Where we are
Energycount is at Unit 9 Freeland Park, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, Dorset BH16 6FH — the village between Poole and Wareham, a few minutes off the A35. We have been here since 2006: a small team of energy and sustainability consultants who do the calculations that get dwellings and commercial buildings through Building Control and planning, and who built the free Monkey calculators to the same standards we work to.
Two kinds of work, two answers to “do you cover my area?”
The calculations go anywhere. SAP, SBEM, Part O overheating, Part G water and energy statements are all produced from your drawings and specification. None of them involves a site visit, so a plot in Salisbury, Slough or Sunderland is the same job to us as one in Poole. We assess dwellings across England and Wales every week, and London has its own page because its planning rules are different.
The testing goes where the van goes. Air tightness testing and sound testing need one of us on site with the kit, so distance matters:
- Core — every week: Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset. Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch; Dorchester, Weymouth, Wimborne, Blandford, Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Bridport, Wareham and Swanage; Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, Basingstoke, Andover, Eastleigh, Fareham, Ringwood, Lymington and the New Forest; Salisbury, Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge, Warminster, Devizes and Marlborough; Taunton, Yeovil, Bridgwater, Frome, Wells and Bath.
- Within reach — regularly done: Devon, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex.
- Further — by arrangement: quoted case by case. For a multi-plot site the travel is a small part of the job and usually worth it.
Tell us the postcode and the number of plots and we will come back with a price and a date. Testing can be bundled with the SAP work in the Compliance Pack, which has the practical advantage that the air test target in the SAP is the one we actually test to.
What is different about building here
Two things, and they arrive on the same planning decision.
The council’s energy policy
Part L is the same everywhere in England; what the planning authority asks for on top of it is not. BCP Council — Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole — requires new development to achieve a 10% reduction in energy demand from renewable or low-carbon sources, rising to 20% for developments of ten or more dwellings, demonstrated in an energy statement. Bath and North East Somerset runs its energy statements through its own Energy Summary Tool. Other authorities in the region are moving from a percentage of carbon to energy-based targets — a space heating demand and an energy use intensity — which need PHPP-style modelling rather than a SAP summary. The energy statements page tracks the ones we know, and every condition is worded differently, so send us the actual wording before assuming.
Nutrient neutrality
This corner of England is unusually dense with Natural England’s protected catchments, and a nutrient neutrality condition is as routine here as an energy one. Seven fall across the core counties:
| Catchment | Nutrient | Counties |
|---|---|---|
| Poole Harbour | Nitrogen | Dorset |
| Solent | Nitrogen | Hampshire, West Sussex, Isle of Wight |
| River Avon (Christchurch) | Phosphorus | Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset |
| River Itchen | Phosphorus | Hampshire |
| River Axe | Phosphorus | Somerset, Devon, Dorset |
| Somerset Levels & Moors | Phosphorus | Somerset |
| Chesil & the Fleet | Both | Dorset |
The trap is the boundary: Christchurch Harbour is the River Avon catchment and is phosphorus, while Poole Harbour a few miles west is nitrogen — a different nutrient, a different methodology, different credits. If your site drains to any of them, the planning authority cannot grant permission until the scheme is shown to be nutrient neutral. NutrientMonkey has all 27 catchments and runs the calculation free; we produce the planning-ready assessment when you need it.
And one thing that is not different
Part O. Approved Document O’s high-risk overheating locations are all London postcodes. Every site in Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset is moderate risk, which makes the simplified method available to more designs here than it is in the capital — though a glazed south-facing living room by the coast still needs checking.
What we do
For residential work: SAP calculations at design and as-built stage with the EPC on completion, Part O, Part G, air and sound testing, and the Compliance Pack that bundles them. For commercial work: SBEM and the non-domestic EPC, air testing and environmental noise surveys. For planning: energy statements to the council’s own wording. And, for anyone who would rather run the numbers first, the free Monkey calculators — U-values, thermal bridges, water, soakaways, nutrients — built to the standards Building Control checks against.
Get a quote or call 01202 623236. If you are passing, the kettle is on.
Common questions
Where is Energycount based?
Unit 9 Freeland Park, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, Dorset BH16 6FH — between Poole and Wareham, a few minutes from the A35. We have been here since 2006. Phone 01202 623236 and there is a real person at the end of it.
Do you cover the BCP area — Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole?
It is our home patch. BCP Council is the authority we deal with most, we know its renewables policy — a 10% energy demand reduction from renewable or low-carbon sources on new development, 20% for ten dwellings or more — and much of the conurbation drains to the Poole Harbour nitrogen catchment, so we are used to the nutrient neutrality condition arriving alongside the energy one.
How far do you travel for an air tightness or sound test?
Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset are the core — we are there every week. Devon, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex are within reach and regularly done. Anywhere beyond that we quote case by case, and for a multi-plot site it is usually worth it. Tell us the postcode and the number of plots and we will tell you the price and the date.
Do I need to be local for SAP calculations?
No. A SAP, SBEM, Part O, Part G or energy statement is produced from your drawings and specification — there is no site visit in any of them — so we do them for sites across England and Wales exactly as we do them for a plot in Poole. Where the site is only matters for the two things that need a tester on the ground.
Which councils near you ask for more than Part L?
BCP Council's renewables policy is the one we meet most. Bath and North East Somerset uses its own Energy Summary Tool for energy statements. Every authority words its conditions differently, and several in the region are moving towards energy-based targets rather than a percentage of carbon — our energy statements page tracks the ones we know. Send us the condition and we will tell you what it actually requires.
Is my site in a nutrient neutrality catchment?
In this region, quite possibly. Seven Natural England catchments fall across Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset: Poole Harbour and the Solent for nitrogen; the River Avon at Christchurch, the River Itchen, the River Axe and the Somerset Levels and Moors for phosphorus; and Chesil and the Fleet for both. If your site drains to one of them, the planning authority cannot grant permission until the scheme is shown to be nutrient neutral. Our free calculator has every catchment, and we produce the assessment.
Do you do EPCs for existing homes in Dorset?
Our EPC work is the new-build kind — lodged from the as-built SAP calculation when a dwelling is completed, by an accredited on-construction assessor. For an EPC on an existing home to sell or let, you need a domestic energy assessor who surveys the property — a different accreditation. Ask us and we will point you the right way.