SASKATOON'S SUPERINSULATED HOUSE

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This building technique proves that—sometimes, at least—"more" can be better than "less"!

[1] The unassuming exterior of a superin-sulated home.

[3] A computer monitored the performance of the Energy Showcase homes.

[4] An interior view of a double wall. [5] An air-to-air heat exchanger (this unit removes fumes from a paint storage room).

[2] Two electric heaters warmed one Saskatoon house.

STAFF PHOTOS

[6] Quadruple glazing (note the wide windowsill).

In its coverage of energy-efficient housing, this publication has generally focused on homes that rely on active or passive solar heating systems. Recently, however, MOTHER began to look into an offshoot of passive solar technology . . . the superin-sulated house. And it seems that such structures have impressively low heating needs, even when they're situated in extremely cold areas.

To get a closer look at the specialized building techniques involved in superinsulation construction, two of MOTHER'S staffers visited Saskatoon (located in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan), where 14 such houses have been built as part of a regional Energy Showcase program.

Saskatoon typically experiences close to 11,000 heating degree-days annually (by comparison. New York, San Francisco, and Chicago have—respectively—4,870, 3,000, and 6,175 degree-days each year), and is therefore an almost ideal spot to test the mettle of any purported energy-efficient housing concept. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Our traveling staffers were quick to report that Saskatoon's weather can be very severe. On one day during MOM'S February trip, for example, the temperature stood at -25°F, a figure that didn't take into account the wind whipping across the prairie. In the course of that day's shooting, our photographer temporarily set a plastic-coated cable release on the ground . . . only to have the wire snap in two when he tried to pick it up!]

A COOPERATIVE VENTURE
Back in 1980, Saskatoon's Energy Show-case—sponsored by the governments of Canada and Saskatchewan, the local branch of the Housing and Urban Development Association, and the city itself—invited builders to submit plans for low-energy residences. Of these, 14 designs—which were to be built by 13 different construction companies—were chosen. In the selection process, two criteria stood above all others: The homes had to have less than 2,150 square feet of heated space, and the designs could not differ significantly in appearance from the more conventional houses already being constructed by the companies.

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