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larryrose11 · 03-07-09, 10:43 AM

First, I came across this site where the architects are taking a holistic, systen engineering approach and are selling contemporary LEEDS certified houses with NO Premium cost over the other houses in the neighborhood:
100K House - building an affordable modern & green (LEED) home

Further, they are applying the same methodology to tackle the PassiveHouse standard:
The Philadelphia Passive Project - 100k and the Passive House Standard | 100K House Blog

As TimJFowler said, insulation, indoor air quality and the like are afterthoughts in traditional home building, so retrofits run into the cost of polishing a turd. If you goal is to have a shiny ball, you should start with a billiard ball, not a turd. Ex: by incorporating SIP's to make the new home shell, you get both lower cost because they cut down on labor cost and eliminate framing. The result is High R value, no thermal bridging, and a tight envelope.

As a person who has done extensive thermal work to their house, see my posts here (larryrose11)
Attic insulation - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com
I have sealed my attic (attic penetrations, all wall headers), added seals to the attic hatch, added loads of cellulose, (But not enough!!), and pollyiso insulation blocks at the eaves, polyurethane foam in the wall stud cavity with 1 inch pollyiso board over that, and basement joist pockets (cavity's made by floor joists and cement basement walls) and new windows (U=0.28) throughout. the list goes on. It is a pain to polish a turd. It is not realistic to achieve passiveness as a retrofit. you could not really address the problem of foundation insulation. That being said, the work I have done here have made HUGE differences in the utility bills, Indoor air quality and home comfort. Since the exterior remodel where all the polyurethane foam went in, there has been a dramatic decrease in sickness in the family, and a 17% decrease in heating energy use (when normalizes by heating degree days) despite adding 2 additional windows and a new door wall. A big increase in gas costs here means my bills weren't a low as I calculated in my post on ecomodder.

Bang for the buck. The attic is where you get the most cost effective place for your money. Seal theattic and and go for R50-60. 60/3.5=17.14 inches of ceulose. It may sound li9ke overkill, but it is not. Beyond that, If you are going to remodel the outside of your house, I would recommended the full tear off and at least some polyurethane form in the wall cavity's eaves, and basement. Big difference in home tightness there. Adding cellulose over that would probably be fine, but put foam decking, 1+ inch of R6.5 board, over the studs before the new cladding. Last but not least are windows. I'm not sure energystar standards are enough for cold climates.

03-07-09, 10:43 AM	#16
larryrose11 Efficency nerd Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: S. E. Michigan Posts: 14 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Passivehouse and retrofits First, I came across this site where the architects are taking a holistic, systen engineering approach and are selling contemporary LEEDS certified houses with NO Premium cost over the other houses in the neighborhood: 100K House - building an affordable modern & green (LEED) home Further, they are applying the same methodology to tackle the PassiveHouse standard: The Philadelphia Passive Project - 100k and the Passive House Standard \| 100K House Blog As TimJFowler said, insulation, indoor air quality and the like are afterthoughts in traditional home building, so retrofits run into the cost of polishing a turd. If you goal is to have a shiny ball, you should start with a billiard ball, not a turd. Ex: by incorporating SIP's to make the new home shell, you get both lower cost because they cut down on labor cost and eliminate framing. The result is High R value, no thermal bridging, and a tight envelope. As a person who has done extensive thermal work to their house, see my posts here (larryrose11) Attic insulation - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com I have sealed my attic (attic penetrations, all wall headers), added seals to the attic hatch, added loads of cellulose, (But not enough!!), and pollyiso insulation blocks at the eaves, polyurethane foam in the wall stud cavity with 1 inch pollyiso board over that, and basement joist pockets (cavity's made by floor joists and cement basement walls) and new windows (U=0.28) throughout. the list goes on. It is a pain to polish a turd. It is not realistic to achieve passiveness as a retrofit. you could not really address the problem of foundation insulation. That being said, the work I have done here have made HUGE differences in the utility bills, Indoor air quality and home comfort. Since the exterior remodel where all the polyurethane foam went in, there has been a dramatic decrease in sickness in the family, and a 17% decrease in heating energy use (when normalizes by heating degree days) despite adding 2 additional windows and a new door wall. A big increase in gas costs here means my bills weren't a low as I calculated in my post on ecomodder. Bang for the buck. The attic is where you get the most cost effective place for your money. Seal theattic and and go for R50-60. 60/3.5=17.14 inches of ceulose. It may sound li9ke overkill, but it is not. Beyond that, If you are going to remodel the outside of your house, I would recommended the full tear off and at least some polyurethane form in the wall cavity's eaves, and basement. Big difference in home tightness there. Adding cellulose over that would probably be fine, but put foam decking, 1+ inch of R6.5 board, over the studs before the new cladding. Last but not least are windows. I'm not sure energystar standards are enough for cold climates.