid floor
suspended floor
Age band A
(pre 1900)
Age band A
(pre 1900)
2 building parts (main + ext 1)

10. Building Parts 1 building parts (main only) 100mm insulation
Age bands – many things stem from age band. For example,
suspended floor
suspended floor
Age band A
(pre 1900)
Age band A
(pre 1900)
1 building parts (main only)

11. Dimensions
Once the dwelling is divided into parts, each storey of each part is defined by 4 dimensions each

12. Dimensions Internal or external (but not both!) 4 components: Area
Storey Height
Exposed Perimeter
Party Wall

13. Dimensions: ‘Heated envelope’
Porches
Include if heated by fixed heating devices
Exclude if unheated and
external (i.e. protruding from external wall) or thermally separated from dwelling

14. Dimensions: ‘Heated envelope’
Conservatories
Include unless separated from dwelling by wall with exterior grade doors and windows
Exclude if separated as above

15. Dimensions: ‘Heated envelope’
Store / utility rooms
Exclude if only accessible from outside of the dwelling
Include if directly accessible from the occupied part of the dwelling

16. Age Bands
Age bands are key to RdSAP, as they are the basis of a variety of assumptions about the performance of the dwelling

17. Age Bands Record per part
England & Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Park Homes
Pre 1900
before 1900
n/a
Before 1983
2007 – 2011
2007 – 2013
2006 onwards
2012 onwards
2014 onwards A
before 1900 B C D E F G H I J K L
2012 onwards
Record per part
Build NOT refurb date (unless uninhabitable before refurb)
(Slightly different in devolved nations)

18. Age Bands
Critical – software makes assumptions about thermal values based on age
Seek information from:
Occupier / agent
Documentary evidence
Property style
Building regs-related features

19. Habitable rooms
Habitable rooms are another peculiar RdSAP concept, and are used to make assumptions about the proportion of the home is that is a ‘living’ area, which informs how it is heated

20. Habitable rooms RdSAP needs a simple count
Always included in the count:
Living rooms
Sitting rooms
Dining rooms
Studies
Bedrooms

21. Habitable rooms Always excluded from the count: Utility rooms
Bathrooms / WCs
Cloakrooms
Halls / Landings / Stairways
En-suite

22. Habitable rooms: kitchen
Include if there is space for a table and 4 chairs
Otherwise exclude

23. Habitable rooms: divisions
Open plan areas
one room
Rooms divided by a doorway where door temporarily removed - architrave present and hinge holes not filled in
two rooms

24. Heated habitable rooms
RdSAP needs a second simple count
A heated habitable room is a habitable room with a fixed heat emitter

25. Construction and insulation
How to enter walls, floors, roofs

26. Wall construction Construction types: Cavity Solid brick Timber framed
System built
Sandstone
Granite or whinstone
Cob
Park home wall (park home only)

27. Wall insulation Insulation types: As built Unknown Internal External
Filled cavity
Filled cavity + internal
Filled cavity + external

28. Wall insulation Wall and insulation thickness must also be measured
Around window reveals usually best place

29. Roof construction Flat Pitched, access Pitched, no access to loft
Pitched (thatch)
Other dwelling above
Same dwelling above
Pitched, sloping

30. Roof insulation Position of insulation: Rafters Joists Unknown None
Flat roof insulation
Sloping ceiling insulation
Insulation thickness also recorded

31. Floor construction Suspended timber Suspended-not timber Solid
Separate entries required for main part and any extensions

32. Floor insulation Unknown As-built Retro-fitted
Insulation thickness if known

33. RdSAP Space Heating
How to enter details of the heating and hot water system

34. RdSAP allows 2 main and 1 secondary heating system to be entered, if required
Main Heating 1 is the one which heats living area

35. Main Heating Systems Most common are: Boiler and radiators
Electric storage heaters

36. Boilers
Typically a central boiler and a circuit of pipe work distributing hot water to a number of radiators
Can be gas, oil , LPG or biomass fuelled
Several types with widely differing efficiencies
‘Wet’ underfloor heating becoming more common

37. Room Heaters Gas fires Open fires Closed fires (stoves)
Usually secondary heating systems

38. Boiler Type Regular boiler Combination boiler
Condensing regular boiler
Condensing combi boiler
CPSU
Back boiler
Range cooker boiler
Micro-CHP

39. Flue Type combinations
Open flue
Open flue-fan assisted
Balanced flue
Fan assisted room sealed
Balanced flue = room sealed. The pictures show the characteristic ‘double pipe’ of a balanced flue.
Presence of a fan is more difficult to tell, you can sometimes hear it when the boiler is on. Typically fans are found in newer boilers.

40. Central Heating Pump Age
Unknown in most cases
If known it can be entered into RdSAP
Post 2012 notably better

41. Main Heating Controls Room thermostats Programmer TRVs
Time and temperature zone control
Weather compensator
Boiler energy manager

42. Types of Secondary Heating – gas fires

43. Rooms in Roof
A special case and needs some description

44. Types
A conversion of what would normally be a loft space, above the main part of the dwelling, or above any extensions.
A house designed for occupation of the roof space such as a chalet bungalow, usually built with dormer or roof light windows

45. To be included in the RdSAP assessment:
It must be accessed via a fixed staircase
The height of the common wall must be less than 1.8m for at least 50% of common wall (excluding gable ends and party walls)

46. RdSAP details
In this section we will cover the details of recording the various energy-related property features in RdSAP

47. Terrain Type
Urban
Suburban
Rural
Used to determine ventilation

48. Windows / Glazing Key data items: Total glazed area
Proportion of multiple-glazed area
Multiple-glazing type

49. Total Glazed Area Normal or typical More than typical
Less than typical
Much more than typical
Much less than typical
Sun rooms (next slide)
Typical for age and construction – so a detached house built in the 1960s can be expected to have large windows, so enter as ‘typical’ unless it has an unusual feature like a sunroom, or has additional and extensive retrofitted patio doors

50. Extended Glazing and Sunrooms
RdSAP definition of a conservatory: a structure with at least 75% its roof and at least 50% of its walls glazed
Sunrooms can be entered in the extended glazing facility

51. Doors
Total number of external doors includes doors to unheated corridors and any doors within the heat loss perimeter
Double door = 2 doors
Glass patio door = window
Documentary evidence of insulated doors required

52. Draughtproofing
Proportion of draughtproofed windows and doors is entered as a percentage
Assumptions can be made based on window type if draughtproofing cannot be determined

53. Open fireplaces Number of open fireplaces within property recorded
Conventions apply

54. Low Energy Lighting Need to record:
Total number of fixed light fittings
Total number of fixed low energy lighting fitted outlets
Only fixed lighting is assessed
LED and CFL are low energy
‘Low energy halogens’ are not

55. Ventilation Method Natural ventilation Mechanical, supply and extract*
Mechanical, extract only*
*whole house systems, NOT single room extract fans
Presence of air conditioning can also be recorded by ticking a box

56. Electricity Meters Meter type must be recorded Single rate meter
Mechanical dual rate meter (often ‘white meter’)
Digital dual rate meter
Other tariffs (18/24h)
Smart meters not yet