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Welcome
to the Super E® home
A Super E® home is your assurance that you're choosing a healthier,
more comfortable alternative for your family, a better choice for the
environment - and quality you can trust.
Super E® homes are unlike any other home on the market.
Tested and Verified
Each Super E® Home receives a unique identification number and is
provided with a Certificate of Recognition signed by a representative
of the Government of Canada.
All Super E® homes have passed the following stringent tests:
An air tightness test to ensure energy-efficiency, moisture protection,
and maximum control over indoor air quality;
A ventilation flow and balancing test to ensure a constant supply of fresh,
healthy air to every habitable room in the house;
A computerized energy consumption simulation modeled against the ideal
to ensure maximum energy performance and minimum production of greenhouse
gases;
A wall structure design verification to ensure moisture protection and
long-term durability; and,
Results of these tests, performed on every Super E® Home, have been
reviewed and approved by independent specialists from the Government of
Canada's Super E® House Program.
The
Super E® Approach
Super E® is a method of building that considers the whole house. Well-insulated
wall design, superior construction techniques, high performance windows
and continuous whole-house ventilation are all features of Super E®.
Adaptable and elegant, Super E® homes can be built according to your
tastes and preferences, while still meeting the highest standards of performance,
so you benefit from:
A wide variety of styles, sizes and layouts
Extensive design analysis for optimum energy performance
Quality assurance through detailed post construction testing
Controlled
Ventilation
The Super E® whole house ventilation system provides each room with
fresh, healthy air while ingeniously capturing the heat from stale or
unhealthy air as it is exhausted, giving you and your family:
Enhanced indoor air quality resulting in a cleaner and healthier living
environment
An even distribution of fresh air throughout the house
Improved comfort through controlled humidity
Advanced wall technology
Super E® wall systems combine improved insulation, air barriers and
building materials which are engineered specifically for your house and
location, to create:
Highly durable homes which are built to last
Superior rain and moisture control to keep your home comfortable, dry
and healthy
Enhanced noise reduction for greater peace and quiet
Freedom from draughts and more even temperatures
New Window Technologies
Using multiple glazings, innovative coatings and insulating spacers, windows
used in Super E® homes improve on virtually every aspect of traditional
windows, to provide:
More natural light
Lower heating costs
Reduced condensation and draughts
Greater living comfort through minimal heat loss
Environmentally-friendly
Super E® homes combine exceptional energy efficiency with enviro-friendly
products, materials and mechanical systems, so you can count on:
Reduced impact on the environment
Lower energy consumption
Healthier indoor air
Canada has developed forest management practices which are considered
among the best in the world.
Better for the environment.
Better for you and your family.
Let us introduce you to the new standard of living.
How Super E® Technology Works
Super E® takes a whole-house approach, integrating the principles
of reduced air leakage, increased insulation and distributed mechanical
ventilation. To ensure these systems all work together, third party quality
control checks are done at the design stage by computer modeling and,
upon completion of each house, by an air depressurization test and a test
of the ventilation system.
Super E® employs a continuous air barrier separating living space
from the exterior. Careful attention is paid to sealing joints in the
poly sheeting or gypsum board barrier, including gasketing around outlets,
vents, windows and doors. Additional sealing around large openings are
sealed with expanding foam.
Air depressurization tests, done on every Super E® home, are conducted
by a blower door, which depressurizes the house, then measures the time
it takes to repressurize. The Super E® standard calls for 1.5 air
changes per hour at 50 pa. - a typical new house may have an air leakage
rate of 10 or more air changes an hour.
To prevent the air in the house from becoming stale, Super E® demands
a distributed mechanical ventilation system. At the heart of the system
is a heat recovery ventilator (HRV), essentially a heat exchanger with
a fan. The HRV uses heat from stale air being expelled to condition incoming
fresh air. Occupant health can be improved by installing filters on the
HRV. An independent test is done when the house is completed to ensure
there is a balance between exhaust and incoming air. Combustion appliances
are direct vented to the outside.
A weather barrier consisting of house wrap forms part of the Super E®
system, as does a pressurized rain screen. This small gap behind the exterior
cladding prevents penetration of wind-driven rain and allows proper drying
of any moisture that does accumulate.
It wouldn't be a Canadian house without superior levels of insulation.
But the Super E® standard not only sets out insulation levels, but
standards for double-glazed insulated windows and insulated doors. There
are calculations in the Super E® design software that take into account
window area to floor area ratios and the orientation of the house to take
maximum advantage of natural solar heating.
Yes, you'd expect these houses to be warm and durable on the windswept
Canadian Prairie, but what about a warmer, wetter climate?
In fact, not all of Canada is an icesheet. Maritime climates occur on
both its Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and this style of construction has
worked well on both. Hundreds of Super E® homes have been built in
southern and central England, Scotland, and in every region of Ireland.
Super E® houses have also been built in Kyushu, the semi-tropical
southernmost main island of Japan - a climate as different from the Canadian
Prairies as can be imagined.
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