This page catalogues the energy efficiency measures that we undertook on our previous home. For details of our current project please see here.
What is a Superhome?
A Superhome is an older home that has been refurbished so that it's carbon emissions have been reduced by at least 60%.
As over May 2014, there are over 180 households in the UK that have achieved Superhome status including ours.
The scheme is run the the National Energy Foundation, and many of the homes have open days each March and September.
I recommend having a look on their site for more information and seeing where your nearest open day is.
Why become a Superhome?
We didn't start with any target in mind. We just wanted to reduce our impact on the environment and cut our energy costs.
As I started researching more, I came across a number of standards for refurbishment, such as PassivHaus EnerPHit and AECB Carbonlite. All of these assume that you are completely gutting a house rather than the piecemeal approach that we wanted to take and as a result aim for energy and carbon reductions far in excess of what we could afford or achieve.
I then came across Superhomes. Rather than being a strict standard, it is a target; a 60% reduction in carbon emissions. How you achieve this is up to you (as long as you follow building regulations). Superhomes will model your homes carbon emissions before and after the refurbishment, as long as you meet the 60% reduction target, and agree to hold open days then you can be certified.
Unfortunately we were unable to hold an open house event before we sold the house, but we are hoping to hold one at our new home soon.
How did we become a Superhome?
We've made a lot of changes to out house to make it more efficient. We've broken them down into four major categories below.
You can also find details on our Superhomes page here:-
http://www.superhomes.org.uk/superhomes/aldershot-cambridge-road/
May 2014 - Some of these pages below are currently being updated
What is a Superhome?
A Superhome is an older home that has been refurbished so that it's carbon emissions have been reduced by at least 60%.
As over May 2014, there are over 180 households in the UK that have achieved Superhome status including ours.
The scheme is run the the National Energy Foundation, and many of the homes have open days each March and September.
I recommend having a look on their site for more information and seeing where your nearest open day is.
Why become a Superhome?
We didn't start with any target in mind. We just wanted to reduce our impact on the environment and cut our energy costs.
As I started researching more, I came across a number of standards for refurbishment, such as PassivHaus EnerPHit and AECB Carbonlite. All of these assume that you are completely gutting a house rather than the piecemeal approach that we wanted to take and as a result aim for energy and carbon reductions far in excess of what we could afford or achieve.
I then came across Superhomes. Rather than being a strict standard, it is a target; a 60% reduction in carbon emissions. How you achieve this is up to you (as long as you follow building regulations). Superhomes will model your homes carbon emissions before and after the refurbishment, as long as you meet the 60% reduction target, and agree to hold open days then you can be certified.
Unfortunately we were unable to hold an open house event before we sold the house, but we are hoping to hold one at our new home soon.
How did we become a Superhome?
We've made a lot of changes to out house to make it more efficient. We've broken them down into four major categories below.
You can also find details on our Superhomes page here:-
http://www.superhomes.org.uk/superhomes/aldershot-cambridge-road/
May 2014 - Some of these pages below are currently being updated
Heating
Heating is one of the biggest impacts that your home has on the environment.
This section outlines the changes we've made to our heating to make it more efficient.
This section outlines the changes we've made to our heating to make it more efficient.
Lighting
Lighting is one of the areas where there has been significant technological change over the last few years.
Insulation
Insulation is one of those boring things that you never see but makes one of the biggest impacts on how efficient your house is.
Airtightness & Ventilation
We all need fresh air, but there is a fine line between too much and too little....
Copyright © 2011 Ross Atkin