The first Canadian Super Efficient affordable houses in Scotland were officially opened in the Kincorth area of Aberdeen by Sushma Gera, Trade Commissioner at the High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom.
Built for Tenants First Housing Co-operative, with finance from Aberdeen City Council, the first two Super E homes are designed to withstand the extremes of a Canadian winter. It is expected that the houses will show dramatic energy savings compared to current housing stock.
The Super E system is the result of 30 years of research and development and is endorsed by the Government of Canada. The design focuses on air tightness, insulation and incorporates a whole-house ventilation system that makes best use of heat recovery.
Sandy Murray, Chief Executive of Tenants First, said:
"This latest project continues our international research into house construction systems. Our aim is to provide the highest standards of quality, energy efficiency and affordability for our members.
"Designed to withstand much more extreme weather than we experience, even in this past winter, we believe we can learn a lot from the Super E. It will demonstrates what we can achieve from advanced design, in terms of energy efficiency, with innovative design.
"Our aim is to learn from our experience with this system and use that knowledge to advance the programme we are currently running, along with the Mackintosh School of Architecture, to develop a zero carbon affordable home for the future."
Two further Super E homes are being built in the Mastrick area of Aberdeen.
Associations Cottsway and Orbit used an Ideas Exchange session at the Chartered Institute of Housing Exhibition in Harrogate to debate the merits of high and low technology strategies to energy efficiency.
Dismissing some so-called high technology solutions as 'eco-bling', Head of Asset Management at Orbit HA, John Barnham, warned against poor use of new technology and 'old technology dressed up with a green label'.
He endorsed the PassivHaus standard and recommended a low technology approach that involved installation of thermal insulation, high performance windows and simple controls.
Cottsway HA's Asset Management Surveyor, Gary Salter, recommended an alternative strategy of technology and tenant education. He noted that technology was substantially cheaper than improvements to the fabric of the home, could generate income to fund further measures and had produced better results than expected in terms of reduced energy bills.
All three speakers - Gary Salter, John Barnham and Black County Housing's Director of Sustainable Development, Richard Baines - noted the importance of educating tenants to use and live with their retrofitted homes in order to obtain maximum benefit from the measures taken.
Richard Baines singled out a handful of new technologies as interesting: