Monthly Archives: February 2012

Case study – making the underside of truss roof in a SIP house airtight with the Pro Clima system

Posted on February 29, 2012 by

In October we were contacted by Bob in Pennsylvania, who was building a Passive House.  Bob wanted to show that a Passive House can look like a conventional American home, but which would, of course, be much more comfortable and … Continue reading →

Posted in Airtight construction, Passive House, Technical Notes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sizing Lunos E2 through-wall ventilation units

Posted on February 23, 2012 by

475 is excited to be offering the Lunos E2 to the US marketplace – a new ventilation option of extraordinary value.   The value is from very high heat recovery efficiency – providing not just monetary savings but comfort, ease of installation … Continue reading →

Posted in Building Science, Ventilation | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

US Army Corp of Engineers – Passive House Workshop Event

Posted on February 15, 2012 by

March 6-8, 475 is looking forward to attending a series of workshops about high-performance enclosures in San Antonio, Texas.   The workshop is a collaboration between the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Passive House Institute (PHI). The Army, … Continue reading →

Posted in Airtight construction, Building Science, Events, Green building, Passive House, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Intentional “holes” in your air barrier (and sealing them)

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

The red line that many of us draw on the interior of our insulation to indicate the continuous airtight layer that provides comfort, optimizes the insulation and keeps it free from condensate and mold – has to be punctured at … Continue reading →

Posted in Airtight construction, Building Science, Passive House | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Better Buildings and many more of them

Posted on February 12, 2012 by

McGraw Hill has just released key findings of a new study/survey to be published in April, showing that while residential construction has collapsed over the last several years, green construction has been steadily growing – gaining significant market share in … Continue reading →

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Air & Vapor, Part 2: The Importance of Air Tightness

Posted on February 6, 2012 by

In Part 1 of Air & Vapor we started our discussion noting the importance of air tightness and vapor control in building enclosures, as second only to keeping the rain out. Control Layer Priorities: a rain control layer an air control layer … Continue reading →

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How to keep floor beams where they should be – inside the airtight layer

Posted on February 2, 2012 by

If you can avoid it, keep beams and joists from going through your continuous “red pencil line” airtight layer. Simple means to do this is running your airtight layer over your ground floor (tape the plywood), and under your roof … Continue reading →

Posted in Airtight construction, Building Science, Buildings-Energy-Climate, Passive House, Technical Notes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment