Calculation example shows substantial cost savings in energy-efficient new construction

When building highly energy-efficient homes, cost is still often a major barrier. The House Energy Optimum (HEO) system enables corporations, developers and builders to design and build energy-efficient new homes at lower cost. With a practice calculation you can see exactly what you can save. Based on your sketch or preliminary design, newly built homes are engineered with HEO. The starting point is to achieve the optimum between architectural and installation measures. This ensures energy performance, comfort and a healthy indoor climate. The energy performance is also insurable, which is unique in the Netherlands.

Insulation and installation
Usually, the obligation to build natural gas-free is blamed as the culprit of high construction costs. This is only partially true. The more energy efficient the home, the more techniques are involved. This makes the process more complex for developers, architects, consultants and builders. However, energy-efficient systems only come into their own in a well-designed and built home with a high-quality exterior envelope. This design process must be approached integrally. In practice, we see that this is often done in a segmented way. Homes are redesigned multiple times. As a result, costs increase and performance is often worse than intended.

Substantial cost reduction
To control costs and ensure quality, HEO works according to the principle of pre-engineering. With this, 85 percent of the technical preliminary work is already done.

The remaining 15 percent is completed project-specific based on the requirements and wishes of the client and the architect. This integrated approach ensures better design and construction quality and a faster-than-normal process. The result is a better home with insurable performance guarantee and lower design and construction costs. Savings can exceed 10 percent of the foundation cost.

Design freedom and insurability
HEO focuses on ground-level new construction homes. The system can be incorporated in full system construction, as well as in stacked or cast construction. Pre-engineering is based on a sample house, as it is built today. The architect himself has the freedom to create a design. HEO then helps the architect incorporate the HEO concept and ensure performance. There are in three energy ambitions to choose from: EPC 0.4, BENG and Zero-Meter. Corporations currently developing with modest budgets can upgrade homes at a later date without making costly modifications.

The energy performance of homes in all three energy ambitions are insurable.

You can download the HEO calculation example for free at www.bouwheo.nl

HEO is the result of a strategic collaboration of ATAG Heating, Duco Ventilation & Sun Control, Jaga, Kingspan Insulation, Kingspan Unidek and Ubbink