Insulation Institute Blog

Profile of a Top One Percent Builder

Since 2013 the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Housing Innovation Awards has recognized the top builders of zero energy ready homes. Housing Innovation award winners represent the top one percent of builders across the country who meet the most rigorous specifications for High-performance Homes. Among this year’s 24 winners is production builder Charles Thomas Homes.

Founded in 2009, Charles Thomas Homes constructs High-performance Homes that typically command a higher price than competing builders, but also deliver on energy efficiency and comfort, which is important in frosty climate zone 5. Part of the company’s winning approach to constructing energy-efficient homes includes blown fiberglass insulation in the attic and walls, demonstrating that high-performance doesn’t have to mean high price.

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Profile of a Top One Percent Builder

HERS-Scored Homes: 2 Million and Counting

Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) recently reached a significant milestone: 2 million Home Energy Rating System (HERS)-scored homes. This miles-per-gallon equivalent score assigned to estimate the energy efficiency of a home has rapidly gained market acceptance since its inception in 2006, and as energy efficient building becomes mainstream, the popularity of HERS ratings continues to expand rapidly. Today, 22 percent of new homes are HERS-rated[1], and that number will continue to grow, particularly as states adopt the energy ratings index (ERI) as an energy code compliance option.

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HERS-Scored Homes: 2 Million and Counting

Is it Time for Resilient Design?

The 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season has been the seventh most active in history. [1] In a year that’s seen widespread home damage and displacement of homeowners as the result of extreme weather events there’s some positive news to report. According to a Wall Street Journal article, homes built in Florida following the passage of more stringent building codes fared better during Hurricane Irma than those built previously.  But with more frequent occurrences of hurricanes and damaging storms, should more stringent building codes be the sole defense in limiting property damage and homeowner displacement?

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Is it Time for Resilient Design?

SmartHome Apps to Help Save on Energy Costs

Contributed by Modernize 

There’s all kinds of potential for smarthome devices, from better security to an easier way to turn off the lights. But one of the greatest benefits—at least, environmentally-speaking—is the ability to provide more insight into a home’s energy consumption. Stand-alone smartphone apps can offer suggestions for how to incorporate greener habits into a homeowner’s daily routine. And then there are the device-centric apps, which integrate with existing smart products in the home—such as the utility meter or thermostat—to give homeowners a better readout of their energy use and saving.

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SmartHome Apps to Help Save on Energy Costs

Avoiding a Bad Wrap

When properly installed, housewrap can be the workhorse of a home’s exterior envelope, as a weather-resistive barrier that performs as the buildings shell, repelling water while also allowing water vapor to pass to the outside of the structure. But, like everything else in construction, it only works well if properly installed.  Rex Nelson of Correct Housewrap Installation estimates that 90 percent of housewrap installations are bad, which he says is not only avoidable, but potentially very damaging to the home’s exterior.  Nelson says that contractors should understand what the product is intended to do and be trained on properly installing it, which will help improve housewrap jobs and building durability in the long run.

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Avoiding a Bad Wrap

More Options for HVAC Duct Design

Contributed by Matthew Brown, Engineered Wood Specialist, APA — The Engineered Wood Association

The 2018 International Residential Code (IRC) and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) offer new provisions for HVAC duct design within ventilated attic spaces. These provisions increase the options for builders working to meet the requirements of the energy code using the performance or Energy Rating Index (ERI) method of compliance.

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More Options for HVAC Duct Design

Taking the Guess Work Out of Envelope Design

Wall system design is increasingly challenging for builders and architects, as modern building practices have changed and codes have become much more stringent to meet energy efficiency requirements. Uncertainty about moisture risk associated with innovative envelope approaches can hinder adoption of new approaches and technologies.

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Taking the Guess Work Out of Envelope Design

Thriving in a ZEN Landscape

Ask any builder around the country about top challenges and you are pretty likely to hear three things:

  1. Cost and availability of attractive lots;
  2. Finding and cultivating skilled tradespeople; and
  3. Creating high brand awareness with prospective homebuyers.
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Thriving in a ZEN Landscape