Guide A: Environmental design (2015)

This 2015 edition of Guide A was reprinted in 2019; this hard copy version incorporates all corrections made after publication up to May 2019. One additional correction has been made on 12^th January 2021, involving Equations 7.1 and 7.2 on page 7-3.

For purchasers of the hard copy version of Guide A, all of these corrections are detailed here:

Guide A Corrigenda v16

The PDF version of Guide A available for download above incorporates all of these corrections. If you download the PDF above, it is not necessary to download the corrigenda.

Files supplementing Guide A: Environmental design can be downloaded here:

Chapter 0: blank PAMDOC, PAMDOC example)

Chapter 2: solar radiation, long-wave radiation and daylight; world clear sky solar irradiance tables (by latitude); external design data (worldwide); Figure 2.8 Wind roses for the UK; Table 2.9 Frequency of dry/wet bulb temperatures (June–September); Table 2.12 Solar irradiation on inclined planes; Table 2.13 Solar irradiance on vertical and horizontal surfaces; Table 2.14 Sol-air temperatures; Table 2.19 Frequency of hourly wind speed by direction; Table 2.20 Frequency of hourly wind speed by temperature; Table 2.24 Predicted coincident dry and wet bulb temperatures (summer); Table 2.25 Predicted coincident dry and wet bulb temperatures (winter)

Chapter 5: appendices 7 through 12; Table 5.16 Cooling loads (unshaded) (UK); Table 5.17 Cooling loads (shaded) (UK); Table 5.18 Banded weather data; Table 5.X1 Cooling loads (unshaded) (worldwide); Table 5.X2 Cooling loads (shaded) (worldwide)

Full set of supplementary files (note - this is a large file, so may take some time to download).

Guide A: Environmental design provides guidance on design criteria and calculation methods such as fabric performance, heating and ventilation system sizing, methods for thermal comfort evaluation and energy demand.

Topics covered include:

• The design process
  • Design calculations quality plan
  • Sources of uncertainty
  • User issues
  • Performance assessment methods (pam)
  • Environmental criteria for design
  • Notation and definitions
  • Thermal environment
  • Modelling thermal comfort
  • Environmental criteria
  • Additional factors potentially affecting comfort
  • Outdoor thermal comfort
  • Determination of required outdoor air supply rate
  • Visual environment
  • Noise
  • Vibration
  • Determination of predicted mean vote (pmv)
  • Measuring operative temperature
• External design data
  • Notation
  • UK near-extreme weather data
  • UK cold weather data
  • UK warm weather data
  • Wet and dry bulb temperatures
  • Worldwide weather data
  • Solar and illuminance data
  • Wind data
  • Climate change
  • Urban heat island effect
• Thermal properties of building structures
  • Notation
  • Heat losses from buildings
  • Roofs
  • Ground floors and basements
  • Windows
  • Thermal bypasses
  • Linear thermal transmittance
  • Non-steady-state thermal characteristics
  • Moisture content of masonry materials
  • Thermal conductivity and thermal transmittance testing
  • Heat transfer at surfaces
  • Seasonal heat losses through ground floors
  • Application of the combined method to multiple layer structures
  • Calculation method for admittance, decrement factor and surface factor
  • Properties of materials
  • Thermal properties of typical constructions
• Ventilation and air infiltration
  • Ventilation and air quality
  • Ventilating heat loss
  • Ventilation systems
  • Natural and mixed mode ventilation
  • Methods for estimating air infiltration and natural ventilation
• Basic pressure coefficient data
  • Summary of measured air leakage data
  • Air infiltration development algorithm (aida)
• Thermal design, plant sizing and energy conservation
  • Notation
  • The role of standards
  • Relationship to the design process
  • Design calculation quality plan
  • Thermal response
  • Calculation methods for thermal design
  • Heating plant sizing
  • Cooling plant sizing
  • Summertime temperatures in buildings
  • Building energy demand
  • Overview of calculation methods
  • Equations for determination of sensible heating and cooling loads
  • Calculation of operative and mean radiant temperatures
  • Banded weather data
  • Glass and glazing systems
  • Example calculations
• Internal heat gains
  • Benchmark values for internal heat gains
  • Occupants
  • Lighting
  • Personal computers and office equipment
  • Electric motors
  • Cooking appliances
  • Hospital and laboratory equipment
  • Heat gain from laboratory animals
  • Domestic appliances and equipment
  • Rate of heat gain from restaurant/cooking equipment
• Moisture transfer and condensation
  • Notation
  • Psychrometry of water vapour in air
  • Moisture content of materials
  • Mechanisms of moisture movement
  • Surface condensation and mould growth
  • Interstitial condensation
  • Inside and outside design conditions
  • Condensation calculations
  • Control of condensation
• Health issues
  • Thermal discomfort and health implications
  • Humidity
  • Air quality and ventilation
  • Visual environment
  • Water quality
  • Electromagnetic effects
  • Noise and vibration
  • Communities and health

Note: This title references BS EN 779: 2012, which has been superseded by BS EN ISO 16890 Air filters for general ventilation. This Eurovent document provides a useful summary of the changes:

Eurovent 4/23: Selection of EN ISO 16890 rated air filter classes for general ventilation applications

Note: Chapter 2 of Guide A supersedes TM34: Weather data with climate change scenarios (2004).

Video highlights and full audio recording of the Guide A launch event, held on 22nd July 2015 at the Grand Connaught Rooms, London 

Acknowledgements

Guide A Steering Committee: Derrick Braham (Derrick Braham Associates) (chair); Brian Anderson (BRE Scotland); David Arnold (Troup Bywaters + Anders); Geoff Levermore (University of Manchester); Martin Liddament (VEETECH Ltd.); Fergus Nicol (Oxford Brookes University); Marialena Nikolopoulou (University of Kent); Foroutan Parand (AECOM); Chris Sanders (Glasgow Caledonian University); David Williams (Parsons Brinckerhoff Ltd.); Runming Yao (University of Reading)