There is a lot of emotion wrapped up in the process of design. A client trusts you with their hopes and dreams. You translate those words, pictures, and thoughts into lines on a paper creating intersections and relationships. Proportions, scale, function, and aesthetics are combined to create instructions for construction. And so it begins, trees are cut and dirt is moved. This is the start of another beautiful story:![IMG_1911[1]](https://www.thegainesgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_19111.jpg)
![IMG_1909[1]](https://www.thegainesgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_19091.jpg)
Air within your homes can be up to 10 times more polluted than the air outside.
Building science is tricky to get right if you understand holistic design strategies. If you don’t address these complicated issues, you are in deep trouble. (note: most people don’t understand building science basics)
Our homes for years had no insulation in the walls, no conditioned air, and they lasted for decades with no issues. Born from that history the phrase “You don’t want to build your house too tight, needs to breathe.” The houses leaked air through every crack in the walls, roof, and floor. We then added insulation and conditioned air (most don’t have any ventilation through the mechanical system). This made our homes more comfortable, but created a tighter building envelope. These tighter homes trap air inside the home that is being filtered through the attic, attic insulation, crawl space, and walls as opposed to being ventilated through the HVAC system filtration system. This has led to an indoor air quality issue, as the “fresh” air is not fresh at all. It is full of moisture, mold, and particulates.
HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. We need to use ventilation to solve the moisture and air quality issues we face in current home construction. This whole house ventilation strategy is only successful when done through design including a holistic understanding of building science. Ventilation is impacted by number of people living in the home, way of life, the type of insulation and windows, the type of mechanical system, and even interior finishes. There are many ways to achieve a proper ventilation system in your home, however, it is often overlooked or not included by your mechanical contractor. This should be a primary consideration for every home that has a goal of having a healthy indoor environment.
Most of us know the miles-per-gallon of our cars. I just went through (for me) the very painful process of purchasing a new (used) car. I weighed the options looking at asking price, insurance premium, maintenance costs, and miles per gallon. These should all be factors when purchasing or building a new home. However, we almost never know the miles per gallon equivalent for a building. That is because a HERS rating is not required in Virginia. It is however, a test that is easy to request as part of your evaluation process for existing homes or performance criteria for new construction.
A home energy rating is an analysis of the efficiency of the home’s energy usage. The Home energy Rating System (HERS) is the nationally recognized scoring system for measuring a home’s energy performance. The results of the test give you a HERS Index Score. This miles-per-gallon for your home allows you to compare how your home is performing vs a baseline accepted standard. The test and report also gives you a checklist of areas that could use attention to improve your homes performance.
I respond to a lot of requests for proposals and do a lot of interviews for new design projects. Sometimes there is a higher standard to which the new design needs to meet, and sometimes the potential project is only aiming for building code minimum standards. What quality do you want for your home / business?
When you start planning your new commercial building, home, or renovation project, what standard will you set for the construction? Many people assume that building code is a good standard that will deliver a quality project. They also assume that if a building “meets code,” it will perform well over time, be efficient, and be durable.
Unfortunately, that is not the goal of the building code. The building code is a reactive document that is modified over time (in Virginia every 3 years) very slowly to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the general public as a minimum standard. The standards in the code come from failures that have been identified in the past and serve as a way to protect against repeating those same failures. There is a lot of information about structural needs in a building. There is a heavy focus on fire safety. Building code even sets some very minimum standards for energy usage. However, setting the building code as a standard for your projects structural performance will not deliver a home that prevents the china from rattling as you walk past. It is a minimum standard that will simply deliver a project that is structurally safe. If you want a building that is energy-efficient, the building code is not a place to look for standards. This is again, a minimum guideline that does not look at the interconnections between systems and the performance of a building. You can construct a code compliant building that costs you a fortune to maintain each month that is almost never comfortable. You can construct a code minimum building that has low performance, unhealthy indoor air, and high energy bills.
When you are planning your next building, it is important to ask yourself some key questions:
What is your goal for energy usage?
How much maintenance will you find acceptable?
How much “bounce” is acceptable in your floor system?
What kind of priority is the indoor air quality?
These are all questions that building to code will be delivered at a very minimal level. Some of these questions address quality issues and some are systems coordination. A high performance building should be a goal for all of us. Evaluate all the building standards available or hire someone that understands these systems to help set the standards. Using LEED and EarthCraft is a good start to help you evaluate your goal, but don’t stop there. Look beyond these rating systems and think about what comfort you desire in your project. This is where you will make some really valuable decisions about quality and priority. If you want a building that is energy-efficient, healthy, and durable, code minimum is not the answer.
We do a variety of renovation projects from basements, garages, to kitchen additions. The one consistent element between them all is our clients want a healthy, energy-efficient, and durable building solution. This basement renovation is no exception. Here is a blog post from our client about the energy audit performed on the entire home including the basement.
So this the where we started on the basement renovation project.
basement renovation
And here is the current state of the basement.
basement renovation
In a home with a forced-air heating and cooling system, the system used to distribute air is called duct work. In an average home, 30% of the air sent through the duct work system is lost due to leaks, holes, and poorly executed connections. The result to your wallet is higher electric bills and lower comfort.
The best way to seal up these ducts during construction is using a paint on mastic or mastic tape. While other tapes fail over time, Mastic stays stuck to your ducts creating an air tight air distribution system.
The benefits of a tight air duct system include comfort, indoor air quality improvements, lower electric bills, and a reduced impact on the environment.
For more information on improving your heating and cooling system, click here and here.