My family and I have been living in the GO Home for a year now. The house has surpassed our expectations in terms of performance and in general livibility. As our second winter in the home approaches, we look forward to watching the onset of cold weather creep through the field from our light filled living room. On the coldest days it is difficult to get a sense of the temperature outside because there is almost no impact inside.
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The GO Home, built by architecture and construction firm G•O Logic LLC, received the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) 2011 LEED for Homes Project of the Year Award, presented at the 2011 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in Toronto yesterday. According to Nate Kredich, VP of Residential Market Development for USGBC, the award recognizes dedicated…
Read MoreOne year ago we traveled to Germany to visit the BAU ‘09, a huge international building trade show held every 2 years in Munich, Germany. We went to the BAU with the intention of learning more about European building products and their (in some cases) exceptional design and performance. At the BAU we found several…
Read MoreOnce at a building conference I heard about the results of a study on air quality. The study said the air quality inside the average new home in rural Wisconsin was 8 times worse than the air quality outdoors in New York City. This made my head swim. How could it be true? And then…
Read MoreThere is a measure for the amount of air leaks, or “infiltration” that passes through a building’s shell, and it can be determined by a blower door test. The test results for this measure of infiltration can sound rather abstract, but in fact, the amount of air that leaks or infiltrates a building’s shell has…
Read MoreThe structural insulated wall panel systems (SIPs) have many advantages when creating a well-insulated and air-sealed building shell that is cost effective to produce. The panels we chose to use on the prototype are 6-inch thick urethane panels, that are 4 feet wide by 24 feet long, factory manufactured and pre-cut by Winterpanel in Vermont….
Read MoreWith the grade beam footings complete, the next step in the construction process is the erection of the hybrid timber frame. The concept behind the structural timber frame system was to create a structural system that is simple, quick to install, and easy to replicate. The structural concept also required a separation of the load…
Read MoreAir and water vapor can enter a home by diffusing through building materials or by infiltration or air leaks. In many ways a house, due to wind pressures, act like the cabin of an airplane that experiences large pressure differences inside and outside the cabin. In the case of an airplane, a poorly sealed cabin…
Read MoreOnce the underslab insulation was installed we proceeded with installing the foundation formwork, another process that was rather simple and quick. For the foundation of the building we will be using a grade beam system, similar to a slab on grade. To create the grade beam, we used prefabricated, insulated formwork called: insulated concrete forms…
Read MoreThe flowable fill discussed previously has created a quick, even pad on which a layer of high-density expanded polystyrene insulation is installed. The insulation sheets come in large sizes – 4’ x 16’ x 6” thick – making them quick and easy to install. Our total installation time with only two people involved was about…
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