Green Homes News

RetroFoam in brick mass wall—opinions, alternatives?

Green Homes 2 - Sat, 2024-01-06 02:25
I have a 1921 craftsman style home that I’m working on in the 4A/5A zone (St. Louis area). The exterior construction is two-course brick with a 1” wythe cavity, from…
Categories: Green Homes

New Construction DIY Foundation Waterproofing

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 09:29
For better or worse I am undertaking GCing our new modular construction pretty good house this spring/ summer in central MA. Part of this endeavor includes doing a lot of…
Categories: Green Homes

Efficiency of Heat Pump Water Heater at 45°F

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 08:43
HPHW in 40-45F basement (I live in MA) I'm slowly getting rid of all my gas appliances, and in removing our boiler and switching to a HP, the basement is…
Categories: Green Homes

Sound Break Between Exposed Beam Joists

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 08:22
Ceiling/Floor assembly for sound break between exposed joists 25'x32', two stories: first floor 10' ceilings; second floor vaulted ceiling 5' knee walls to 12' peak The first 18' (of 32')…
Categories: Green Homes

Covering Costs in Property Profit-Share Arrangement

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 08:03
Seeking Guidance: Expense Allocation for Project Manager and Site Supervisor Salaries in 50/50 Profit-Sharing Agreement In a potential 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement with a client for a custom home project in…
Categories: Green Homes

Rigid Foam Board Insulation over existing plaster board walls?

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 07:54
Our house was built in the 1950s and severely under insulated. We live in the Philadelphia metro area so we have cold winters and hot summers. The under insulation is…
Categories: Green Homes

Switchback stair design + Vaulted ceiling

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 07:49
Got the final set of plans back from the designer and they look pretty good - he implemented everything we wanted including lots of the constructive feedback received here on…
Categories: Green Homes

ventilated cut and cobble?

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 07:40
I've got an addition with an EPDM flat roof in climate zone 4a. The main house attic is vented.I understand that venting low slope roofs generally doesn't work well, and…
Categories: Green Homes

Does anybody here own one of the LG Art Cool Premier units that can modulate down to 1023 btu (or lower)?

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 07:29
LG Art Cool Premier can supposedly modulate all the way down to 1023 Btu in both heating and cooling modes (it can actually go even lower than 1023 in heating…
Categories: Green Homes

Getting the Most Out of Blower Door Test Results

Green Homes 2 - Fri, 2024-01-05 02:00
Understanding blower door calculations beyond air exchanges per hour at 50 Pascals can yield useful information for achieving efficiency goals
Categories: Green Homes

Window Leakage due to Wind-driven Rain

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 21:28
I have been living in a new construction condo unit since November 2021. Two of my windows facing south tend to leak during storms. The builder came out and attempted…
Categories: Green Homes

Any odor or void problems with loose-fill (blown-in) cellulose attic insulation?

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 20:04
A few customer reviews of the Greenfiber Sanctuary cellulose say it emits a terrible smell from their attics into their houses.  They're only a small percentage, and they may have…
Categories: Green Homes

Hydronic Heating Feasibility – Walltherm Gasification Boiler

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 19:27
This might come as no surprise to those of you who engaged on my past posts… I had a great chat with our engineer today about the HVAC and though…
Categories: Green Homes

Renovating a Zone 5 cathedral ceiling in a townhouse

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 18:00
Happy New Year all.  I am an architect renovating a Zone 5 vacation condo / townhouse with a cathedral ceiling.  The original roof is 2x10 exposed rafters, 3" to 4"…
Categories: Green Homes

Ice and Water over Zip

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 17:42
Building in CZ 6 in an area that seeing a good amount of snow. Question regarding zip roof sheathing and water and ice peel and stick....If you were installing zip…
Categories: Green Homes

Air Conditioning Metal Buildings in Tropical Climate

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 14:56
Tropical Mountain Air Conditioning? The setting: latitude 10 degrees, altitude 1300m (4500'), daily temperature range: 12-24C (55-75F) more or less year round.  Humidity: high in the short "dry" season to…
Categories: Green Homes

Interpreting 2021 IRC Energy Codes

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 13:07
Looking for advice/feedback on the 2021 Energy codes. If I am understing correctly, the 2021 codes for climate zone 5 are as follows: R20 + 5ci,, R13+ 10ci, or 0+…
Categories: Green Homes

Thermal Comfort of Radiators vs. Minisplits in Leaky House

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 13:07
Minisplit comfort in leaky house zone 4a Hi, I was able to go from about 5200 at neg 50 cfm to 4200 at neg 50 cfm by doing closed-cell foam…
Categories: Green Homes

Hyrbid venting question

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 11:57
I looked through the q&a and saw a couple similar situations to mine but not quite enough for me to know if I can do what I want to do…
Categories: Green Homes

Basement Insulation Detail

Green Homes 2 - Thu, 2024-01-04 11:51
Hello,I added 2" of rigid foam to an unfinished portion of my basement walls in zone 4 (St. Louis,MO) and then added 16" oc 2x4 framing along with R-15 mineral…
Categories: Green Homes

Pages

RMC facebook RMC twitter
Scroll to Top