Home Building with Sunrise Homes Corp.

We think we have a better wall.  The hardest and most expensive part of the home to insulate (outside of door and window openings) are the walls.  Once the drywall is installed, there is no going back.  You can always add more insulation to the attic but making better walls will be expensive.

For new homes: start with 2×6 studs.  Space them 24″ on center.  Remember the wall cavity is well insulated but the stud is only R6.9 so every piece of lumber in the wall is an avenue to the cold.  For all of you people that think studs can only be 16″ o.c., remember that a 24″ o.c. 2×6 wall is 312% stronger than a 2×4 16″ o.c. wall.  How much more strength do you need?  If you build in a high wind area, you will need the 16″ o.c. spacing for added strength.

My choice for insulation is soy based closed cell foam.  About 3″ will yield R20.  It is a moisture barrier and seals the wall.  Other options are cellulose and glass blown, a system where the wall is netted and material blown into the cavity to fill it and all the voids.  Your choice will depend upon your budget.  Don’t skimp on the walls.  With insulation what you spend will come back to you.

How to fix all that lumber in wall and the cold leakage it creates?  When you leave the house in cold weather, what do you do?  You put on a coat, don’t you.  Why wouldn’t you do that to your home?  If you think the wind wrap will do it, you are dreaming.  Wind wrap has no R value.  My choice is 1″ rigid foam.  This R5 product covers everything and the difference will amaze you.  I wouldn’t trade my home fuel bill for yours.  I have used the foam on my own home for 9 years with great results and the soy based foam was not available.

If you remodel, you can upgrade your walls.  Don’t even think about residing the home without upgrading the walls.  Now is your chance.  My prescription: Strip the house down to the sheathing.  Blow foam into the walls from the outside.  Replace the windows with new quality windows.  Install rigid foam and then reside.  If you don’t cut your heating bill in half, I would be shocked.  New windows and siding recover a large percentage of their cost with increase resale value.  Can you say the same about a hot tub?  Don Carey

It’s not only the Wall St. tycoons who will benefit from the massive bailout legislation.  If you install a solar electric system (pv), the credits available have risen since the federal govt removed the $2,000 limit to tax credits.   Here’s how it works.  Conn Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) will rebate up to 50% of the total cost of a pv system (depending upon kw size and efficiency).  Most installers will take care of the paper work.

Then 30% of your actual cost can become a credit off your income tax.  Not a deduction, a credit.  There is a big difference.  A deduction reduces your taxable income while a credit is direct cash back.  This was limited to $2,000 but no more.  The effect of these credits/rebates can reduce the payback from 9-12 years to 5-7 years.  Imagine, getting your money back in 5-7 years and getting free electricity for the next 20.  Sounds like a good deal.

Now this is government we are talking about here and nothing is ever forever.  So if you are thinking about a pv system,  Now would be a very good time to act.  We are builders not lawyers or accountants so do your own investigation and how it would apply to you.  We can recommend a reliable solar contractor.  If you want to look into remodeling or building as part of the project, that is our business and we can help with design and building.  Don Carey 10/14/08.

I didn’t super-insulate my home for political reasons.  I like to save money and my wife likes to be warm.   When we import the majority of our oil from turbulent parts of the world, we give power to dictators and terrorists.  We open ourselves up to petro-blackmail.  How soon would it be before our support for Israel would be reason to shut off the oil tap to the US?  Just consider for a moment if the western world got it’s act together and didn’t need all that oil.  Where would the tyrants be?   All the actions the US have taken  to protect our oil sources have put our people in danger.

If the USA leads the world in developing new sources of energy, we take power away from potential blackmailers and keep dollars home.  I don’t pretend to know how the country can do it.  There are plenty of ideas out there.   I have no control over that but I do have control over my life and can make an effort to minimize my energy use through my super insulated, passive solar home, living a low impact life and yes, hypermiling to get the most miles per gallon.  Maybe my little savings don’t add up to much, but there are millions of us.  Millions.

It is time to replace fiberglass insulation in wall cavities. We have known for years that if you put fiberglass in a stud wall and let air blow on it, the effectiveness of the insulation value will evaporate. The only way it works is to trap air because the trapped air is the real insulator.

Research now confirms that even inside walls closed and not subject to direct air current, there is air movement within the wall. A convective air current is set up when there is a cold outer wall and warm inner one (sort of like your house in the winter). The air against the outer wall cools and cool air drops. The air against the inner warm wall rises. The more tightly the insulation in the wall is, the slower the movement, but move it does. This process cools your living space. You make up this loss by burning stuff to make it warm again.

It’s time to stop the chilling of our indoor space. OK for you purists, we know the warm inner temps will eventually migrate to the cold (you know physics and all) but the goal is to slow the process to a crawl. Two types of products come to mind: cellulose blow-in systems and foams. I can’t comment on the cellulose systems but I have definite opinions on the foams.

Don’s Two Step process. One: put as much foam in the wall until you reach the limit of diminishing returns. Then cover the framing members because the foam only goes into the spaces between the framing. Two types of foams: closed cell and open cell. If you want to get technical, Google the two terms but here is the short version. Use closed cell foam in walls and basements and open cell foams to insulated roof assemblies. The open cell foam (Icynene and cousins) lets water and water vapor pass through so in a wall, it requires a vapor barrier. It also is very wasteful. It expands so much the installer has to cut off half of it and toss the material in the dumpster. Bad Idea.

The closed cell foams repel moisture and won’t let it through. This is good for walls and basements. The closed cell product will stick to the concrete wall and insulate and moisture proof the area. It also adds strength to the structure since it adheres to the framing members. Don’t use it for roof assemblies since if you have a water leak, you will never see it until the roof starts rotting (bad karma). I have found a soy based closed cell foam with R values of a little less than 7 per inch. 3 inches = R19 or so. 4”=R26. This stuff is not cheap. For 3” it can be 6 times the price of fiberglass but it is worth it because the R19 fiberglass only delivers this R value in the laboratory. They do make a ½” foam that they line the cavity with and then install fiberglass which is OK if you just can’t afford more. For my money, I’d skip the hot tub and go with the 3” of foam.

The next step in my ideal wall is the framing. If you build a 2”x6” stud wall, the insulation in the cavity is R19 but the stud is R6.9. It’s easy to see where the weak spots are. You need to do more (unless you own Exxon/Mobil). My choice is 1” of rigid extruded foam over the entire exterior of the building. This is like putting a coat on your home. It adds about R5. Now we have a R25 wall assembly. There is no rocket science here. You have to make the up-front money investment. You will actually get this money back and then go on saving for the life of the home.

Even with an existing home, don’t even consider new siding or major remodeling without addressing the building envelope. I recently visited a potential customer who wanted an addition. They had a beautiful 1939 vintage home. Some contractor sold them a siding job and did a nice job. The problem was, the home had zero insulation in the walls. Covering those walls without insulating them seems just criminal. More on retro fits next time. If anyone has experience with blown cellulose, let’s hear from you.

When fuel topped $4 a gallon, it got my attention. It’s not just your fuel bill; it has raised the cost of everything you purchase. What can I do? What can you do?

Truth #1: the sun rises every day. Heat from the sun is FREE. All it takes is some design to take advantage of this bonus. Next, insulate the structure to hold on to the heat for as long as possible. We are not talking rocket science here, but it makes no sense to spend a lot of money on high-tech geothermal systems and condition a leaky structure.

Consider foam insulation for the exterior walls. Although expensive relative to fiberglass, the performance far exceeds the glass batt. We wrap the exterior wall with rigid foam to cover all the thermal weak spots. It’s like a parka for your home. The object is to insulate the home that you can heat it with a hair dryer. My goal is a self sustaining home, a home that maintains a moderate temperature with no fossil fuel imput.

Whether you agree with the issues around climate change or not, we can all agree that fuel costs have soared. We at Sunrise Homes have made a moral choice. We will do all we can to change the world one home at a time. When you come to us for a new home or remodeling project, expect us to push you to consider making the commitment to maximizing your energy efficiency. It doesn’t cost, it pays.

Let me hear from readers. Write and tell me what you have done and how it has worked. I look forward to sharing your stories.

I am excited to start this communication with the larger community. I think that I have a lot to say but I know I have lot more to learn and I hope to learn from people like you. I want to discuss ideas about homes. Most subjects are open: design, solar designs, solar photovoltaics, co generation, energy saving products…the list is endless.

Tell us what you like about your present home. What would you change? Why? What have you done to save energy? Most of our customers built their homes acting as the general contractor. How did that work for you? Would you do it again? What services would you like to see a builder/designer offer? Let’s get to know one another.

Donald Carey, President, Sunrise Homes Corp.

Graduate Master Builder, Certified Graduate Builder, Certified Aging in Place Specialist

Prof. Member: American Institute of Building Design, the Institute of Classical Architecture