Fixr.com recently published its 2019 Energy-Efficient Home Design Trends Report. The study’s authors interviewed 25 experts in the home design industry to peg upcoming trends in energy-efficient home features, design, and building trends. These experts have a pulse on what consumers want in design but are also savvy about energy efficiency and its importance to home buyers.
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Have you ever wondered why certain products have a cancer warning label on them and others do not? Well, you’re not alone. Here’s why:
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Matt Whitbeck, Co-Owner and President of Whitbeck Construction, LLC specializes in custom framing, exterior sustainability, and residential remodeling. He’s serious about quality craftsmanship and energy efficiency. So much so that he is a popular speaker at building industry conferences on those topics. Whitbeck and Kevin Ireton spoke to a standing room only crowd in the High-Performance Building Zone at NAHB’ International Builders Show (IBS). Whitbeck also took time following IBS to speak with Insulation Institute on three tips for framing carpenters as they work to help builders achieve more energy-efficient homes.
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Thermal bridging or the escape of heat through low-performing areas in a building envelope presents a huge problem for builders interested in energy-efficient buildings. One of the reasons that modern buildings are now more energy efficient than ever is that newer building energy codes, like the 2015 IECC and ASHRAE 90.1 prescriptively include the use of continuous insulation in most climates to reduce thermal bridging. While there are many different continuous insulation products and applications, mineral wool is gaining in popularity as an effective solution in minimizing thermal bridging.
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According to the Fire Protection Research Foundation, the median cost of a residential sprinkler system is $5,000, but the maximum cost of a system averages $21,000. Those are huge numbers that contribute to the builder’s total cost of construction. Builders may be able to cut their overall costs for sprinklers by using fiberglass and mineral wool insulation as an effective, affordable passive fire protection solution in concealed spaces and ceiling cavities in low-rise buildings and one and two-family dwellings. NAIMA has released a new publication detailing the new provisions of the 2019 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 13 on when sprinklers may be omitted.
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Energy Efficiency for All recently released a new report, “Guidance for Specifying Healthier Insulation and Air-Sealing Materials.” The new report is a supplement to a publication produced last fall, “Making Affordable Housing More Energy Efficient: A Guide to Healthier Upgrade Materials,” which ranked insulation materials used in multifamily residential insulation retrofits from least to most hazardous. According to the report, fiberglass insulations are among “the best insulation materials from a health perspective…and we recommend their use whenever possible” in residential multifamily housing stock.
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Thrive Home Builders is one of the most respected production builders in the country with a multitude of awards and accolades to prove it. The Denver-area company is well-known nationwide for its sustainable, energy-efficient construction, with 100 percent of its homes meeting a minimum of Net Zero Energy Ready status. Thrive commands a 10 to 25 percent price premium for its high-performance new construction homes, so one could assume that every product used in its builds would also come at a price premium. Yet, Thrive CEO and Founder Gene Myers told Insulation Institute that cost-effective blown-in fiberglass insulation is a preferred product in his company’s homes.
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We at Insulation Institute spend a good deal of our time talking up the benefits of using fiberglass and mineral wool insulation. As much of the content of our blog is geared toward new residential construction, we value connecting with builders who use these products to achieve high-performance new home construction. So, we were thrilled to catch up with Matt Risinger, a Texas home builder and building science enthusiast (and a rock star) who specializes in high-performance, architect-driven home building during the International Builders Show. We’ve heard Matt speak at the International Builders Show in the past and we know his time is a valuable commodity, so we only asked him one question during our brief chat. His answer didn’t disappoint.
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It takes an average of four to six months to build the typical new construction home and in the homebuilding business, time is money. Complicating the issue for most builders is a shortage of skilled tradespeople, including framing carpenters, the constraints of weather-related delays, and countless other risks associated with construction sites. However, evolving building processes like offsite manufacturing can dramatically improve the homebuilding process, resulting in myriad benefits to builders and homeowners. Insulation Institute recently spoke with Gerard “Gerry” McCaughey, Chief Executive and Chairman of Entekra, which offers a fully integrated offsite construction solution. While there are many benefits to the process, we highlight four undeniably appealing ones for builders.
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Building professionals across the country acknowledge one of the central challenges facing construction today is recruiting talented tradespeople. Ryan Miller, Founder and Executive Director of North Carolina Building Performance Association (NCBPA), a five-year-old not-for-profit association, is working on a solution: a toolkit of career resources for individuals interested in joining the high-performance building industry as a tradesperson. The resources will help guide students and others interested in the trades on the various career pathways in high-performance residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.
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