A Weekend in Boston (before the Storm)

Prototype wall by 475 Co. - the wall design I intend to use for John's house. It is air sealed on both sides, but vapor open on both sides so the wall assembly can dry to either direction, inside or outside. The wall components inside to outside will be - drywall, mechanical chase (probably Roxul insulation in the available space in the chase), intello, 6" cellulose insulation, plywood, at least 2" Roxul comfort board mineral wool insulation, the Solitex exterior membrane, rainscreen wall, Hardieboard siding. 

On Monday October 22 there was an announcement on my favorite website (Green Building Advisor - GBA) of a one day conference October 28th in Boston hosted by Passive House New England. I was off for the whole weekend so I talked John into going with me. He was to be the tourist while I attended the conference which had numerous speakers I was really interested in hearing including my course instructor, Marc Rosenbaum, Martin Holladay, editor of GBA, Chris Corson, builder of Passive Houses in New England, and Adam Cohen, designer/builder of Passive Houses in the Southeast.

I got plane tickets - first class for the first time ever in my life because they ended up being about $100 more expensive than the regular tickets if you include the cost of baggage. The real advantage of first class is getting on in a relaxed manner and just having a little space to move. I won't generally go by first class especially if I am traveling by myself, but this time it made sense for a short trip.

The last time John and I made a trip to the Northeast was when we celebrated the end of his chemo and we went to Philadelphia and Washington, DC for a week. We decided to go by train to see how that worked out. It was great on the way up. While we were there Hurricane Irene went through Washington, DC. And we couldn't get the train back because Amtrak was closed. I had to book a return flight to get back home. Serious bummer that we didn't get to take the train back.

When I booked the trip to Boston, we knew Hurricane Sandy was in the Atlantic, but it looked like she was going to basically stay in the Atlantic. As the week progressed computer models showed that the hurricane was going to take a left turn into the northeast coastline. Fortunately this time, we flew up before the hurricane and came back kind of around the hurricane. The flight wasn't even that bumpy. We got lucky.

We meant to do touristy stuff that Friday night, but I had worked all night the night before so I became unconscious when we got to our hotel, the Omni Parker in downtown Boston. It's a great place to stay in Boston. I love it when you can get from the airport to the hotel on the subway. I like that so much better than having to get a shuttle.

Saturday I got up early and went to conference at the University of Mass. The first speaker was Adam Cohen who is a dynamic speaker and very well versed in designing and building Passive Houses. He didn't really talk about humidity and Passive House at this conference, but he came up to me afterward and gave me his card and asked me to email him about that issue. A lot of the comfort issues in the hot and humid South are not really about temperature, it's about humidity. We use a significant amount of energy trying to dehumidify the house in the summer. So I will be taking Adam up on his kind offer and ask him about humidity in a superinsulated house in the South.

The next speaker was Chris Corson is a builder in Maine who built a super-insulated 1600 sqft house for $130/sqft. Amazing.

The last set of speakers was an interesting panel discussion of Passive House which included my zero energy class instructor, Marc Rosenbaum and GBA editor, Martin Holladay.

One of the best things about the conference was the vendor display. I got to talk to someone from 475 building supply co located in Brooklyn NY. I got to see an actual prototype of the wall I want to build.

This view shows the mechanical chase or the part of the wall that will include electrical and plumbing. The wall is air sealed behind the chase so any penetrations, hanging pictures, for example, in the drywall (not shown, it will go on top of these studs) will not penetrate the air barrier. That prevents interior moisture from penetrating the wall assembly causing mold or rot.

The only photos I took were of these wall assemblies. No tourist photos though.

I had a great time. Hope to post more later.






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Designing a house

We are getting closer to building John's house. I have been putting a ton of thought into how to do it relatively cheaply and how to make it very energy efficient.

Here are some drawings (scribbles) I've done.

First I was trying to figure out how to "Innie" windows. Innie windows are windows that are applied to the exterior sheathing then exterior insulation added on outside of them. The details of air sealing around the windows and framing the trim are somewhat difficult. Here are some notes that I took (and modified) from GBA (Green Building Advisor). I am thinking about using both foam and mineral wool as the exterior insulation. Probably crazy, I know. I have not calculated prices yet. That will likely alter my plan.

Courtesy of Green Building Advisor

The reason I like Innie windows is that the window is protected from the elements better and the temperature is moderated better, more energy efficient. Disadvantage - harder to detail around it. Still have to think about it more.

Now for my plans for the house. I wish I had downloaded and learned SketchUp before Google sold it.

Trying to figure out the layout. John wants the stairs to bisect the downstairs space because he wants to use it as a music room. 

Better drawing. I can't figure out how to layout the bathroom and the laundry room.  Should we put a shower downstairs? 

I signed up for an online class called "Zero Net Energy Homes" taught by Marc Rosenbaum to help me understand how everything goes together when you are building a superinsulated home. Now, I do not think we can get to a zero net energy home based on the financial constraints, but I will at least entertain the possibility. John is so cheap - if anyone in my family could achieve a net zero home it would be John.

It feels good to get something down on the blog again. Thank you for listening. Lucy