The definition, creation and purpose of these three buildings can be summarized as follows.
The real building is the building that you see in
Apache View. It is the building as designed, and with the occupancy and plant operation conditions expected to apply in reality, rather than the standard conditions stipulated for Part L2 compliance. In Apache View it forms the basis for the analysis of heating and cooling loads and simulations.
The actual building is the building as designed, but subject to standard patterns of occupancy and plant operation for Part L2 (2006), as defined in NCM. The actual building is the building displayed by default in <VE> Compliance. It is identical to the real building in all respects except occupancy (including associated internal gains and minimum ventilation rates) and plant operation conditions, which are given standard settings in <VE> Compliance as a function of the attributes ‘building type’ and ‘room activity’. Aspects of the actual building that are shared with the real building may be edited either Apache View or <VE> Compliance.
The notional building is a version of the actual building that is modified to conform to a clearly defined set of standards relating to glazing area, constructions and system characteristics. Its purpose is to provide a benchmark or target against which to measure the performance of the actual building. The notional building is subject to the same occupancy and plant operation patterns as the actual building. It can be viewed in <VE> Compliance by switching the Current Model from Actual to Notional. It is created automatically from the actual building, and may not be edited. (One exception to this rule is dealt with below.)
Users interested in compliance testing only will not need to consider the real building as an entity distinct from the actual building. They can thus bypass Apache View. They should, however, be aware that certain room template attributes are overridden in <VE> Compliance.
Aside from this point, which is covered in more detail below, the real building does not need to be considered further in the context of <VE> Compliance.
The actual and notional buildings, however, can usefully be described in more detail.
