Summary
• The UK has 500 Super E homes.
• A new project aims to meet Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
• More large volume Super E sites are being sought.
When Canada brought its Super E timber frame housing concept to the UK in 2000, energy-efficient housing was largely an alien concept to the housebuilding industry. But times, and opinions, change and now ‘green’ is definitely mainstream.
Super E, a “holistic” energy-efficient construction method used by about 40 Canadian companies and backed by the Canadian government, has benefited from its early entrance into the market, completing 500 houses in the UK. That’s more than all of the other eco housing systems – such as PassivHaus and BedZED – put together. The milestone was reached by Berkeley Homes, which has a partnership with BSW Alouette, at its Holborough development in Kent.
“There are lots of schemes and all of them are trying to demonstrate that admirable goals are achievable, but none of them have successfully entered the mainstream of UK housing, except Super E,” said Jeff Culp of the Super E programme. “Five hundred homes may not seem like a lot when compared to the overall construction industry in the UK but the industry has only recently started to experiment with energy-efficient systems. To reach 500 homes in such a relatively short space of time is a huge achievement that we are very proud of.”
Code for Sustainable Homes
But he said Super E would like to see UK legislation go further in fostering eco housing. “The Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) is still lacking in a number of areas pertaining to what constitutes a healthy home.”
Super E has brought its standards into line with CSH requirements and the BRE’s Ecohomes standard. This includes expanding the scope of the system to include apartments, an increase in U-values for roofs, floors, windows, doors and rooflights, steps to reduce the risk of overheating and addition of credits for certified wood.
Mr Culp said these changes keep Super E ahead of new Building Regulations.
The EQuilibrium house
To show its intention to meet still higher standards, the Canadian government has launched a net-zero energy house, based on Super E, in Japan. The EQuilibrium house is basically a timber frame Super E home with renewable energy technology and is designed to meet the CSH’s highest Level 6.
The Japanese house generates all its power from a ground source heat pump and photovoltaic (PV) panels covering the roof. The 68m² of PV panels cost a staggering C$40,000. Other technologies include a heat recovery system and vacuum insulation panels. Icynene foam is the main insulator between timber studs. The result is a building with a U-value of 0.14W/m²K.
Twelve houses have been built in Canada as part of a competition and Super E would like to build a demonstration project in Britain.
