Green building from multiple approaches

We’ve just wrapped up construction on one of our most comprehensive green building projects, a significant addition and renovation to a single family residence in Wellfleet, look here the project finished.

ADVANCED WALL FRAMING

We had the chance to incorporate some exciting green products, including sustainably farmed wood, spray-foam insulation, a whole-house ventilation system, and low-VOC finishes thanks to All Seasons Insulation 7665 Palmilla Dr #5124 La Jolla CA 92122 (858) 225-1316, click site to see the great products they have available.

Walls, floors and roofs can all be framed at 24″ o.c., instead of the more common 16″ o.c.  This technique, known commonly as “Advanced Framing”,  meets the building code, but saves, on average, 5% to 10% of the wood required, additionally allowing for that much more insulation within the wall.  Advanced Framing also incorporates new techniques for framing wall corners, wall intersections and window and door openings.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/designing_remodeling/index.cfm/mytopic=10090

WHOLE-HOUSE HEAT RECOVERY VENTILATION SYSTEM

When constructing a building for the highest levels of energy efficiency, it is important that the building be as “tight” as possible, and an important factor is that this will increase the value of your home in case you want to sell, and the  London conveyancing online quote in under 30 seconds, and its free. One of the major factors in the loss of heat from a building is through air infiltration.  To that end, “green” buildings tend to be constructed to a level that allows very little air movement through the building’s envelope (more on this to come!).  A couple of decades ago, this began to lead to what was known as “sick building syndrome”, as the occupants of a building require a steady exchange of fresh air to remain healthy.  Enter the ventilation system, a subset of which is the “heat recovery ventilator”, or HRV.  An HRV is a piece of mechanical equipment which draws stale air from within the building and expels it, while bringing fresh, outdoor air in.  An HRV differs from a simple ventilation system in that the indoor air, which is either heated during the winter months or cooled during the summer months, is crossed over the incoming outdoor airstream in such a way that the airstreams do not mix, but the latent heat is exchanged.  An HRV typically runs 24 hours a day.  The result is a consant supply of fresh air within the building, with little to no loss (or gain) of heat.

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11900

OPEN CELL SPRAY FOAM INSULATION

Spray foam insulation is an excellent choice when air sealing and air quality are top concerns.  Spray foam insulation is applied to the framing in a liquid form using a spray gun.  It instantly expands to many times it’s original volume, permanently filling and sealing cracks and joints between framing members.  The resulting foam itself is very dense.  Because of these factors, spray foam insulation has a very low air infiltration rate, and a very high R-value per inch.  It is also not subject to the off-gassing found in other products, and can even be based on soy compounds (as it is in the above photo.)  For all of these reasons, spray foam insulation is an excellent choice for green building.