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United Kingdom National Calculation Methodology (NCM) and cove.tool
United Kingdom National Calculation Methodology (NCM) and cove.tool

The article lists the input references from NCM for energy models located in United Kingdom

Akshay Padwal avatar
Written by Akshay Padwal
Updated over a week ago

The national calculation methodology (NCM) for the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is defined by the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) in consultation with the Devolved Administrations(DAs). The NCM activity database classifies the building types into following categories:

cove.tool automatically select the energy code 'UK NCM' when project is located in United Kingdom (The user has the ability to manually switch to a different code).

The default envelope values in cove.tool are referenced from 'Table 3 Limiting Fabric Parameters' of Approved Document L2A as shown below:

Here's an example of an Office building's automated envelope inputs in cove.tool:

The inputs such as occupancy days and hours, lighting power density, appliance power density, occupant density, heating set point and setback, mechanical ventilation supply air flow rate are referred from NCM activity database.

The cooling set point and mechanical system Coefficient of Performance (COP) values are taken from NCM modeling guide.

The automated cove.tool templates for office, education, hotel, hospital, and retail models are calibrated to the median value presented in the Building Energy Efficiency Survey (BEES) report for non-domestic building types.

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