Frequently Asked Questions for Homeowners

Every Super E® home must be registered with Natural Resources Canada. The registration process involves the submission of computer design simulations, as-built construction specifications and listings of the measures your Super E® builder has taken to ensure an environmentally-friendly house.

Independent tests for air leakage and indoor ventilation are conducted on the completed house and the results forwarded to the Super E® office.

The documents are checked and re-checked by independent housing professionals to ensure the house meets all the stringent Super E® requirements.

Once the house passes this quality assurance test, a certificate is issued by the Government of Canada recognizing the home as a Super E® home. The certificate is then presented to the homeowner.

There are many healthy features in Super E® Homes.

Controlled ventilation ensures a continuous supply of healthy, fresh air in every room in the house.

The HRV also helps to control humidity levels in the house. High humidity levels can lead to the growth of moulds and encourages the proliferation of house mites. Low humidity levels can lead to respiratory irritation, and promote respiratory infections.

Super E® construction emphasizes moisture control – mainly to prevent damage of building materials. The spin-off effect is that the insides of the walls in Super E® Houses are very dry, preventing the growth of moulds within the walls. Mould spores are one of the most common causes of “sick building syndrome.”

When your Super E® Home was designed, the builder selected construction materials for their low or zero toxic emissions. Many building materials, such as glues, insulations, interior finishes, and carpeting, give off toxic gases. Super E® builders must choose strategies to reduce or eliminate toxic emissions.

A number of studies have been done in Canada favourably comparing the health of occupants of houses using Super E® construction techniques (called “R-2000” in Canada) to those living in conventional housing. In one study, 13 different symptoms were compared. In every category of physical symptom, occupants of Super E® Houses reported more healthy results than conventional new housing. Overall, 94 percent of occupants in Super E® Homes reported a significant improvement in indoor air quality over their previous residence.

The Canadian Government has done and continues to do extensive research into healthy housing. For an overview of this research, visit the web site of Canada’s National Research Council:

• http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/newsletter/v6no3/improving_e.html

There are many, many other sources of healthy housing information produced by the Canadian Government and Super E® Builders. Here are a few:

• http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/imquaf/hehosu/hehorepl_010.cfm
• http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/infosource/pub/r2000/M92-81-3-1994.pdf
• http://r2000.chba.ca/consumers/comfortandhealth/ahealthyhome.html
• http://www.dacii.com/house-b/house-b.htm
• http://buildingsgroup.nrcan.gc.ca/projects/health_e.html
• http://buildingsgroup.nrcan.gc.ca/projects/voc_e.html

Super E® Houses are good news for the environment.

By saving energy, Super E® Houses reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Super E® technical requirements include several measures to reduce water consumption, employ environmentally friendly materials and promote recycling.

Various components of the building envelope – such as a continuous air barrier, tightly fitting high-performance windows and doors, and computer-assessed insulation levels – work together to provide a comfortable, quiet, draught-free interior and a home that achieves high scores for energy efficiency. A moisture barrier not only protects the durability of the building by keeping unwanted moisture out (condensation, mildew and mould adversely affect building structures), it works with a whole-house mechanical ventilation system to provide good indoor air quality at all times and a healthy living environment throughout the home. This state of the art system pumps fresh air to every room in the home while simultaneously exhausting stale air to the outdoors. The system saves energy by using heat from the outgoing stale air to warm the incoming fresh air.

Super E® systems work together to ensure the best indoor air quality available today.

Super E® homes must meet stringent requirements from design to the finishing touches. Each house is completely evaluated before any digging or building is done. Software developed by NRCan simulates the exact conditions where the house will be built accounting for flexibility in layout, lighting, space heating, cooling and ventilation. It allows you to optimize your house design and ensure your house meets stringent Super E® requirements before construction begins.

Canada is also a pioneer in FlexHousing, a design technique that allows your home to change as the needs of your family change.

Years of experience in Japan and Canada show houses built with Super E® technology use about 20 to 30 percent less energy for heating and reduce heat loss by 50 percent, compared to the average new house built today. Several features are used to achieve these results: high insulation levels, high-performance windows and doors and a continuous air barrier.

Advanced moisture control and rain screen technology also make Super E® Houses extremely durable – a Super E® Home is a home for life.

No. Millions of timber frame homes are built in North America every year, and there is never a concern that they are more susceptible to fire than a masonry home.

It cannot be denied that wood burns, but it’s also a fact that no building can be completely “fireproof.” Fire has very little to do with the combustibility of the structural materials used in its construction. In fact, the majority of residential fires are caused by the ignition of household furnishings and the main cause of fire fatalities is smoke, heat or toxic gas generated by the burning of materials inside the home.

In a Super E® Home, the timber is isolated behind highly fire-resistant gypsum wallboard which acts as a fire shield. Furthermore, Super E® wall technology emphasized reduced air leakage through the wall, meaning there is reduced oxygen flow to feed the fire.

Steel on the other hand is not flammable. But like timber-frame, it must be protected from direct exposure to fire with another material like gypsum wallboard. Without this covering, steel can quickly soften and lose its structural strength with rising temperatures. Wood, on the other hand, often retains its strength during a fire because of the char that forms, providing protection to the unburned portion of the timber.

Brick is also non-combustible, but direct exposure to fire can cause a breakdown in the mortar between the bricks. Concrete and brick homes often use flammable foam as insulation. These foams can give off toxic gases when burned.

For more information:

Fire Safety in Residential Buildings, Canadian Wood Council
http://www.cwc.ca/publications/building_performance/papers/CWCFSIRB.pdf

Wood-frame housing – A North American Marvel, Canadian Wood Council
http://www.cwc.ca/publications/building_performance/wood_frame/papers/Wood-framing.pdf

To answer this question, you need to remember how sound is transmitted. Sound waves are carried through a medium such as air. When sound encounters a solid object, some of the sound is absorbed by the material, some is transmitted through it and some is reflected off it.

The selection of building materials and how those materials are put together are critical in reducing noise transmission. Super E® Homes are constructed using a framing system (timber, or, less commonly, steel) with highly insulated wall panels, high performance windows and construction techniques designed to reduce air leakage. All these factors reduce noise transmission from the outside.

Insulation absorbs sound. The higher insulation levels that create a barrier to heat loss in Super E® Homes also create a barrier to noise transmission. Super E® Homes use gypsum wallboard for interior walls – an excellent sound barrier.

Super E® Homes also use high performance windows with multiple glazings. Sound travels easily through glass, but the space between the layers of glass in Super E® homes cuts noise transmission. Many Super E® Homes have windows with an inert gas filling the space between layers of glass in windows for insulation purposes. This cuts noise transmission.

One of the most important elements of a Super E® Home is the mechanical ventilation system. With mechanical ventilation, it is not necessary to open your windows to get fresh air. If noise from outside is particularly annoying, you can keep the windows closed to block out the sound while still being provided with fresh outdoor air through the continuous whole-house ventilation system installed in your Super E® home.

As we mentioned at the start, sound requires a medium in order to be transmitted. Air is a good medium for sound transmission. But Super E® houses are built to reduce air leakage. Less air leakage makes it more difficult for sound to travel from the outside.

Super E® Homes have a continuous air barrier to help them perform as well as they do. If I put a nail in the wall to hang a picture, will I damage the air barrier?

A simple nail in the wall will not disrupt the integrity of the air barrier. The tiny hole left by the nail is insignificant, besides, as long as the nail is there, it acts as part of the air barrier.

If larger holes are cut into the walls, however, there is a potential to damage the barrier. If major renovation work is to be done, you should contact a trained contractor. See the question on “alterations and renovations” below.

Planning a renovation, alteration or addition in a Super E® Home is really no different than making major changes to any other kind of home. You need to plan carefully, thinking about things like:

Plumbing and electrical – will the new addition exceed your existing services, requiring upgrades?

Interior and exterior finishes – pick finishes that last longer and minimize waste in landfill sites; finishes should also match the original house

Zoning and regulations – does your renovator comply with local building codes and regulations as well as with local bylaws and zoning requirements?

If anything, Super E® Homes may be easier and less expensive to alter. Most Super E® Houses are timber frame, one of the easiest and most inexpensive materials to alter at a later date. Your renovator should be aware, however, of the energy-efficient construction techniques used to build your Super E® Home. Detailed guides to Super E®-style, energy-efficient construction, especially written for builders and renovators, can be found through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation web site. You should point these out to your contractor before work is begun.

One major difference between a Super E® Home and a conventional house is the heating and ventilation system. The ventilation system has been carefully balanced in a Super E® Home and a qualified heating and ventilation professional should be engaged to determine if the current ventilation system will handle the increased demand of an addition. How will you heat the addition? Will you be using heating devices that use wood, oil or gas and are subject to backdraughting? Backdraughting of combustion appliances such as wood stoves and fireplaces can be a safety hazard and lead to smoke damage in your home.

These are all questions you should ask, regardless of whether it is a Super E® Home or a conventional house you are altering.

The HRV is central to the Super E® House-as-a-system approach, but despite its importance, it’s a relatively simple device.

The HRV is simply a heat exchanger. Stale air from inside the house conditions fresh air coming from the outside – energy efficient ventilation. A fan inside the HRV moves the air.

Houses need to have an indoor/outdoor exchange of air to replenish oxygen used by the occupants and to remove pollutants generated by breathing, household activities and emissions from furnishings. Most houses rely on air leakage to provide this indoor/outdoor air exchange.

Unfortunately, a leaky building is no guarantee of adequate air exchange. The movement of air requires both a pathway (i.e. a leak) and a pressure difference. The pressure difference can be caused by different temperatures between the inside and the outside, the wind, and the stack effect – a process where warm air leaks out the top of the house while outside air is drawn in from the bottom of the house to replace it.

Super E® Homes reduce air leakage. An HRV allows this necessary air exchange without relying on pressure differences. It means you have control over the air in your home.

HRVs not only exhaust potentially harmful indoor pollutants, they control humidity. Filters can also be added to the HRV intake. In short, HRVs are a key to a healthy indoor environment.

Homeowner maintenance of the HRV is very simple. The homeowner should clean the grilles about once a year, clean the filters once every couple of months and make sure the intake and exhaust ducts on the outside of the house are clear from debris. HRVs have a long lifespan, likely at least as long as a water heater or other home mechanical appliance. For more information on maintaining your HRV:

• http://www.cmhc.ca/en/burema/gesein/abhose/abhose_ce09.cfm

A properly constructed timber frame house can last hundreds of years. Durability problems in wood buildings can almost always be attributed to moisture problems. Super E® Homes have tested and proven moisture control strategies that prevent moisture damage to the timber structure of the house.

Super E® Homes have a continuous air barrier, which is essential for preventing moisture entry into the wall. The air barrier prevents the flow of airborne moisture, which can accumulate inside the walls of non-Super E® homes, regardless of whether they are timber frame or masonry.

Super E® Homes in the UK, Ireland and Japan are also designed with a damp climate in mind. A unique rain screen strategy prevents damage from wind-driven rain.

Timber frame homes are also exceptionally strong. They have performed very well in areas where hurricanes are common. In earthquake zones, it has been found that lightweight framing absorbs lateral forces better than heavy construction.

The fact that a home is timber frame will not be a factor in getting a mortgage. Warranty providers are aware of Super E® Technology, and approve of the extra quality assurance measures that go into a Super E® Home. Zurich Insurance even provides a chapter on the Super E® Technical Standards in its reference manual.