Planning and design evidence
Predict and report total operational energy in kWh/m² GIA per year, alongside the space heating demand a planning policy or client target asks for.
Energy Use Intensity describes the energy a building is expected to use in operation, regulated and unregulated together, divided by its gross internal area. It is a different measure from the regulated-energy output of a compliance calculation.
A Part L or Section 6 calculation answers a Building Regulations question using standardised assumptions. It is not a prediction of metered energy. Where a planning policy, client brief or certification scheme asks for Energy Use Intensity, the assessment has to model the loads a compliance calculation leaves out, including small power, catering, lifts, servers and external lighting, and state the occupancy and operating assumptions behind them.
We agree which target applies and which methodology the recipient expects, then build the prediction on inputs the design team can inspect. Where the requirement also covers space heating demand or later in-use reporting, we set out what has to be measured and by whom.
For the planning narrative that carries this evidence, see energy and sustainability statements.
Policy targets, LETI and RIBA benchmarks, NABERS UK ratings and client briefs do not all define Energy Use Intensity the same way. We confirm the boundary, the floor area basis and the reporting units before any modelling starts, so the figure answers the question actually being asked.
Unregulated energy is often a large share of the total. Small power, catering, lifts, vertical transport, servers, external and car-park lighting and specialist process loads are estimated from the proposed use rather than assumed away.
CIBSE TM54 expects a range rather than a single number, built from stated assumptions about occupancy hours, equipment density and control. We report the range and identify the inputs that move the result most.
An Energy Use Intensity figure taken from a SAP or SBEM output is not comparable with a policy target. Compliance tools use standardised occupancy and exclude unregulated loads, so the two numbers describe different things and should not be presented interchangeably.
Predicted annual energy use in kWh/m² GIA, broken down by end use, with the modelled range and the assumptions behind it.
The result set against the applicable policy target or benchmark, identifying where the design meets it and where it does not.
The inputs still to be confirmed and the design decisions with the largest effect on the result, so the team can respond while it can.
Getting started
Gross internal area by use, floor plans, proposed occupancy, operating hours and any special or process areas.
Heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water, lighting and controls strategy, with efficiencies and any on-site generation or storage where these have been selected.
The policy, brief or scheme wording that sets the target, the submission stage and the reporting format the recipient expects.
No. An EPC reports regulated energy under standardised assumptions for a compliance calculation. Energy Use Intensity covers regulated and unregulated energy and is intended to reflect expected operation, so the two should not be compared directly.
For design-stage operational energy predictions we follow CIBSE TM54, which covers all energy uses and reports a range rather than a single value. Where a policy or scheme names a different method, we use the one the recipient requires and say so in the report.
It depends on the authority, the development and its scale. The London Plan energy assessment guidance asks referable applications to report Energy Use Intensity and space heating demand, and some schemes and client briefs set targets outside London. We confirm the applicable requirement for the site before scoping the work.
Only where the requirement says so. Some policies include post-occupancy monitoring and reporting for a defined period after completion. We identify whether that applies and what the ongoing obligation involves.
Policy targets, reporting thresholds and methodologies differ between authorities and schemes, and are revised. We confirm the requirement that applies to the site and submission date rather than working from a general benchmark.
Send the site, the policy or brief wording and the current areas and services proposals. We will confirm the applicable target, the method and the information needed.