BCA Section J 2010
In 2010 version of the Building Code of Australia BCA Section J has undergone the most changes compared to all other sections of the BCA. The changes are significant and there are many areas of the design which are affected by the new provisions. The BCA Section J 2010 DTS compliance reporting process can be highly streamlined if it is being addressed strategically from early stages. An early stage energy efficiency aware design is now more important than ever to prevent any costly modifications at later stages when detailing and specifications of the design are at a more developed stage.
BCA Section J 2010
Overview of the BCA Section J 2010
The Council of Australian Governments or COAG requested an increase to energy efficiency provisions of the Building Code of Australia from Australian Building Code Board in 2009. As a result the energy efficiency provisions of the BCA 2010 are now significantly increased. BCA Section J 2010 has gone through significant changes more than any other section of the BCA compared to the previous version of the BCA. Energy efficiency provisions were first introduced in BCA from 2003 for residential housing and since then has progressively introduced for other classifications of buildings in BCA 2005 and BCA 2006 versions. The stringency of these provisions has been progressively increased in each release and now the scope of the energy provisions has been widened in the BCA 2010.
Summary of Changes to Section J
Here is a very brief summary of the differences between BCA Section J in 2009 and 2010 versions.
A key element of the changes which is agreed by the COAG is to shift the focus in new building approvals from energy efficiency requirements to greenhouse gas emission minimization. For the first time in the BCA Section J 2010 renewable energy is considered a form of reduction in Green House Gas Emission of a development and its utilization in a building is now recognized and rewarded. Also it is required that a development to obtain its required energy from a source that has a Green House Gas Intensity of less than 100 g CO2-e/MJ of thermal energy load or from other sources of renewable or reclaimed energy. This practically means that a building must utilize the Natural Gas as its source of energy wherever available and for any means of energy generation which it can be used adequately.
The Verification Method using the reference building approach or thermal modeling method in the BCA Section J 2010 is now more detailed and use of renewable energy is recognized in the thermal simulation of the building. In practice if a building needs to benefit from the use of renewable energy sources like solar energy in the development for compliance purposes, Alternative Verification Method using thermal simulation modeling of a reference building is the only way that their investement is recognized in a BCA Section J report. All Deemed to Satisfy Parts i.e. Parts J0 to J8 are more or less changed toward more stringency and wider scope and part J2, Glazing, seems to have the most dramatic implications on the architectural design of commercial buildings. Part J4 is now left Blank and its provisions are scattered in other parts in a more appropriate manner. Swimming Pools, Spa Plants and energy consumption monitoring devices for certain size developments are also totally new in 2010 version.
