Thermarate

Commercial buildings · NCC Volume One, Section J

Same rigour. Commercial scale.

Section J of the National Construction Code sets the energy-efficiency requirements for commercial buildings, and allows more than one way to meet them. We deliver every method, from Deemed-to-Satisfy reports to J1V3 modelling, and recommend the one that suits your building.

Get a quote Every method

01Every method

Every route through Section J. One recommendation.

The Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions suit many buildings. When they don’t, a Verification Method or a Performance Solution can keep the design intact. We check which route suits before any modelling starts, and tell you why.

  1. Deemed-to-Satisfy reports

    Each provision checked and documented: building fabric, glazing, building sealing, air-conditioning and ventilation, lighting and power, hot water, and energy monitoring.

    DTS

  2. Façade calculations

    Wall and glazing performance calculated façade by façade, so glazing decisions are tested while they are still open.

    Façade

  3. J1V3 modelling

    Verification using a reference building (formerly JV3): your building and a Deemed-to-Satisfy reference, modelled and compared on the Code’s measure.

    J1V3

  4. Other Verification Methods

    The NABERS route (J1V1), the Green Star route (J1V2), and J1V5, the reference-building method for apartments, where they suit the project.

    Verification

  5. Performance Solutions

    For a building that suits none of the standard routes, with the brief agreed with your building surveyor or certifier before modelling.

    A2G2

02How J1V3 works

One building. Two models.

J1V3 compares a model of your building with a reference building that meets the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions of Section J, using the modelling inputs the Code prescribes. If your building performs no worse on the Code’s measure, it verifies compliance with Section J’s energy Performance Requirement. Under NCC 2025 it needs a margin: annual greenhouse gas emissions no more than 97% of the reference building’s. What else NCC 2025 changes

It is the same principle we apply to houses under H6V2, at commercial scale, and with the same discipline: a brief agreed before modelling, a written method, and a report your surveyor can assess.

NCC Volume OneSection JJ1V3A2G2(4)
  1. Design brief agreed with your surveyorScope, the reference building, modelling inputs and acceptance criteria, settled before modelling.
  2. Model the proposed buildingFaçade, glazing, shading and building services, as designed.
  3. Model the reference buildingThe same building, meeting the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions of Section J.
  4. Compare, and test the resultOn the Code’s measure, with sensitivity checks on the assumptions that matter.
  5. ReportAnalysis, results and any conditions or limitations, under A2G2(4).
  6. ApprovalYour building surveyor or certifier assesses the Performance Solution.

03Where J1V3 helps

When the Deemed-to-Satisfy limits bite.

The Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions set limits element by element. A reference-building comparison looks at the building as a whole, so performance can be traded between the façade, the glazing and the building services.

  1. Glazing-heavy façades

    Where the design has more glazing than the Deemed-to-Satisfy façade limits allow, and the architecture depends on it.

    Façade

  2. Trading envelope against services

    More efficient plant or lighting offsetting an envelope limit, demonstrated in the model rather than assumed.

    Services

  3. Design options, tested early

    Façade, shading and glazing options compared before they are fixed, so compliance shapes the design rather than undoing it.

    Design

04Who we work with

Commercial projects, start to finish.

Developers and builders

A compliance route that keeps the design intact and the budget in view.

Architects

Façade and glazing decisions tested early, while they are still yours to make.

Services engineers

Plant and lighting performance represented properly in the comparison.

Building surveyors

A brief agreed up front, a written method, and a complete report.

Embodied carbon, measured. NABERS now rates it, Green Star rewards cutting it, NSW asks new non-residential developments to report it, and the ABCB has published a handbook on it for commercial buildings. Our life cycle assessments, to EN 15978, measure it while the design can still change, and we prepare the NABERS, Green Star and NSW reporting. More on embodied carbon

Commercial

Bring us the façade that won’t comply.

Send the drawings and the Section J constraints you’re working against. We’ll tell you which method suits, and deliver it.

Get a quote