From the category archives:

envelope

Moving from SIPs to Double Stud Walls in Skinny

February 25, 2010

In our first few projects at Postgreen, we used EPS SIPs (Structurally Insulated Panels) for our exterior walls and roofs which were very popular with the kids. We have decided to move away from SIPs in the Skinny Project in favor of using Advanced Framing Techniques and a Double Stud Wall design. Many of you [...]

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Building Gaskets and Air Sealing Tape

October 30, 2009

Yesterday we looked at some lessons learned from our aggressive air sealing goals on the Passive Project. In doing so we mentioned that we will be utilizing building gaskets and air sealing tape to help obtain the very difficult building air tightness goal of 0.6 ACH @ 50Pa that is required by the Passive House [...]

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Passive House Air Sealing – Lessons Learned

October 28, 2009

It’s been a while since we posted on any technical aspects of the Passive House we are trying to build in the Passive Project. We recently tested our air sealing with a blower door test prior to drywall at the homes and I figured it would be a good time to bring up some thoughts [...]

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Super Efficient Windows for the Passive Project

September 11, 2009

In addition to insulation levels and air sealing details, the windows and external window shading in the Passive Project is upgraded from the 100K House Project.
There is a lot more to windows than insulation levels, but in order to keep things simple we will focus on this aspect and cover energy efficient windows in more [...]

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Passive Project Foundation and Slab Insulation

June 11, 2009

Many have been waiting for us to start posting on specifics of our Passive Project which contains two homes – one of which is seeking the stringent Passive House certification for extreme energy efficiency. We have been waiting to post until we have completed each section of the build. This ensures that we post once [...]

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SIPA Conference Wrap Up

April 27, 2009

While I didn’t announce this on the blog, those that follow me on Twitter know I was in Chicago for the SIPA (Structurally Insulated Panel Association) Annual Meeting and Conference this past week. I was asked to come and present on the 100k House project and was kindly allowed to attend some of the conferences [...]

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Home Slicker Instant Rainscreen House Wrap

February 25, 2009

After deciding to go with James Hardie Vertical siding, it took us some time to determine exactly how the best way to apply it to our SIPs house would be. The main questions was whether or not to employ a vented rainscreen or not.

A vented rainscreen is basically an air gap in between the cladding [...]

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100K House SIPs Installation Flickr Photo Set

November 19, 2008

While we are gone, we thought we would give everyone a chance to catch up on our latest construction photos. The SIPs Install photo set is part of our 100K House Construction Photos collection on Flickr. We tried to take a picture from a couple of different angles after each panel went up on the [...]

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YouTube Video Shows Us How To Install SIPs

November 13, 2008

Overall the SIPs install has been going very well considering no one involved has ever seen or handled a SIP before in their life. The crew is probably on pace to beat traditional framing by a few days and we will have the benefit of having the insulation complete at the end of our process. [...]

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Marker Time – Energy Efficiency (Utility Costs)

September 24, 2008

Today’s Marker Time is the first in a series of videos that will look at the Energy Efficiency of the 100K House project. The first in this series looks at the utility costs of the 120K House versus that of a similar new construction house built to code and an existing house that is not [...]

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