The Energy-Efficient Foundation
I began this monthly series of columns by taking a look at options for building energy-efficient walls and then moved on to attics and roofs. Now let’s complete our look at advanced thermal envelopes (TEs) by checking out foundations. Most homes in Fairfield County have foundations that include basements, so we will start there. Foundation...
Insulating the Roof of an Energy-Efficient Home
Reducing the flow of heat from the conditioned areas of a house to either an unconditioned attic or directly through the roof itself is a critical task in an energy-efficient house. In last month’s column, I wrote about how to insulate and air-seal at the level of the attic floor. However, there are times when...
Keeping the heat in
We know that warm air rises. Consequently, during the cold months it’s important to stop the flow of heat through the roof or, alternatively, the attic floor. To accomplish this, the same solutions that I described for walls in my previous columns will work. First, we want a high level of insulation. Second, we want...
The Green House Effect
If you start with the premise that a “green” house is an energy efficient one, then the exterior walls of such a house should excel at keeping heat inside in the winter and outside in the summer. Most existing houses provide second rate control over heat flow, resulting in the need for lots of...
Green veggies versus a green home
Everyone knows that green vegetables are good for you, but for many people veggies will never make their lists of favorite foods. So is a green home good for you in the same way, where you have to make compromises and put up with a home that’s not really what you wanted? The answer is...
