| Insulation and Air Quality: The Building Envelope |
From "Home IQ"
episode DHIQ-112 |
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In DIY's new Home IQ series, you'll follow the Oberg family during the decision-making process of building this beautiful new home.
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This week Home IQ focuses on the insulation and air quality of the Oberg home and how the "building envelope" (the area of construction between the inside and outside of the house -- typically the exterior walls, roof, attic and basement) was created.
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In this week's episode of Home IQ, you'll find out about the latest technologies in insulation and air quality that were utilized in the Oberg home.
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The concept of having multiple layers in your building envelope to make the house perform better is similar to a new jacket with an inner fleece lining to keep you warm. The lining keeps you warm and the outer shell of the jacket keeps moisture and wind (air) out. The same works for a building envelope. All the cracks, gaps and seams in a building's envelope break down the insulation and air quality of a home, and the better you can make your home air-tight. Did You Know? -- Enough air escapes the typical American home every day to fill the Goodyear Blimp.
Quality Insulation SystemThere are three components to a good insulation system: - Thermal Issue -- This involves the comfort, heat loss or gain and how these affect the heating system.
- Air-Leakage Control -- How much air is lost in a house due to drafts, etc.
- Moisture Management -- This is the newest component.
The main goal of insulation (figure A) is to resist the cold temperatures of winter and the hot temperatures of summer. The more your home's insulation can resist thermal transfer, the higher its resisting value. This measure of resistance is what the "R" stands for in R-values when evaluating commercial insulation. For example, a typical old house may have had a wall of insulation with an R-value of 12 or 14 or in that range -- yet, in the Oberg house (figure B) this value is a 21.
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Figure C
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Figure D
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Figure E
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Figure F
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Outside Insulation for the Oberg HomeOne of the ways the Oberg house was able to achieve this high R-value was by insulating the outside of the house, as well as the inside. Here are some of the forms of insulation utilized on the outside: - Rigid Foam Board insulation (figure C) -- This is an exterior sheeting that insulates and reduces any thermal bridging to the inside of the home. This particular board serves as a moisture barrier and is part of the drainage plane of the house.
Note: The drainage plane is the secondary plan for reducing moisture into the house because exterior building products aren't 100 percent waterproof! - House Wrap insulation (figure D) -- This form of insulation (DuPont Tyvek® in this particular case) is part of the drainage plane and a secondary installment to reinforce keeping moisture out of the house. In other words this is an "additional" layer of protection of insulation for the home. House wrap is easily installed as well.
- Tuff-N-Dri® Basement Waterproofing System -- This is a two-part system that protects the basement:
- The first part is a polymer-enhanced asphalt that is sprayed (figure E) onto the block exterior walls of the basement. This bridges any cracks or gaps in the foundation that occur naturally over time.
- The second part is a Warm-N-Dri® Foundation Board (figure F) that is installed over the asphalt spray. It provides backfill protection, insulation and drainage. As water hits the boards it will drain right down through the board and into the drainage system around the perimeter of the foundation.
Protecting and insulating the basement walls is "always" a good idea, but it's especially important if you plan to use this area as a living space, which is what Lynn and Brad Oberg plan with her costume studio and his workshop. Oberg Construction Note: Since the Oberg house is built on a slope, the back of the basement is exposed to outside air and is not surrounded by soil like the front. And since outside air experiences greater temperature extremes than the soil mass, the builders compensated for this by installing an extra thick layer of foam board along the backside of the basement. In the next segment the contractors are ready to install some more high-tech insulation.
RESOURCES :
Tuff-N-Dri® Basement Waterproofing System
Tremco Barrier Solutions, Inc.
Website: www.guaranteeddrybasements.com
Rigid Foam Insulation
Owens Corning
Website: www.owenscorning.com
Warm-N-Dri® Foundation Board
Tremco Barrier Solutions, Inc.
Website: www.guaranteeddrybasements.com
Spray Foam Insulation (Icynene)
Icynene, Inc.
Website: www.icynene.com
Fiberglass Insulation (Owens Corning)
www.owenscorning.com
Acoustic Insulation (Owens Corning)
Owens Corning
Website: www.owenscorning.com
Insulation Installation (US Spray Systems)
US Spray Systems
6500 Commerce Circle
Trafford, PA 15085
Toll-free: 800-895-8784
Fax: 412-374-1180
Insulation (Suburban)
Suburban Insulation, Inc.
Website: www.ibpteam.com
Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) / Air Conditioning
Carrier Corp.
7310 W. Morris St.
Indianapolis, IN 46231
Phone: 317-240-5219
Website: www.global.carrier.com
Roofers
Basi Roofing
3200 Black Oak Dr.
Allison Park, PA
Phone: 412-486-1661
Fax: 412-486-9178
House Wrap (DuPont)
DuPont Tyvek®
Website: www.tyvek.com
GUESTS :
Anthony Grisolia
Systems Integrator
Ibacos, Inc.
Website: www.ibacos.com
Brad and Lynn Oberg
Homeowners
Company: IBACOS (Brad)
Title: Co-Founder/Chief Technology Officer
Website: www.ibacos.com
Greg Allen
Site Supervisor
Hendolhurst Homes
955 Markman Park Rd.
Baden, PA 15005
Phone: 724-935-5658
Fax: 724-935-0884
E-mail: gcrbs@adelphia.net
Tom Cullivan
National Marketing Manager
Tremco Barrier Solutions, Inc.
6402 East Main St.
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
Phone: 614-322-4420
Fax: 800-230-8178
E-mail: cullivth@tremcoinc.com
Eric Newhouse
Systems Integration Designer
IBACOS
Website: www.ibacos.com
Bruce Dickson
Project Manager
IBACOS
Website: www.ibacos.com
John Broniek
Buildings Programs Manager
Ibacos
Website: www.ibacos.com
John Holton
Senior Architect
Ibacos
Website: www.ibacos.com
Kevin Waldo
Product Manager
Carrier Corp.
7310 W. Morris St.
Indianapolis, IN 46231
Phone: 317-240-5219
E-mail: Kevin.waldo@carrier.com
Website: www.global.carrier.com
Shawn Rippon
VP Marketing
Icynene
6747 Campobello Rd.
Mississauga, ON, Canada L5N 2L7
Toll-free: 800-758-7325
Phone: 905-363-4040
Fax: 905-363-0102
Website: www.icynene.com
Dan Zupsic
Installer
Suburban Insulation, Inc.
193 Crowe Ave.
Mars, PA 16046
Phone: 724-625-2257
Fax: 724-625-3720
E-mail: mars@installed.net
Website: www.ibpteam.com
Matt Klym
Installer
Suburban Insulation, Inc.
193 Crowe Ave.
Mars, PA 16046
Phone: 724-625-2257
Fax: 724-625-3720
E-mail: mars@installed.net
Website: www.ibpteam.com
Ron Reiner
Owner
Suburban Insulation, Inc.
193 Crowe Ave.
Mars, PA 16046
Phone: 724-625-2257
Fax: 724-625-3720
E-mail: mars@installed.net
Website: www.ibpteam.com
Jerry Zupsic
Estimator
Suburban Insulation, Inc.
193 Crowe Ave.
Mars, PA 16046
Phone: 724-625-2257
Fax: 724-625-3720
E-mail: mars@installed.net
Website: www.ibpteam.com
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