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Month: January 2017

The Griffiths Home, Orderville, Utah

The Do-It-Yourself, Energy-Efficient Dream Home

When a customer calls and tells you that the energy-efficient home they are building happens to be in one of the most beautiful settings in the Western U.S., you ask them if you might tag along and do some filming.

Located at the crossroads of climate zone 3, 4, and 5, resting at an elevation well over 5,000 feet, this unique region provides more than beauty. It presents the opportunity to truly challenge ThermalBuck, on an energy-efficient window installation with high-performance window manufacturer Alpen HPP.

 

The Griffiths Family, Orderville, Utah

The view from the living room of the Griffith's family residence
The view from the living room of the Griffith’s family residence

Thomas and Melissa Griffiths are not your average do-it-yourself homebuilders. Thomas is an engineer, and Melissa a successful blogger and homemaker, raising a busy family of 5 children not far from the beautiful Zion National Park.

 

Land isn’t easy to find in this part of the U.S., with 90% of it owned by the federal government, and devoted to national parks. They have been planning their dream home for years, finally buying a beautiful piece of land that Thomas used to take care of when he was a young man, right next door to where he grew up.

 

Planning the Energy-Efficient Window Installation

The Griffiths broke ground in 2015, after years of researching building materials, and creating the architectural drawings themselves. Thomas knew he wanted to build the most energy-efficient home he could afford, and ensure year-round comfort and good indoor air quality for his family.

 

“I just wanted to have as thermally-efficient a home as I could afford. I wanted to stop all of the thermal bridging that I could.”

-Thomas Griffiths, Homeowner, Engineer, Hardware Store Owner 

 

Doing most of the work themselves, the Griffiths wanted to invest that savings into large, high-performance windows, to bring the beauty of the setting into the home. They selected Alpen triple pane windows, utilizing suspended coated film technology. These insulated fiberglass frame windows offer an R-6 thermal performance, advanced framing, and customized technology for the glazing of each individual window, based on its exact exposure and placement in the home. 

 

 

Step-by-Step ThermalBuck Installation: Polyiso Continuous Insulation as the WRB

Thomas knew he needed to insulate both the interior and exterior of the building envelope. Taking the climate into consideration, he decided to use  2″ Atlas Energy Shield polyiso on the exterior as both the WRB and insulation.

Researching energy-efficient homebuilding, Thomas came across ThermalBuck, and recognized it as the ideal solution to mount his high-performance windows, and prevent compression of the rigid foam. The 2.5″ ThermalBuck has an R-value of 11, is extremely durable and will provide a long-lasting window installation to match the lifetime Alpen window warranty. Thomas wanted to utilize ThermalBuck to support the weight of the windows, insulate the mounting point, and maintain the quality of the window installation.  

 

High-Performance Window Q&A with Alpen HPP

If you’re lucky enough to have an installation expert like Nate Maybon, of Alpen High-Performance Products on hand during your build, you take advantage and ask questions. Watch this short Q&A with Alpen video, and you’ll learn what makes up a high-performance window – from the insulated fiberglass frames to suspended film technology. Nate also talks about common causes of window failures. You’ll quickly understand why high-performance windows are an investment that will pay you back in more ways than energy-savings.

 

 

“I definitely like the ease of use. I’m surprised at how durable it is. But the performance is what we’re after.”

Alpen Certified Installer attaching window into ThermalBuck
Fasteners must penetrate through ThermalBuck into the structure min 1-1/4″.

-Nate Maybon, Alpen HPP Window Installation Specialist 

Alpen High Performance Products  is a national distributor for ThermalBuck, located in Niwot, Colorado. They were the first window manufacturer in North America to achieve PHIUS certification for their windows, and are widely recognized as passive house experts.

Alpen HPP & ThermalBuck offer a PHIUS-Verififed Window Installation Detail featuring 2.5″ ThermalBuck, and the Alpen 925 Series Fiberglass window. Contact Alpen HPP, our high-performance partners at www.thinkalpen.com 

 

 

Behind the Scenes in Orderville

If you’d like to keep up with the Griffiths, visit Melissa’s blog, blessthismessplease.com. You’ll see why we loved our time with this inspiring family.

 

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Continuous Insulation – Making the Right Choice

If you’ve made the decision to include continuous insulation on your building, it’s time to pat yourself on the back.

The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) has required continuous insulation since 2012. When the building envelope is insulated on the outside, it not only improves the energy efficiency, it also helps to reduce the possibility of moisture damage through thermal bridging.

WATCH:  ThermalBuck installation using polyiso CI  

Which type of continuous insulation should you choose? Good question.

Each type of insulation has different thermal properties, costs, features, and installation requirements, so you really need to consider what matters most in your application.

ThermalBuck is compatible with all types of continuous insulation, and will simplify the installation process.  It solves many of the common challenges builders find when installing windows with continuous insulation, and make the installation more energy-efficient by insulating the rough opening – typically a source of energy-loss in the building envelope. 

Types of Continuous Insulation

There are three main types of continuous insulation: rigid foam, mineral wool, and cork. The most widely used is rigid foam, which is split into three main categories: EPS, XPS, and Polyiso.

Expanded Polystyrene (EPS):  R-4 per inch

EPS is the most commonly used rigid foam. While it has the lowest R-value, it’s also the least expensive around .31 cents per sq. ft., which makes it a favorite for code compliance within budget. EPS does absorb water, and has the lowest compressive strength of the rigid foams.

Structured Insulated Panels (SIPS) and Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFS) are comprised of EPS. Insulfoam, a division of Carlisle Construction Materials, is largest manufacturer of block-molded expanded polystyrene (EPS) in North America.

It is important to note that EPS should be used over housewrap, and supported by OSB or plywood when used as sheathing.  

 

Extruded Polystyrene (XPS):  R-5 per inch

Many green builders discount XPS right off the bat, because it is the least environmentally friendly option. It contains the flame retardant HBCD, and its blowing agents have high global-warming potential.

However, with it’s higher R-value and moderate pricing at .47 cents per sq. ft. it is widely used. It’s stronger than EPS, and more water resistant, making it a preferred choice for under-slab and below grade applications.

XPS is available faced or unfaced, which affects the vapor permeability. Owens Corning Foamular “pink board” is some of the most widely recognized XPS on the market.

 

Polyisocyanurate (Polyiso or ISO):  R-6.5 per inch

Polyiso is the most expensive of the three types of rigid foam, as much as .70 cents per sq. ft. for a 1″ thick panel. However, the higher R-values often make the added expense worthwhile in the long run.  All polyiso is faced on both sides, most often with foil.

Polysio is considered the most-environmentally friendly of the three foams. It does absorb water, and generally cannot be used below grade. Johns Manville is a leading manufacturer of polyiso foams.  

One of the primary benefits of polyiso, is that it can often be used as a WRB behind your cladding. While it may cost more upfront than EPS or XPS, not installing a separate WRB component can save a considerable amount. It really depends on your climate, if this feature will be a long-term benefit, or present a building science challenge. 

 

Mineral Wool:  R-4 per inch

When you think mineral wool, you think of Roxul, easily the best known brand on the market. Mineral wool is also known as stone wool because it is made of basalt rock and steel slag, making it a favorite choice of green builders.  Easy to work with, fire-resistant, sound resistant, and water resistant. It’s the only insulation recognized by code as a firestop.

ComfortBoard is Roxul’s exterior insulation.  With an R-value of 4, it is lower than most rigid foams, however, there is no reduction in R-value over time, which will happen with foam insulation materials that rely on lower-conductivity blowing agents that slowly leak out or allow air to leak in.

Mineral wool is highly vapor-permeable and easy to install. Roxul is approximately .64 cents per board foot. 

 

Cork:  R-3.6 per inch

Thermacork, is the most widely recognized an all-natural rigid insulation material made from expanded cork. It offers excellent acoustic control, is highly durable, has high vapor permeability, and meets fire-safety requirements without flame retardants. It is labeled Red List Free for use in Living Building Challenge projects.

Cork is by far the greenest of the green in the insulation category, but it’s significantly higher cost and limited availability make it more of a niche product.

It’s important to take your specific climate into consideration when evaluating building materials.

EPS and XPS increase in R-value as the temperature drops.  A great thing if you’re in Wisconsin. However with Polyiso, the R-value actually decreases when the temperature drops. Not such a great thing when you’re in Wisconsin.

To choose the best continuous insulation for your project, analyze all of the variables: performance needs, climate, building codes, and budget.

No matter which continuous insulation you choose, proper installation is critical to achieving the desired performance.

Our energy-efficient homebuilders in Utah, Thomas & Melissa Griffiths, did extensive research on the features and benefits of the different types of exterior insulation, and decided on Atlas EnergyShield Polyiso for their dream home.

Thomas wanted the highest R-value his budget would permit, and appreciated the fact that he could use the continuous insulation as his WRB. To eliminate the thermal bridge around their Alpen 525 Series windows, they chose ThermalBuck. Take a look at their recent ThermalBuck installation below.

ThermalBuck simplifies the installation of windows with all types of continuous insulation, making a truly high-performance building envelope.  To see additional installation steps, strength and installation challenges, view the ThermalBuck Installation page.

For an in-depth conversation about rigid foam types, we recommend the experts at Green Building Advisor. For additional videos of polyiso installation, we recommend this one by Synergy Construction.  Of course we would recommend the use of ThermalBuck over the plywood bucks, to limit thermal bridging and improve the performance of the window installation.

While written in 2010, this piece from Green Building advisor about Using Rigid Foam as a WRB, still has merit.  Updated in January of 2016, ICC document AC71 Foam Plastic Sheathing Panels Used as Weather-resistive Barriers establishes guidelines for evaluation of foam plastic sheathing panels used as water-resistive barriers in combustible construction. See your rigid foam manufacturer specifications for more information.