NorthStar Comfort Energy Blog

So you want to make your current house more efficient?

2010-03-28T07:41:00.003-05:00

Some good reading about energy audits & working on existing houses -
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=before-we-began-a-home-energy-audit-2009-03-02
and
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=are-old-houses-doomed-the-conflict-2010-03-26

Some Perspectives

2010-01-08T12:22:00.000-06:00

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/01/06/cash-for-caulkers-poised-to-return/

NorthStar in the News

2009-11-16T10:47:00.001-06:00

Featured on KSNW - http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/New-program-will-help-residents-become-energy/c6wVQTyE3Ums9yX5oTdHxA.cspx

Efficiency Kansas

2009-10-21T10:50:00.002-05:00

If you own a home and would like to do some energy efficiency upgrades (but don't want to pay for it out of pocket now), you should check out Efficiency Kansas. (http://efficiencykansas.com/index.html) It's a program set up by the state of Kansas to loan people money through a bank to get their houses tighter, more comfortable & use less energy.

Or you could just call us directly, in that we do energy audits, insulation & air sealing work. Either way.

Recovery Through Retrofit

2009-10-19T10:25:00.001-05:00

Some interesting reading for homeowners interested in saving some money on their utilities http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/going-green-and-saving-you-money/

Wichita Area Parade of Homes

2009-10-08T09:32:00.001-05:00

The Parade of Homes in our area starts this weekend (Oct. 10-11) and runs for three straight weekends. No matter where you are in the home buying process, from 'window shopping' to ready to move, now's your chance to go see the best of what's out there.
Check out www.wabahome.com for more info.

Caution Ahead: Brick Veneer & Spray Foam

2009-06-12T08:03:00.003-05:00

There are a lot of different ways to build a wall. There's standard 2x4 walls, 2x6 walls, ICFs, SIPs, concrete block and steel stud, to name the major ones. Then, there's what to put on the outside the wall (siding, brick, stone, EIFS, etc.), inside the wall (fiberglass, cellulose, spray foam, etc.), then the interior of the wall (what kind of sheetrock, paint, etc.). All of this is your wall system. Yes, the construction industry considers the wall system - not a living, breathing one - but a system nonetheless.

That said, the specific point of this entry is that caution needs to be used when using spray foam insulation & brick veneer in climate zone 4, which is where Wichita and Kansas City, to name a couple of cities, are located. Why? Well, it comes down to a few things:

Brick veneer can store huge amounts of water.
Most housewrap, also called a Weather Resistive Barrier, is very vapor permeable (as in water vapor goes through it very easily)
The sun will drive water vapor towards the inside of the house, through the housewrap and into the OSB.
The foam, open or closed cell, has such a low permeability that the water effective stops inside the OSB, as it has nowhere to go until it can evaporate back to the outside.

Unsurprisingly, this can lead to structural weakening of the OSB.
So, what to do? The two main things to do involve tweaking common building practices slightly, so that we can make longer lastig structure. Notice I'm not saying don't do spray foam & brick veneer - I'm just saying that I would:

Use a weather resistive barrier with lower permeability. Permeability is rated in Perms. Standard WRBs are 35 or so. 10 Perms or less will keep enough water vapor out to help minimize the intrusion.
Change the way you build the veneer, to include more ventiliation. Current practices on residential construction use only weep holes at the bottom of the brick at regular intervals. The research I've seen suggests that creating a more breathable brick veneer will keep moisture in the air moving & not heading in, towards your house.

Thanks to Lucas Hamilton at CertainTeed for doing all the heavily lifting with this. All I did was ask the question & thought I should pass along the information. And, again, this is just for Climate Zone 4 - and there are 6 across the U.S., so ask your builder, insulator, architect, energy auditor, what's recommended for your area.

Video on YouTube

2009-05-18T11:05:00.002-05:00

I will get this on our main site soon but here's a link to our latest video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4J83FB2x_M

Why pay more to get less?

2009-04-27T10:56:00.001-05:00

That's my 2 cents on spray in foam. I'll get in to why in a bit.

Blow-in-Blanket System / BIBS

2009-04-13T14:52:00.004-05:00

While we do have a page about it on our regular website, I thought I should mention the Blow-in-Blanket System specifically in this blog - mainly because it's an insulation system that doesn't get the press it should, even though it's been around for well over 20 years. Everyone knows batt insulation, most people have heard of or seen wet spray cellulose and spray foam is the new (or at least the most actively marketed) kid on the block. So, what is this Blow-in-Blanket System?

(For the record, BIBS is the official and registered acronym, although I've never liked it.)

Anyway, BIBS is a blown-in fiberglass product that goes in behind netting that is stapled onto the face of the studs in a wall. Some good pics & info is on the official BIBS site here. The main advantage of BIBS is that it fills the cavity completely by going in and around all the easy to miss/mess up areas like pipes & wires in the wall. Plus, BIBS generally (depending upon the product used) has an R-value of R-15 in a 2x4 wall. It also goes in dry, so you can sheetrock immediately and BIBS doesn't settle - we have a display in our office that has been around since 1990 or so that hasn't moved at all.

That's the 2 minute spiel. I'll get into some product specific discussion & why installers are certified tomorrow.

Jeff

An excellent way to save money, if you qualify

2009-04-10T11:30:00.002-05:00

The Wichita Eagle has a story today about how the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation is launching a program to help people buy new and hopefully more energy efficient appliances. I would urge any one who uses this program to look carefully at the annual energy usage cards that are on new appliances - there can be a huge difference between similar models, even if both are EnergyStar certified.
Jeff

Certified Green Professional on staff

2009-04-09T10:10:00.002-05:00

We are proud to announce that Paul Miller has become the first Certified Green Professional (CGP) in our company. For more information about what that means: go here.

Code is the Floor

2009-04-08T10:32:00.002-05:00

I was recently at a seminar where Russ Rudy was describing current building practices. The short version of what he said was if we were to make a scale from 1 to 15 to describe the energy efficiency of our building practices, 15 would be a Zero Energy Home (see here) and 1 would be a code-built home.

All in all, it's a pretty accurate painting of where we are with common construction practices.

Getting Started with the 30% Tax Credit

2009-04-06T11:51:00.000-05:00

With nothing in particular on my mind but wanting to get things started, I would recommend that anyone who reads this and owns a home go here before starting in on any home improvements.
It is important to note the caveat at the bottom of the page - not all EnergyStar products qualify for the 30% Tax Credit. For instance, the guideline for insulation is the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (2009 IECC), which breaks its recommendations down by Climate Zone. (I'll try to find a link for it.)

For example - a house in Wichita/South Central Kansas is in Climate Zone 4. According to the 2009 IECC, walls should be R-13, attics should be R-38 and floors should be R-19, where applicable. If your house isn't at these levels and you choose to add insulation up to these levels, you qualify for a 30% tax credit on the material costs of the project up to $1,500.

So, that's a great example of what we'll be talking about on this blog. If you have any suggestions about what you'd like to read about, send them on in & I'll try to get to them.

Jeff