Providing a very insulated, airtight building envelope (the insulated walls, roof, and floors that surround the living area) may be the number one priority in designing an energy-efficient home. A variety of structural building systems may be used to achieve superb energy performance.
While some of these building systems, for example strawbale and ICF construction, provide integral insulation as an ingredient of the wall system, most entail adding insulation. To make wise decisions about insulation, it will help to understand some of the basics of warmth flow.
There are lots of types of insulation, which range from probably the most popular fiberglass batts to blown-in cellulose, sprayed foam, and rigid foam boards. Differences between expected and actual energy performance may also result when the insulation material isn't installed properly.
If fiberglass batts don't fill the wall cavities completely, for instance, or when they are compressed to suit behind wires, the power performance of the wall could be significantly compromised.
You should clean up some confusion concerning the insulation performance of thermal mass materials, for example concrete block, adobe, or log walls. Manufacturers of high-mass materials often make the claim that their materials come with an effective R-value that is a lot greater than the material's laboratory-measured R-value.
The argument is that the highmass material gets hotter throughout the day in support of slowly releases that heat during the night, and therefore thematerial behaves as though it had amuch higher R-value.
Indeed, this mass-enhanced R-value is real and may raise the energy performance of high-mass materials. The issue is that this thermal mass effect is just significant in certain climates, primarily individuals with moderate temperatures that fluctuate widely between daytime and night, for example are located in the American Southwest and Rocky Mountain states.
In these areas, the mass-enhanced R-value of the highmass material is often as much as 50% greater than the material's laboratory-measured R-value. However when we use that same material in another climate, like the Northeast or even the Southeast, in which the day-night temperature cycling is way less pronounced, you will see minimum added help to the mass.
How airtight a home is could be almost as essential as how well-insulated it's. It isn't unusual for older houses to get rid of asmuch heat through air leakage because they do by conduction with the house envelope. How airtight a building envelope is going to be depends on the methods and care that it had been constructed.
Some building systems, for example structural insulated panels, are inherently more airtight than standard wood-frame building systems. But workmanship can enjoy a much better role in determining airtightness. For instance, careful utilization of foam gaskets between framing assemblies or installing of a continuing polyethylene air barrier or vapor retarder can produce a wood-framed house that is every bit as tight like a SIP house.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Terry Ward at 04182011
1. Hiring a builder to build a green home
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