How to build a house with the best water leak detection and minimize risk of water damage
Image from Fiskarhedenvillan
In 2023, over 90,000 water damages occurred in Swedish homes according to the Water Damage Report 2023. Water leakage is the largest expense when it comes to damages in homes and the highest expense for insurance companies. The trend is clear and that is that the payments for water damage in homes keep increasing every year. Over the past 10 years, insurance companies' payouts regarding water damage have increased by over 60% in Sweden.
"Villa Dalarna" – how to build with water-safety in mind
The rising incidence of water damage and its substantial financial burden on insurance companies was a key motivation for the "Villa Dalarna" project in Sweden.
This was a joint project between Länsförsäkringar in Dalarna (a large Swedish insurance company), The university of Dalarna and Fiskarhedenvillan (a large house provider in Sweden). The aim was to learn more about how to avoid water leaks and damage as well as building with as high a level of water safety as possible.
The aim of the house was to revolutionize future home construction by creating a structure highly resistant to fire, burglary, and water damage to prevent future issues. Additionally, the goal was to minimize environmental impact, resulting in a sustainable home.
The vast majority of newly built houses received remarks regarding water installations, according to Länsförsäkringar insurance in Sweden, and to avoid future damage, it is important to have water safety and detection in the construction from the very beginning.
"For us, water detection sensors are built into all our houses. We have built CubicSecure as standard into our unique water distribution cabinet, which means that we get a uniform and high standard of water safety and detection in all our houses."
- Erik Jäderbrink, Project Manager, Product Development at Fiskarhedenvillan in Sweden
CubicSecure provides high water safety without being visible
To incorporate standard water leak detection and automatic water shut off valves in their houses, Fiskarhedenvillan, in collaboration with their partner LK Systems in Sweden, developed a unique water distribution cabinet. This innovation, born from extensive plumbing knowledge and house-building expertise, features the CubicSecure water detection sensor as an integral component of the cabinet. CubicSecure has an award-winning technology that keeps your home safe. It’s an innovate automatic water shut off valve that measures real-time water flow and detects all kinds of leaks, even micro leaks, with instant shut off capability.
"We wanted our customers to have a product that provides both good functionality as well as safety and security. Minor water leaks can be very difficult to detect without a smart water leak sensor like CubicSecure. "
- Erik Jäderbrink, Project Manager, Product Development at Fiskarhedenvillan in Sweden
The Cubic Secure water detection sensor is much smaller than other sensors on the market, allowing it to fit inside the water cabinet. This offers a significant advantage by eliminating the need for external installation of the automatic water shut off valve. CubicSecure provides additional security discreetly, without being noticeable or visible to the end customer and with a quick and easy plumber installation.
"Our customers have high demands on aesthetics when it comes to building new houses. They prefer pipes and water installations to be hidden rather than visible. Having a neat, safe and connected automatic water shut off valve is very valuable for us as a house supplier, but also for the end customer. ”
- Erik Jäderbrink, Project Manager, Product Development at Fiskarhedenvillan in Sweden
Water detection sensor - a very cheap insurance for your house
Fiskarhedenvillan delivers houses all over Sweden and they collaborate with local contractors all over the country. Having a standardised solution for water management and safety provides them with the guarantee that every house has the same water detection system, regardless of who constructs it.
Standardisation, quality assurance and security are results that Fiskarhedenvillan have seen from this project and now the water distributor cabinet with built-in water management and detection CubicSecure is standard in all their houses.
Water detection sensors are a product that the end customer neither knows nor cares about until the damage has occurred. But by having CubicSecure, there is a well-thought-out water security in the house from the very start. Like a circuit breaker, CubicSecure continuously monitors the water flow and cuts off water supply swiftly in the event of a leak or when manually triggered. You'll get notifications if something isn't right and can quickly turn off the water, even if you're not at home. This creates a huge sense of safety for the end customer while saving insurance companies and house builders a lot of money.
"Always use products that have water safety built into the core as their standard. An automatic water shut off valve, for example, is a very cheap insurance in this context, so make sure to have it from the start in your house. ”
- Erik Jäderbrink, Project Manager, Product Development at Fiskarhedenvillan in Sweden