Today started off in the Outdoor Pavilion with the award breakfast for the Building America program hosted by BASF. Sam Rashkin was the keynote speaker & in typical Rashkin style, even though he had a script, he managed to go off on a few side tangents. I think the best on was the shot he sent across NAHB’s bow about the “for every $1000 a price goes up, X amount of people can’t afford to buy a house.” While I cannot recall the exact quote, maybe the NAHB should take a page out of SRP & APS’s playbook & work on a program that takes into account the savings from the energy savings. Guess what, it works & people can actually afford a better house when they are saving $50 or quite a bit more each month on the utility bills.
Sam Rashkin during the keynote, before he handed out 8 different awards for homes with HERS scores better than net-zero, and a final one for a company with 2000+ certified Building America homes.
The Outdoor Pavilion had 4 net-zero homes – this is the rear of a 379 SF cottage built on an RV chassis, which is a good thing as the steps inside up to the loft.
Side shot of a net-zero duplex – love the shades where light can get in, you can view out without any issues, the direct sunlight is blocked, and for those on the coast you know have that much needed protection.
Front shot of the duplex
Crawl space demo with a dehumidifier
Is it green or not, done properly or not?
It really can be interesting looking at all the displays & seeing the tactics they use to promote them, and even if they actually understand the science behind their product. So with that how about a quick look at some of most typical products & known trouble spots…
LED bulbs (Hint)
LED Fluorescent also brought to you by Viribright – it appears that they might have been able to eliminate the one issue with prior replacements & that is the purely linear output.
Outdoor LED lights – they have come a long way baby…
Radiant Barriers (Hint)
Radiant Barriers – depending on your climate & if they are installed correctly, they can work great as seen. Unfortunately while this is a great example, it would have been much better if they had installed it properly. The only reason that temperature read 113 (especially so early in the show) is because the insulation is touching the sheathing on the left side allowing the heat to now transfer through via conduction & convection.
Seriously – WTF were they thinking? A radiant barrier with fiberglass directly against the roof deck & a vent? Wow… Amazingly I haven’t seen any R30 radiant barriers (which is thoroughly been disproved), though I did see one company claiming R8 with an inch of fiberglass sandwiched between 2 radiant barriers (at least they showed spacers were required).
Speaking of WTF? I just love this company’s complete lack of building science knowledge and BS marketing. Amazingly they actually are marketing there mid-density product as a closed cell product finally (which it is). Maybe I should bring out all there past marketing efforts when all they sold was open cell…
Split Ductless system – if sized properly I think these are great systems & for a company primarily known for fireplaces & grills – that sure is one cool looking unit
LP engineered lumber which now includes studs & structural members made from an OSB base – be interesting to see how the studs hold up in real life (especially when wet)
EV Charging station – this is one of three seen on the floor but I will leave it to you on if you consider it green or not
Wind Power – from the same company promoting the EV Charging Station above
Rain Water pillow system being modeled by Cicie (aka @RainwaterPillow) – interesting system that can fit under a deck or even in your crawl space
Heh, this ought to be interesting – is this right or wrong?
Maybe it should look like this??? Actually, the answer is they are both right & wrong depending on one’s climate & what the manufacturer specifies.
Typical Solar system (hint or hint)
Eh, who needs all those shingles on a roof? (located in Outdoor Pavilion area)
Solar is always good right? (Major Hint)
