Irish company lands ‘zero energy’ housing contract

An Irish housing technology company is to team up with a Belgian counterpart to deliver a ‘zero energy’ social housing project worth €10m in the German city of Aachen.

Surface Power Hone founded by Castlebar, Co Mayo native, John Quinn, along with Belgian partner firm Mopac Systems have been chosen by the German authorities to build low cost ‘daylight-fuelled’ zero energy homes. The deal is a significant landmark for the Irish company, says Mr Quinn, and puts it on course for further growth in what is set to be an increasingly lucrative market.

“We are extremely happy to have landed this deal in Aachen. Our daylight-fuelled heating and cooling systems are the perfect complement to Mopac’s highly insulated building components,” said Mr Quinn.

“According to a recent report by leading research firm Pike, the zero energy building market is to grow to $690bn a year by 2020 and will nearly double by 2035 to $1.3tn a year, with much of the growth occurring in the EU. We are very confident about the future,” he said.

Surface Power Hone’s expertise is based on a breakthrough daylight-fuelled heating technology which removes the requirement for a boiler. Its collaboration with Mopac Systems International leverages the latter’s ability to build low-cost zero-energy homes rapidly that can be mass produced.

Mopac is capable of producing the panels required for a house in 18 minutes which can then be constructed and furnished within 48 hours. The Irish company’s technology then harvests daylight, as opposed to direct sunlight, to create a heat engine that replaces a traditional boiler.

The company has installed 7,000 systems to date across eight countries; 2,500 of which are in Ireland.

Surface Power Hone’s systems are designed for retrofitting too, says Mr Quinn, making them an option for existing homes or businesses.

Tenants of the new housing scheme in Germany are likely to face monthly rents of €620 on average, including utility bills in the new energy efficient units.

The cost of producing one such house is €120,000. Environment Minister Alan Kelly estimated it costs €185,000 to build a standard social house here.