EarthCraft House Ultimate Upgrade Follow Up by Ben Kerl, Southface intern

The presence of EarthCraft House at the Fall Home Show will be felt by one lucky family in 2005 and beyond. The winners of The Ultimate EarthCraft Upgrade, Tim and Cindy Stanley of Kennesaw, Georgia were delighted to be the recipients of over $10,000 in energy efficient products and services donated by generous EarthCraft House program partners.

The Stanleys were already conscious of issues relating to energy efficiency and resource conservation, but were excited about the chance to add new features to their home. When they got the call that they had won The Ultimate EarthCraft Upgrade, they knew immediately what to expect. The Stanleys were familiar with Southface’s work from the high performance homes they had seen being built at the Marietta Country Club.

Before winning the upgrade, the Stanleys described their home performance as “better than average.” However, they knew there was room for improvement. One of their concerns was the difficulty in keeping the room over the garage thermally comfortable due to the fact that the room had exterior walls on three sides. Tim told us that he was particularly excited about the Icynene spray foam insulation to be installed because he had seen it before on energy efficiency improvement television shows. Tim’s father used to sell building products and was also excited about the prospect of insulating the home’s roofline with Icynene, saying “it is a much better product because it fills in the cracks.”
The Stanleys have made efforts in the past to improve energy efficiency and comfort by “caulking around windows, using single sided foam tape on the bottom of window sashes and air sealing with spray foam.” They knew that Icynene would take their home to the next level in thermal comfort and that the package of products they had won would improve the home’s overall performance.
Tim says that while they are excited about the lower energy costs and corresponding increase in value of their home, they won’t be moving any time soon. “I’ve had enough moving—I’m staying put…Maybe after my son leaves I’ll move, but not until then.”
EarthCraft House would like to thank Icynene and all of the rest of the participants in the Ultimate EarthCraft Upgrade:
• Marvin Windows Integrity Line
• Dow Styrofoam
• Packer Industries
• Whirlpool Corporation
• Honeywell
• Amana Heating and Air
• Premier Indoor Comfort Systems
• Controlled Energy Corporation
• Home Performance with
Energy Star.