Most homes have access panels made of 3/8” plywood or even a piece of ½” gypsum board supported on ceiling mounted window casing that provides a lip for the panel to rest upon. Our goal will be to insulate the panels and to air seal them from the unconditioned spaces. I purchased a piece of 4’x8’ x2” thick DOW insulation foam board and cut it into pieces that would exactly match the size of my three panels. I cut 6 pieces and made two foam panels for each plywood panel. The R value of each panel is R10 so my new access panels will be insulated to a value of R20.

It is easy to cut the sheet of foam with a utility knife, a “hole” saw, a hand saw, a table saw, or even a skill saw. You can purchase special (caulking tube) of Foam (make sure it is for foam)adhesive from your local home improvement stores. You simply cut the appropriate sizes and glue them to the access panel you have. In my case I chose to glue two pieces to each panel.

I also chose a simple foam weather strip with a sticky backing to place on my ceiling access opening trim to provide the seal that I needed. To help handle the panel and place it in the opening I attached two sash handles to help “seat” the panel to the weather strip as I was exiting the attic area.

Side wall access panel with insulation and rubber air sealing

I bought some rubber weather strip seals to install on my wall access panel to seal that opening. The ceiling panels were just a gravity seal, but the wall panel is screwed shut with 4 long wood screws into the wood framing. This makes a nice excellent air seal for this panel.

After all of this work was done in about 5 hours, I had closed a huge energy leak from my unconditioned space to the house. This was a huge savings of energy for such a small investment of time.

Insulated panel with wetherstrip on top of casing lip

Access panel in ceiling with sash lift hardware in place to "seat" panel to weather strips

2" thick DOW foam with special foam adhesive

Several weeks ago, several associates and I took a class on Building Analyst professional training from Building Performance Engineering. This week-long class teaches the principals of good retro-fit energy savings techniques on present residences and the proper way to design and detail new home construction. There are many ways to raise the energy efficiency of new or older homes.

Gas water heater with insulation blanket

Some projects are as simple as replacing light bulbs to the new CFL (compact fluorescent bulbs) and insulating water heaters. Some other projects involve air sealing techniques that are largely neglected in most new and older homes.

Air sealing and insulation work together to create a good building envelope design that will work efficiently with the insulation levels that you have in your home. You have to have an air barrier (sometimes called a pressure barrier) adjacent to your thermal barrier (insulation). You can think of an air barrier in personal terms. The air barrier serves as the light nylon wind breaker you put on during cold windy weather over your heavy sweater (insulation). The wind breaker has no insulation value but it stops air penetration through your sweater and thus creates a much more efficient way to keep you warm. The air barrier and your insulation work the same way. The insulation has to have an effective air barrier to allow the insulation to trap air. Trapped air in the fiberglass strands is what does the insulating, not the fiberglass.  The effect that robs insulation of the trapped air that actually does the insulating is called “wind washing”. It is absolutely imperative that the thermal and air barriers touch one another to be effective.

A list of 10 projects will follow this blog entry and they will get increasingly harder to do and take more time and resources. All projects are things the typical “handy” homeowner can do if they are willing to devote the time and effort. Some are simple and some are really dirty and strenuous work.

Project #10- Insulating your hot water heater, insulating the hot and cold water lines in and out of heater, replacing incandescent bulbs with CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs, seal any air leaks around wall penetrations and check weather strips around perimeters of all exterior doors.

When insulating the hot water heaters you need to determine if you have a gas unit or an electric unit. If it is gas you will need to insulate with a R3 through an R7 vinyl covered insulation blanket available from most home improvement stores. It easily tapes together and installs in just 10 minutes. If you have a gas unit you will need to hold the bottom of the blanket off the floor about 8” to 10” to clear the pilot light, thermostat, and other controls. The bottom of the unit needs air flow so please leave the gap at the bottom. DO NOT insulate the top of the gas tank either. This is where the flue draft needs air flow and where extremely hot temperatures occur. The electric unit can be top insulated.

Check all doors and window for good weather strips and seal any obvious wall penetrations at gas lines, refrigerant lines, water lines, satellite TV cables, or other exterior skin penetrations. Install new door sweeps at the bottom of all doors or make sure the ones you have are in good condition. You probably will be surprised what you find that is wrong and needs improvement.

Install door sweeps where needed

Seal penetrations

Missing weather strip on door

Durable Fiberglass provides the ultimate combination of increased strength, energy efficiency and structural capabilities. Fiberglass remains unchanged over years of performing in extreme temperatures. This hard-wearing material is also impervious to termites and other pests, scratch and dent resistant and does not corrode or rot, making it an ideal solution for coastal applications or other harsh environments.

Premium wood interiors give our Fiberglass-clad windows a refined appearance that is uncommon among other fiberglass products. Weather Shield Fiberglass-clad premium wood windows offer an array of exterior color choices, pre-finished interior wood choices, and the design flexibility desired by homeowners today.

Zo-e shield™. Built better to reduce energy.
Zo-e shield™ is unlike any glass system in the world. It delivers the most energy efficient result you can achieve from the newest glazing technologies. And that means unparalleled performance in lowering energy use and utility bills, preventing sun damage and protecting the environment. Our exclusive Zo-e Shield glazing systems feature multiple layers of Low-E coatings that filter out the light spectrum’s heat transmission to optimize the sun’s heat and a home’s heating/cooling systems. Homeowners can save thousands of dollars in energy costs during the lifetime of the home.

Energy Saving Where You Live

Installing Zo•e•shield windows saves you money over clear double-paned wood windows. Your estimated savings will vary from region to region based on home heating and cooling costs. Variations are generally greatest in regions with hot summers, cold winters or both.
Timber Truss is a premier level distributor for WeatherShield Windows and Doors. Call 540-387-0273 and speak to one of our professional window experts to discuss the NEW Energy Efficient Fiberglass WeatherShield Windows.

The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act makes homeowners eligible for a 30% tax credit up to $1,500 for qualifying products used for energy-efficient home improvements. For more information and qualifications for this opportunity, please visit www.thermatru.com and www.energystar/taxcredit.

Once you’ve decided that now’s the time and this is too good a deal to let pass, please contact us at Timber Truss and we’ll be glad to help you with a beautiful investment- the Therma-Tru Door that makes a great first impression every time.

While Energy Star was originally intended to provide above-code guidance for choosing windows and doors, more than 28 states now have energy codes that meet or exceed its existing standards. “Energy Star barely beats the code in many states,” says Richard Karney, the program’s products manager. The new standards are designed to be more stringent than the 2009 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), the model energy code that states seeking a share of $3.4 billion in energy assistance grants under the federal stimulus package are required to adopt.

Indeed, the overhaul is meant to realign Energy Star criteria with the stimulus package’s tax credit requirements for energy-efficient windows, says Karney. But the Obama administration’s plan actually jettisons Energy Star’s four climate zones and climate-specific standards and instead requires that all windows in all zones have both a U-factor and an SHGC of 0.30 or less to qualify for the 30 percent Section 25C IRS credit. Calling the “30/30” standard “arbitrary,” Window and Door Manufacturers Association president John Stoiber says his organization is lobbying Congress to amend the law to reference the newly released Energy Star standards.

Most manufacturers will be able to meet the new requirements by offering different glass packages with inert gas fills and low-E coatings, according to the DOE. Meanwhile a more robust multiyear study and overhaul of Energy Star standards is also in the works, which the DOE expects to roll out in three or four years. Industry experts believe that those standards will require extensive product re-engineering and predict wider use of triple glazing, especially in northern climates. — Andrew Wormer

Panelized Home under construction

Listed below are just a few of the many advantages that you can count on by using wall panels on your next project.

• Easier to construct – The labor intensive part of framing is done in our facililty under controlled conditions reducing the chance for mistakes in the field.

Wall Panel assembly line

• Build a “greener” structure – Wall panels can use “green” friendly building techniques such as insulated headers, two piece energy corners, and engineered lumber for header material.
• Reduced Waste – Wall panels produce far less jobsite waste than conventional stick building. This can drastically cut down expensive dumpster fees.
• Reduce Cleanup – Wall panels mean that your framing crew can spend more time getting your structure under roof and less time cleaning up the waste of your jobsite.
• Time Savings – Structures can be dried in much faster, reducing harmful exposure to weather. We can also factory apply house wrap to your wall panels saving you even more time in the field and providing another layer of early weather protection.
• Build a structurally sound home – With wall panels supplied from the same manufacturer as your floor and roof trusses, you can all but eliminate mistakes. Everything from critical bearing locations for large concentrated loads, properly sized structural members, correct window and door rough openings, and errors in architectural drawings can be found and accounted for ahead of time in our facility, reducing unproductive time from your framing crew.
• Avoid unnecessary delays – According to a study called “What We Learned by Framing the American Dream” wall panels can reduce your wall framing time by significant amounts (26½ man hours with wall panels compared to 93 man hours stick framing on a 2,600 sq ft house).

Wall Panels being erected on site

• Reduce Construction Loan Interest – This drastically reduced time can also save money on interest paid on construction loans.
• Appraisal fees – Mortgage lenders are requiring that appraisals be completed within 120 days of permanent financing. Wall panels save precious time that may help avoid additional appraisal fees.
• Work out the “kinks” – Wall panel design software allows you to “see” the framing before it is built. This enables the wall panel designer to catch potential problems such as door sizes not fitting in the areas they are called for, incorrect measurements listed on the architectural drawings, conflicting window locations, and more. Working these problems out before construction begins can drastically reduce unproductive time from your framing crew.
• Building Codes – Codes on shear walls, lateral wall bracing, portal framing, nailing patterns, and tall wall applications are changing at a rapid pace. We can take these new codes into account with our precise engineering technology and controlled building environment.
• Reduce Theft – People are far less likely to steal wall panels from a jobsite than they are to steal loose framing lumber or sheathing.
• Limitless Possibilities – Timber Truss Housing Systems can build tall wall panels, sloping walls, short walls, 2×4 up to 2×8 walls, and walls with any specified stud spacing. We can also provide a variety of factory applied sheathing such as; OSB, plywood, foam, SIS, or gypsum.

Wall Panels - Ready for delivery

Timber Truss Housing Systems, Inc. has always employed many of the “Green Building Techniques” that are becoming so popular with today’s buying public and energy consci0us builders. Following are 20 simple ways to build green. This particular program and point system is based on NAHB’s Green Home program but almost all of the following building methods, if not all, will be recognized under any Green building program such as Earthcraft or LEED for Homes.

TrussMark Homes have used the modular sizing, framing layouts, detailed takeoffs, wall panels, roof and floor trusses, engineered lumber, energy corner options, raised heel options, covered entry options, overhang length options, prefinished product options, air infiltration barriers and water resistance barriers, ice flashings, FSC lumber options, and many more Green techniques. This is the very core of the design principles used in our homes and the way we have always designed them since we began providing home plans in 1975.

Below are listed many techniques that are not too radical or expensive to use in any new home project. Most of them are just common sense methods that are applied by any good builder to start with. These methods can be used in almost any home project. Remember new legislation just passed in Congress states that many loans have to be completed in 120 days after the permanent financing is fixed as stated in the following sentence., “Freddie Mac reminded lenders that an appraisal must be completed within 120 days of the permanent financing of the home for mortgages with settlement dates on or after Jan. 2, 2009. If the effective date of the appraisal is more than 120 days before the effective date of the permanent financing, then the seller must provide an appraisal update.”

Appraisal updates can easily cost over $1,000 depending on your home and the area you are in. But, why cost yourself more money when you can save money and get a better, faster erected and “Green-built” home that will continue to save you money in the future with it’s built-in energy saving building techniques?

An easy way to build your new home using green techniques AND time saving techniques is building with structural wood components such as wall panels, floor trusses and roof trusses. The easiest way to prevent having to pay for a new appraisal is to use these structural wood components to speed the construction of your new home.

• Use building dimensions and framing layouts to maximize the use of resources and minimize cutting. The buildings can be modularly sized with the sizes of materials in mind when deciding on various exterior dimensions. Sizing buildings at 24” modules will accomplish this task. 6 points

• Provide detailed framing plans and detailed material takeoffs. This will avoid wasting materials and help insure that the provided materials are used in an efficient manner. 7 points

• Use materials that require no additional finish resources to complete finish procedures at the building site. Examples of this would be using Atrium vinyl windows, Weather Shield Aluminum clad windows, and the new fiberglass Weather Shield windows that are not yet even listed on their web site product lines. The fiberglass will become a much better insulator than the wood and aluminum that is now being used. 4 points

• Use the panelized wall framing techniques. This method of construction reduces on-site waste and provides a quicker finish date on your home. This method can also use state of the art usage of two piece energy corners, tee posts, and engineered lumber for headers. We can also factory install air infiltration barriers such as TYVEK or DOW wrap to save time at the job site. 6 points

• Use pre-manufactured roof trusses and floor trusses. 3 points each

• Provide covered entries at exterior doors. 6 points

• Use properly sized overhangs for different directional exposures. 7 points

• Install perimeter drains for all basement footings that lead to a positive outfall or “daylight” outfall. 7 points

• Install gutters and downspouts to divert water 5′-0” away from foundation walls to prevent water intrusion in basement. 6 points

• Divert water from all sides of building by sloping the grade away from the structure. 7 points

• • Provide a water-resistance barrier (WRB and usually the same as an air infiltration barrier) or a drainage plane system behind the exterior finish system or the exterior siding. These can be factory installed at timber Truss to save time at the job site. 8 points

• Install ice and water shield flashing at roof edge conditions. 5 points

• Employ and show on the set of architectural plans details to show flashing installed around the perimeter of windows and doors, valleys in roof systems, deck/house attachment juncture, roof/wall junctures, chimneys, dormers. At roof junctures to other items such as dormers or chimneys, always show and use stepped flashing techniques. Use drip cap flashings above windows and doors and other wall penetrations. 9 points

• Use materials that are manufactured from renewable resources such as engineered lumber for headers, OSB and enhanced OSB roof and floor sheathings, and wood structural component chords. 3 points

• Use certified wood for wood based components such as wall panels and trusses that are from credible third-party certified sources such as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). 4 points

• Use raised heel (stubbed) roof truss eave details to enhance building insulation performance of ceiling plane insulation. 2 points

• • Use advanced framing methods such as 2-piece energy corners, 2-piece energy tee-posts, and insulated headers. 6 points

• Use ENERGY STAR rated windows that are sized properly and glazed specifically for your local climate. These include Atrium, Weather Shield products or Silverline.  8 points

• Incorporate an air sealing package to your home to reduce air infiltration and air leakage into your home. You should use sill sealer at the sill plate and foundation juncture. Caulk the bottom of sill plates on your wall system before placing walls on sub-floor. Air seal all band joists or trusses between floors of your home. Caulk all electrical, plumbing, and duct penetrations between floors of the home. Air seal all attic hatches and knee-wall doors in Cape Cod style framing. Insulate and seal all window and door rough openings between framed opening and jambs/heads/sills of the windows and doors. Use air rated air tight electrical fixtures in recessed can lights. Use air ducted in to the inside of fireplace for combustion air supply in conjunction with glass doors to prevent conditioned air being used for the combustion process. 10 points

• Choose low or no VOC (volatile organic compounds in grams per liter) indoor paints for your indoor finishing. EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program suggests the following:
- Interior latex coatings that are flat with a limit of 100 grams /liter.
- Interior latex coatings that are non-flat with a limit of 150 grams /liter.
- Interior oil based paints with a limit of 380 grams/liter.
6 points

These are all easy and mostly traditional forms of building. If you want to learn more about roof trusses, floor trusses, wall panels, and other green building techniques, please visit out web site, www.timbertruss.com.

These windows capture the refined appearance of aluminum-clad wood windows, unlike other fiberglass windows that look like vinyl. The fiberglass materials provide increased thermal stability while conserving energy. Only Weather Shield Fiberglass Clad windows embrace energy values without compromising durability or architectural design and beauty.

There are many benefits in these windows- efficiency, stability, durability, strength, and economy. For more information and details, you may visit the Weather Shield website or contact Timber Truss for the rest of the story.