Archive of posts tagged insulation
19 Plants That Can Clean Air In Your Home
A research program in the 1980’s by NASA to keep air fresh in space stations helped discover the role of house plants on indoor air quality. It is well known that plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen through the photosynthesis process. The research showed that many house plants which require low light, also absorb […]
An Integrated Approach to Home Energy Improvement
As a general contractor and energy assessor, I believe understanding both the local and global impacts of energy consumption are important. As a traditional home builder I have always built with quality craftsmanship. While this served me well for many years, it was not until three years ago that I began to really explore in-depth […]
The Terry Project: Cellulose Insulation and Energy Modeling
The latest work done on Cathy’s house is the application of insulation. They have decided to use blown cellulose to fill the exterior walls and the cathedral ceiling. The cellulose insulation is expected to yield R-13 for the walls and R-38 for the ceiling. The
The Terry Project: Air Sealing, Insulation, Windows
The family room with a vaulted ceiling requires particular attention for insulation. The roof sheathing material is foil faced oriented strand boards (OSB). The foils act as a radiant barrier which will cut down the heat from the hot roof from getting into the living space. Under the radiant barriers, sheet rocks were installed leaving […]
A Deep Energy Retrofit Project
Staying in this house was never in the plan. We’d hoped to move into this little house in town for a couple of years, remodel and flip it, and then move to the country to live “off the grid.” But then it happened. We fell in love. Not only with our “little blue house,” but […]
Remodel to Passive House Standards
Most buildings leak air, and therefore heat, through cracks in their building envelope. We get cold in our leaky buildings and turn up our heaters to keep warm. The heat continues to leak out, and we continue to turn up our heaters, and on and on the cycle goes. In the end, we may as […]
Windows
Windows today are typically made of at least two pieces of glass sealed together all around and filled with an inert gas in the small gap between the two glass panes. The glass surfaces facing the inside (where the inert gas is) are coated with materials that affect the heat transfer. Many windows are called […]
The Terry Project: The Beginning
Cathy Terry has been living in her Pleasant Hill, California home for many years. She likes the area and expects to continue living there for many years to come. She knows she needs to update the house. One objective is to expand the family room and kitchen area so that she can look outside to […]