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Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

finehomebuilding.com

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Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#111

Post by Inhibit »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #95
sidewndr46 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you stating that the guy nailing zip sheathing on the side of a house talks to the engineer who designed it?

My assumption: that the guy is even nailing ZIP sheathing is doing so because some engineer determined it was an improvement over previous construction techniques. (But maybe it is just cheaper.)

It saves on labor. ZIP doesn't require an extra layer for impermeability of the OSB; just seal up the joints with acrylic tape and you're done.

Better? No idea. Although there might be less to screw up unless someone cost-saves by not installing the spec tape (it really is necessary).

Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#112

Post by grae_QED »

tejohnso wrote: post #92
a1371 wrote: post #40

It's interesting to me that hacker news likes building-related content so much, which happens to be my education other than... well, computers. Air tightness is a critical step forward. I'm glad we are talking about it. Thinking more holistically, I would not go with the double-stud wall. You get lots of thermal bridging, and when it gets cold, your outer studs freeze. I know it's considered a straightforward system,…

> You get lots of thermal bridging The way they did it with those gussets, it seems so. But I don't think double studded walls always imply more thermal bridging than single stud walls where typically every 16 inches there's a complete thermal bridge. I think the double studded wall has proven its effectiveness. > your outer studs freeze Well if they don't freeze, you're heating them. So I would think the outer studs…

https://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-001-t...

Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#114

Post by undersuit »

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #62
ramraj07 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren’t there heat exchanging ventillation systems that do this (maybe even better) without wasting a ton of energy?

We had a good one like that in our previous apartment. They consist of a large cylindrical metal "heat sink" where cold air coming in goes through the bottom half, warm air going out leaves through the top half, and the entire thing rotates at ~ 5 RPM. Not any more noisy than regular kitchen ventilation. But they need to be big, ours was the size of a small dishwasher and that was adequate for a 75 square meter apart…

The state of Montana runs a data center with three 16' 'heat wheels' for the primary cooling. They are pretty cool, if I ever have a large enough hole into my attic space I might get one more appropriately sized like yours.

Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#115

Post by mprovost »

Markoff wrote: post #48
tvb12 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The unit has produced a public awareness film urging people to ventilate their homes properly by ‘keeping vents or windows open when cooking, showering and cleaning..." Why showering?

Why cooking? Only minority of people in developed countries cook on gas nowadays.

Regardless of the method, boiling water puts a lot of moisture into the air.

Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#116

Post by bluGill »

Inhibit wrote: post #111
JKCalhoun wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My assumption: that the guy is even nailing ZIP sheathing is doing so because some engineer determined it was an improvement over previous construction techniques. (But maybe it is just cheaper.)

It saves on labor. ZIP doesn't require an extra layer for impermeability of the OSB; just seal up the joints with acrylic tape and you're done. Better? No idea. Although there might be less to screw up unless someone cost-saves by not installing the spec tape (it really is necessary).

What does better mean? OSB might test stronger, but the zip is strong enough for anything a house will actually face. Both will fail in a large tornado, both will survive surprisingly high winds (zip is certified for high wind and seismic loads). There is a place in the middle will OSB will do better, but that is a very small place.

ZIP will let water vapor out, so your walls won't rot out. So if you want your house to last OSB is actually worse (though OSB houses have lasted a long time with no problems so this is again on the margins).

Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#117

Post by bkjelden »

insaneirish wrote: post #5

As a side note, Fine Homebuilding and its associated property Green Building Advisor ( https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com ) are exceptional sources of information on quality residential construction. HGTV and similarly oriented renovation programming dominate this media, but there is a large community of people trying to do things correctly and making use of the appropriate technology to do so.

Similarly, their parent company, Taunton Press, publishes a number of DIY-er focused home improvement books.

I own a few of them, and I have found every single one to be a worthwhile purchase.

Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#118

Post by bombcar »

tejohnso wrote: post #92
a1371 wrote: post #40

It's interesting to me that hacker news likes building-related content so much, which happens to be my education other than... well, computers. Air tightness is a critical step forward. I'm glad we are talking about it. Thinking more holistically, I would not go with the double-stud wall. You get lots of thermal bridging, and when it gets cold, your outer studs freeze. I know it's considered a straightforward system,…

> You get lots of thermal bridging The way they did it with those gussets, it seems so. But I don't think double studded walls always imply more thermal bridging than single stud walls where typically every 16 inches there's a complete thermal bridge. I think the double studded wall has proven its effectiveness. > your outer studs freeze Well if they don't freeze, you're heating them. So I would think the outer studs…

Matt Risigner has some good content on his channel, and he covers the "perfect wall" style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjHOqbJ9ZeQ

It's basically taking the "put the house in an insulated barn, and shrink that barn down until it's the size of the house" plan.

Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#119

Post by bombcar »

willis936 wrote: post #90
a1371 wrote: post #40

It's interesting to me that hacker news likes building-related content so much, which happens to be my education other than... well, computers. Air tightness is a critical step forward. I'm glad we are talking about it. Thinking more holistically, I would not go with the double-stud wall. You get lots of thermal bridging, and when it gets cold, your outer studs freeze. I know it's considered a straightforward system,…

Home ownership is a luxury everyone wants. I can't imagine people don't salivate at the idea of a sturdy, comfortable, private nest. The only class of people who can afford it are people with incomes on par with tech workers.

The national rate of homeownership in the US is 64.8%. That's a hellalotta tech workers.

Re: Detailed Assemblies for an Airtight Small Home

#120

Post by bombcar »

ehnto wrote: post #41
georgeoliver wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I build homes. This isn't standard in the US. I don't know how much cost it added -- probably not a lot. 10-20% I'm guessing. But, it's not low-cost.

Surely it depends on where you are in the US?

Yep, a standard midwest home is a huge energy efficient monster in Southern California.
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