SawHorse Pioneers Environmental Renovations

By Carl Seville, Vice President, SawHorse Inc.

Guiding the first EarthCraft House Renovation project was challenging, exciting and ultimately very satisfying. We chose a house addition to test the concepts of this new facet of EarthCraft House. A Home Energy Rating (a diagnostic performance test) helped establish a baseline for suggested improvements, enabling improvement measurements.

The first EarthCraft House renovation project entailed the addition of a new second floor to a ranch house. The addition would include a new master suite and study area, space for two future bedrooms, and on the first floor, reconstruction of the carport, and creation of a new laundry room and a renovated kitchen. The owner was very excited about the possibility of incorporating the EarthCraft House concept into this house, and we worked closely together to make the project a success.

During this development process we sent our entire staff to the training classes, creating much excitement within our company about the program. We have also integrated EarthCraft House into most of our marketing materials.

As we learned in the EarthCraft House training class, the key to a successful project is a tight house with controlled ventilation. As we developed the plans and specifications we looked at as many high-efficiency products as possible. We were fortunate to be able to use Icynene spray foam insulation. This product provided excellent R-Value and an almost complete airseal wherever it was applied, eliminating much of the manual airsealing we would otherwise be required to do. We used this insulation to create an insulated roof envelope, essentially eliminating any unconditioned attic space. Through this technique, one promoted by Southface for many years, we were able to reduce the size of the heating and air-conditioning system, providing some savings in the equipment and installation. Another side benefit of this technique is that we were able to install recessed lights in the ceilings, a popular request in renovations, without concern over air leaks into the attic.

Other products included low-E, argon filled windows, high efficiency heating and air-conditioning equipment, high efficiency bath fans and a Metlund hot water pump for on-demand hot water.*

One of the project’s biggest challenges was insulating the new second floor exterior band joist. In any second story addition, there is always a race against time (and weather) to cover up the roof before the rains come. There is rarely enough time to stop and install insulation before moving ahead. Therefore, we left this area uninsulated as we experimented with different materials and methods. We finally settled on blowing in cellulose insulation. Coincidentally, this work was scheduled on the same day that Southface was performing the final testing on the completed house. They had the opportunity to test the house both with and without this insulation. The end result is a house with 65 percent more space that will use virtually the same amount of energy it did before the renovation!

Since this pilot project has been completed, we have undertaken five additional projects, three of which are complete. Two of these projects involved only retrofitting existing houses to improve the efficiency and comfort, with no space added. The others involve additions to the homes as well as improvements in the existing space. One of these projects is featured on www.housingzone.com as the Model/Remodel project. It also will be featured in several issues of Professional Remodeler magazine and at the October Remodelers Show in Indianapolis.

* Come by Southface to take a tour and see a Metlund system in action, also see the diagram in the commercial water article in this edition of the Southface Journal.