Updates

New aspects of iSBEM version 3.2.b

The current verison is:

1.      

Further guidance

Further explanation or clarification of existing parameters and functionality of iSBEM.

  • Guidance on the notional building fuel
  • Guidance on EPCs in Scotland
  • Guidance on features which cannot currently be represented in SBEM
  • Guidance on Glazing types
  • Guidance on the building rotation parameter in the Geometry form
  • Guidance on area ratio covered parameter in the Geometry form
  • Guidance on the calculation of the heating system seasonal efficiency and the cooling system seasonal energy efficiency ratio
  • Guidance on HVAC system types
  • Guidance on SFP for mechanical ventilation systems with heat recovery
  • Guidance on defining trace heating in iSBEM
  • Guidance on hot water storage when a SES is connected to the HWS
  • Guidance on destratification fans
  • Guidance on occupancy sensing for lighting control
  • Guidance on user-defined and user-edited recommendations
  • Guidance on the Recommendations report  

2.      

NEW

Changes related to new functionality of the iSBEM version 3.2.b.

  • New separate User Guide to provide guidance on using iSBEM for the purposes of energy calculations for the Republic of Ireland Building Regulations
  • New tick box in the General form > File Options tab > System Configuration sub-tab to control the generation of the Data Reflection reports in html format
  • New field in the General form > General Information tab > Project Details sub-tab and a new Keys sub-form in the General form > General Information tab > Energy Assessor Details sub-tab related to security keys
  • A secondary recommendations report for EPCs in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland
  • An additional pdf file is generated when an EPC in the Welsh language is required
  • New activity for "Food Preparation Area" in "Nursing, residential homes and hostels" building type

New aspects of iSBEM version 3.1.a

The current verison is:

1. Further explanation or clarification of existing parameters and functionality of iSBEM.

· Guidance on reference documents for further information (Calculation basics for Building Regulations compliance purposes and Calculation basics for Energy Performance Certificate purposes).

· Guidance on features which cannot currently be represented in SBEM

· Further guidance on the UPRN in the General form > General Information tab > Building Details sub-tab

· Further guidance on the registration number of the energy assessor in the General form > General Information tab > Energy Assessor Details sub-tab

· Further guidance on shading from overhangs and fins

· Further guidance on the System Controls sub-tab in the Building Services form > HVAC Systems tab

· Further guidance on exhaust air flow rate

· Further guidance on selecting lamp types

2. Changes related to new functionality of the iSBEM version 3.1.a.

· New additional line for the building address and new layout for the Building Details sub-tab in the General form > General Information tab

· Button for running an asset rating calculation without generating XML files has been removed from the Ratings form > Asset Rating tab > Building Rating sub-tab

· Only one XML file is generated when running the asset rating calculation and generating and EPC

New aspects of iSBEM version 3.0.a

The current verison is:

" New options available for the 'Purpose of Analysis' parameter in the General form

" New distribution of parameters and sub-tabs in the General form

" New tick box on producing EPCs in Welsh in the General form Project

" New tick box on running a compliance check with building regulations as well as producing an EPC in the General form of the building in the General form

" New parameter on the asset rating of the building with improvements in the General form

" New parameter on related party disclosure in the General form

" New parameter on building location description in the General form

" New parameter on the UPRN in the General form

" New parameter on the inspection date in the General form

" New tick box on the conservation status of a building in the General form

" New parameter on the registration number of the energy assessor in the General form

" New parameter on the membership number of the qualified/accredited person in the General form

" New parameter on the accreditation scheme of the energy assessor in the General form

" New parameter on the protocol organisation of the qualified/accredited person in the General form

" New parameter on the qualifications of the energy assessor in the General form

" Reporting of the ID number given by iSBEM to each envelope in the Geometry form

" New parameter for envelope ID number in the Geometry form

" New default HVAC system options in the Geometry form >

" New parameter on ratio of roof area covered by array of rooflights to the area of rooflight glazing in the Geometry form

" New Global and Defaults tab in the Building Services form

" New HVAC System Defaults sub-tab in the Building Services form

" New (renamed) Metering Provision sub-tab in the Building Services form

" New System Controls sub-tab in the Building Services form

" New tick box on mixed mode cooling in the Building Services form

" New radio button on the axis of the wind turbine in the Building Services form

" New parameter on the area swept by the rotor blades of the wind turbine in the Building

" New parameter on the heat efficiency of the CHP generator in the Building Services form

" New parameter on the electrical efficiency of the CHP generator in the Building Services form

" New guidance on the calculation of heat to power ratio of the CHP generator in the Building Services form

" New display of results regarding risk of overheating in the zone in the Building Services form

" New parameters on daylight zoning in the Building Services form

" New layout and functions in the Ratings form

" New EPBD Audit sub-tab in the Ratings form

" New layout and functions in the Building Rating sub-tab of the Ratings form

" New layout and functions in the Recommendations sub-tab of the Ratings form

" New layout for the Recommendations report

Updates made to iSBEM_v3.0.b

The current verison is:

New sub-form for details of the energy assessor's insurance in the General form

" Number of corners parameter is no longer required in the Geometry form

" New parameter on the CO2 conversion factor for district heating in the Building Services form

" New requirements for lighting definition options for the zone in the Building Services form

" New button for running an asset rating calculation without generating XML files in the Ratings form

Updates made to iSBEM_v2.0.c

The current verison is: 2.0.c

The new features and improvements of iSBEM version 2.0.c are listed below.

  • Corrected issue in iSBEM which could cause crash in some cases: Users were reporting that iSBEM v2.0.b crashed in certain circumstances. iSBEM has been reconfigured to avoid using the feature of MS Access that was causing the problem.
  • Fixed issue in iSBEM which could cause the interface to run slowly in some cases:  In some cases with iSBEM v2.0.b, the interface became very slow or freezes when there are a large number of envelope elements in a zone. iSBEM has been reconfigured to avoid using the feature of MS Access that was causing the problem.
  • Improvement to error reporting: Modified iSBEM error message: "building has not been properly defined" to include file path containing further information.
  • Check of construction database: Remove numbers from names in construction database
  • Fixed problem with displaying of the envelope elements in the Windows and rooflights tab: An incorrect list of envelope elements was shown in v2.0.b This has been corrected
  • Added extra information to summary tabs: In v2.0.b, object properties were not displayed in the summary tabs for rooflight objects. These have been added to the summary.
  • Made changes so that fields can not be left blank in iSBEM: Changes have been made to the interface so that fields (including the multiplier fields) can no longer be left blank.

New aspects of version 2.0.b

The current verison is: 2.0.b

The new features and improvements of iSBEM version 2.0.b are listed below. The New User guide also includes further guidance on a large number of existing parameters (not listed below). The User Guide can be downloaded from the "download" page of this website.

  • Modifications to compliance document and compliance checks: The compliance check for window u-values should be for the window with vertical inclination and not for the u-value corrected for inclination. This is as stated in ADL2a. Previous versions were checking the corrected u-values and this has been changed to now check the uncorrected figures.
  • Changes involving Notional SFP: New tick box added to indicate whether activity in zone requires high pressure drop air filters (e.g. HEPA filters).
  • Changes to heat recovery: The list of heat recovery options in SBEM/ iSBEM has changed from the types listed in the Dutch methodology to UK types from CIBSE. The option for users to enter their own heat recovery efficiency has also been added in iSBEM.
  • Extract System: For local zone extract, there is now the option of 2 types in iSBEM and SBEM: "Extract system serving multiple spaces" and "Extract system serving a single room". These systems have different limiting SFPs in the non domestic heating, cooling and ventilation guide
  • Changes to HVAC systems: Added new heat source "Direct gas firing".Added new HVAC system "Single room cooling" based on "Split or multi-split system with natural ventilation"
  • Lighting algorithm to interpolate rather than rounding when extracting values from tables: This makes the results smoother and avoids big jumps in lighting results when we move from one table row to another.
  • Corrected bug handling activities with HVAC system hours equal to 0 for any month: In school buildings this caused heating consumption to be positive during August when the building should be unoccupied.
  • Show default values to users in iSBEM for DHW storage losses and circulation losses: Previously users could not see the default DHW parameter values used where they did not enter a value in one or more of the DHW storage system or secondary circulation fields. Modifications have been made to SBEM and iSBEM so that after running the default values are loaded in iSBEM.
  • User-defined construction database added: This allow users to build up a database of commonly used constructions so that they do not need to be re-entered in each new project. Users can also import constructions into the user library from iSBEM projects or from another User Library.
  • Activity database changes: Added new activity for Flat communal areas so that it is clear which activity users should choose for these areas
  • Changes to interface: Added Building Navigation form to interface. Using the Building Navigation form, users can view all the objects in their project and can see specific information about each object, such as U-value or construction type.
  • Changed notional rooflight and window transmittance: In some buildings, the definition of window area and performance for the notional building is not properly representing the daylighting and solar gain aspects. To address this, the proportion of solar radiation and daylighting transmitted by a given area of glazing has been adjusted by reducing the effective solar and lighting transmittance parameters for notional rooflights and windows.
  • Changes relating to use of SBEM for Scottish building regulations S6: Made changes in order to enable SBEM/ iSBEM to check compliance with Scottish building regulation section 6.
  • Changes to auxiliary energy calculation for fanned warm air heaters (flued or unflued): For fanned warm air heaters (flued or unflued), the previous auxiliary energy figure could in some case be too high. The auxiliary energy for these systems only is now calculated from the total heating demand for the space, using either a default factor of 0.02 kWh of auxiliary energy per kWh of heating or a value entered by the user in iSBEM.
  • ECA options for split systems: ECA options are now available for split systems.
  • Valley gutters warning: Valley gutters warning added to iSBEM for certain activities
  • Added Unflued HVAC warning: A warning has been added at zone level when unflued HVAC systems are assigned to a zone in order to warn users that they should not use unflued appliances in naturally ventilated spaces.
  • Description of activity added to iSBEM: When an activity is selected for a zone, iSBEM now shows a description of that activity. This ensures that users select a suitable activity for each zone in their building. Previously this description was only included in the activity database.
  • Corrected a number of minor bugs related to:  DHW generator secondary circulation pump energy has now been added to the calculation. - some cases when the area of doors added to a wall was greater than the wall area - calculation of the time factor for both heating and cooling - user entered value for the exhaust flow rate was not being passed to the notional building

New aspects of version 1.2.a

The current verison is: 1.2a

The new features of iSBEM version 1.2.a are listed below along with where you can find information relating to these new features in the User Guide. The New User guide also includes further guidance on a large number of existing parameters (not listed below). The User Guide can be downloaded from the "download" page of this website

General form - two new fields: purpose of the analysis to be carried out on the project and stage of analysis (see Section 3.4: Creating new and opening existing projects and Section 6.3.2: General Information tab:).

  • Heating system sub-tab - one new field: heat generator radiant efficiency (see Section 6.6.1: Defining the HVAC Systems).
  • Zones tab in the Building Services form - re-organization of the parameters previously in the HVAC and DHW Systems sub-tab onto the re-named HVAC, DHW, and Lighting Systems sub-tab and the new Ventilation and Exhaust sub-tab (see Section 6.6.7: Defining the zone specific building services).
  • Zones tab in the Building Services form - one new field: lighting system selection, which is not yet active but will be in future versions of the tool (see Section 6.6.7: Defining the zone specific building services).
  • Lighting (General) sub-tab in the zone building services tab - one new field: design illuminance (see Section 6.6.7: Defining the zone specific building services).
  • DHW Generators tab in the Building Services form - one new field: Generator seasonal efficiency (see Section 6.6.2: DHW generator definition). 
  • General tab in the Building Services form - one field removed: Recirculation or flow reduction (see Section 6.6.1: Defining the HVAC Systems).
  • Ventilation & Exhaust sub-tab in the Building Services form - one new field: Demand-controlled ventilation (see Section 6.6.7: Defining the zone specific building services).
  • Ventilation & Exhaust sub-tab in the Building Services form - one new field added so that now there is one field for supply SFP and one field for exhaust SFP (see Section 6.6.7: Defining the zone specific building services).
  • Ventilation & Exhaust sub-tab in the Building Services form - one field removed: Recirculation or flow reduction (see Section 6.6.7: Defining the zone specific building services).
  • General & Geometry sub-tab in the General form - one new field: Building (clockwise) rotation (see Section 6.5.2: Project tab).
  • General & Geometry sub-tab in the General form - one field removed: Is the Building modular/portable with use of <2 years (see Section 6.5.2: Project tab).
  • Ratings form - Building Regulations Check tab replaces Part L check (see Section 7.1.1: Building Regulations Check tab).
  • General sub-tab of HVAC Systems tab - one field removed: Multiplier (see Section 6.6.1: Defining the HVAC Systems).
  • General sub-tab of DHW Systems tab - one field removed: Multiplier (see Section 6.6.2: DHW generator definition).
  • Lighting (General) sub-tab in the Building Services form - changes to zonal lighting options (see Section 6.6.7: Defining the zone specific building services).
  • Lighting (Controls) sub-tab in the Building Services form - one new field: type of photoelectric sensors (see Section 6.6.7: Defining the zone specific building services).
  • Smoke vents are no longer input into iSBEM or used in the calculation (see Section 6.5.4: Defining the zones' envelopes - in the Envelope tab).
  • Default Psi values for thermal bridges of junctions involving metal cladding are already compliant with MCRMA standards (see Section 6.5.2: Project tab).
  • New function for refreshing envelope adjacencies in the Envelopes Summary sub-tab (see Section 6.5.4: Defining the zones' envelopes - in the Envelope tab).

 

Updates made to iSBEM_v1.0.b

The current verison is:

Below are listed some of the updates and improvements made to iSBEM_v1.0.b

Interface:

  • Version check. Updated
  • Some text has been change to make it easy to understand
  • Smoke vents. Sorted minor problem
  • Power factor correction. Parameter added
  • HVAC & Lighting metering. Updated.

Calculation engine:

  • U-value calculation. Corrected minor problem
  • Power factor correction. Parameter added
  • HVAC & Lighting metering. Updated.
  • Display windows in Notional building. Corrected minor problem
  • Fuel types list updated

Outputs and data reflection reports:

  • Thermal bridges. Corrected minor problem
  • Number of digits in numeric outputs. Updated
  • Date in reports. Added.
  • Efficiency of HVAC systems. Updated