Building physics
Physics first. Compliance follows.
Every compliance pathway checks a design under standard assumptions. Building physics asks how the building will actually behave: how it gains, loses and stores heat, how hot it runs in a heatwave, and whether it was built the way it was modelled.
01Analysis
How the building actually behaves.
For homes and commercial buildings, at concept stage or alongside compliance. Every model is checked by a second modeller before it leaves the office.
Dynamic thermal simulation
Hourly simulation in engines that meet ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 140, used to test design options as well as to show compliance.
SimulationThermal bridging
Two-dimensional heat-flow modelling of frames and junctions. For steel-framed designs, we show which details work best, and which pathway suits.
FramingGlazing and shading design
Fixed and operable shading, from eaves to louvres and awnings, modelled in detail, with every assumption about how it is represented set out in writing.
EnvelopeSummer comfort, air-con off
A rating assumes heating and cooling are always available. We run the house free of them to show how hot it gets, and for how long.
ComfortFuture-climate performance
Compliance uses historical weather. We re-run the design against projected climates to show how it will perform over its life.
Climate
02Verification
The build, not just the design.
Every compliance route checks a design on paper. Verification checks the building that was built, and the models others have prepared.
Insulation and substitution checks
Products often change between approval and handover. We check insulation as installed and re-check substitutions against the model.
On siteIndependent model review
We review models prepared by others, for builders, designers and building surveyors.
Review
03Who we work with
The people who shape how a building performs.
Builders and developers
Compliance that fits the design and the budget, with the paperwork handled and the surveyor on side.
Architects and building designers
Pathway advice at concept stage, so energy compliance shapes the design rather than undoing it.
Building surveyors
Complete, conservative submissions, a published method, and independent review of models prepared by others.
Product manufacturers
Research and development on how products perform in buildings, and how they comply. Research
Energy assessors
A partner for the designs that struggle to reach 7 stars. You keep the client and the NatHERS work.
Homeowners
Plain answers on which route your builder could use, sent to you and your builder.
Get in touch
Bring us the hard question.
A design that won’t reach the target, a product that needs evidence, or a model that needs a second opinion. Tell us what you’re working on.