Energy Efficient Houses & The code for sustainable homes

Svenskhomes pre-fabricated buildings are extremely energy efficient, with our houses achieving U Values in the walls of 0.16, windows 1.29 and roof 0.13 as standard.

(U Value is the measurement of the rate of heat loss through a material.  This means that in all aspects of home design you should strive for the lowest U Values possible because the lower the U Value, the less heat will be needlessly escaping?

A single glazed window with standard glass will have a typical centre pane U Value of 5.6, while a double glazed window with standard glass will have a U Value of 2.8.)

Our standard insulation levels of 240mm, triple glazed windows and doors achieve high performance under the code for sustainable homes and are compliant to code 3, and make a significant contribution towards achieving code scores up to, and including level 6.

(The Code takes a whole house approach and measures the sustainability of a dwelling against nine different categories: energy/carbon; water; waste; materials; surface water run-off; and health and well-being, which have mandatory performance standards; and pollution; ecology; and management. To achieve the levels of the Code, a number of points must be accumulated across all categories and the mandatory requirements must be met. Depending on the number of points gathered, a star rating is then awarded (one star being the lowest achievable level and six stars being the best incorporating zero carbon))

We have a code for sustainable homes assessor associated with Svenskhomes, who is experienced in schemes at code levels 3, 4, 5 and 6 and will help ensure whichever code level is needed can be achieved in the most cost effective way possible.

Our standard specification is code 3 compliant without renewable energy resources integrated into your project, with the addition of 1kWp of PV (Photovoltaic), you would meet the mandatory minimum requirements for code 4.

Code 4 - additional PV (Photovoltaic) required assuming south facing and no overhangs: -

Fuel	kWp	Approx. Panel Qty	Ene 1  Credits	Ene 2  Credits	Ene 7   Credits	Total
Air Source Heat Pump	Nil	Nil	3.8	5.5	0	9.3
Gas	1	5	3	5	0	8
LPG (Gas)	1.4	7	3.3	5.5	1	8.8
Oil	1.2	6	3.1	5.5	2	10.6

PV panels come in all sorts of sizes, but conveniently, Sanyo do a 250w model, so 4 of these would be sufficient. They retail for about £450, so a budgeted cost of £2,000; could get you from code 3 to code 4 (in energy terms)

We will be able to advise you on a project specific basis on the most cost-effective way to achieve the code requirement you want to achieve in your build.

(The figures above are established from our show home SAP calculations and we have covered site specific factors. There are extensive site specific factors that relate to the code levels being achieved. To obtain all the points you can get in a build it is necessary to start addressing the site specific factors before any construction commences.)