Domestic and non-domestic energy performance certificates review: executive summary

Methodology

Text searches were carried out on each of the 343 individual responses using 17 different search terms identified through an iterative process involving reading the initial consultation documents, the consultation questions, and each of the individual responses. This search exercise was not just concerned with the consultation document questions specifically addressing SAP, RdSAP, SBEM or EPC issues, but drew from across the responses, to inform on the breadth of EPC-related issues. Of the 343 responses, 101 were categorised as making 'no relevant comment' with regard to SAP, RdSAP, SBEM or EPC issues.

The remaining 242 responses generated 1066 comments that were extracted and collated within a spreadsheet. Subsequently, these 1066 contributions were assigned metatags, broad themes, descriptors, and keywords to enable common topics and themes to be identified, grouped, and further analysed through a bottom up analysis. Details of the methodology and the thematic analysis are set out in Chapters 3 and 4 of the main report.

The frequency analysis of the broad themes is set out in.

Table ES1 - Frequency analysis of broad themes applied to contributions extracted from the three responses to the public consultations

Rather than limit this review to a desk analysis of the consultation responses, discussion was opened up to a wider public forum to canvass opinion on the nature of concerns on EPC issues and on possible solutions going forward. The topics and concerns identified through the thematic analysis informed a more-detailed deliberation and scrutiny in four public workshops held around Scotland during February and March 2018.

To support the workshops, further modelling and sensitivity analysis was performed and six supplementary topic notes on specific EPC-related concerns with regard to domestic dwellings: issues relating to traditional dwellings; the assessment of rooms in the roof; a sensitivity analysis using default and full window data within the RdSAP program; a comparison of the impact of RdSAP ventilation defaults within a full SAP program; assessing the impact of changing the thermal mass parameter within RdSAP; and comparing the differences between using a full SAP program and RdSAP with regard to assessing community heating. These supplementary topic notes are published separately as an addendum to the main report.