Piercemeal Green Think
Posted on Jun 18th, 2009 by Doug Marsh VP, CR, CAPS, GBP | 0 Comments
There is a lot of info on the web about everything including Green building. That is certainly a good thing about the web however there is an issue with learning this and that about Green building from different sources. A building works as a whole unit and now that I know what I know about Green building and buildings working as one thing it concerns me that everyone is becoming informed on a piecemeal basis. Upgrades like window replacement and weatherstripping are great moves for a homeowner. What about unvented attics (spraying foam on the underside of the roof deck and the gables to seal tight the entire attic)? This technique is getting a lot of press and is starting to become common knowledge. The issue here is that an unvented attic in Texas radically affects the performance of the existing HVAC system. On a new building the design phase may handle the overall performance issues of the building and if not then when the Manual J software has all the building info inputted to design the HVAC system then most issues can and should be addressed governed by the Energy code. It is on the upgrade, remodel side that a homeowner might encounter some problems by taking pieces of news and articles and adding those techniques into their home. If you may upgrade your attic in the future but are putting in a new HVAC system now the two must be considered together. The new system would be designed for the current attic conditions and would likely be over sized if the attic is converted to an unvented attic later since an unvented attic removes attic moisture and heat load off the HVAC calculations. Building science has come a long way from the 40's. We need to be aware of how the windows, wall insulation, crawl space (if any), attic, and HVAC work together before we make costly upgrades one at a time.
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