High performance homes and dealing with fundimental building changes

The folks at Building Sciences have just come out with an excellent article on "things we need to worry about" in our new, high performance buildings. This Building Science Insights article called "Five Things" should be a must read for anyone thinking about building a high performance, super insulated building. With these super energy efficient buildings, the consequences of "getting it wrong" are far worse than in a low-performance building.

Right now we are currently building in Takhini North what may become the most energy efficient home in Whitehorse. So, this article is a good confirmation that our design is sound for a super insulated building that will also be durable. Key things that the Building Sciences guys identified as areas of concern, we are getting right:

• We are using no building cavities for air distribution: all of our air handling (fresh air and exhaust) is in well sealed ducts, located inside the building envelope;

  From 38 & 40 Nijmegan Road

• All of our windows and doors are fully pan flashed

  From 38 & 40 Nijmegan Road

• We are currently installing full flashing integrated with the siding on the exterior of the building, at all windows, doors and building intersections;
• We have a full rain screen drainage plane behind the siding;

  From 38 & 40 Nijmegan Road

• We have a SINGLE vapour barrier, located on the inside of the building (which is the right place for cold climates); and our outside of the building is allowed to dry outward (no outside vapour barrier to trap water in the wall)

  From 38 & 40 Nijmegan Road

• We have no paper faced material in wet areas - cement board around the tub, no drywall outside of the building envelope and our firewall is concrete.

  From 38 & 40 Nijmegan Road

  Minimal use of OSB - the plywood dries much better and is less susceptible to mold.

  From 38 & 40 Nijmegan Road

This Building Sciences Insights article is a good confirmation that the details we are focusing on are the right steps to building a durable home that should last generations.