"Peter Amerongen is one of the acknowledged grandfathers of the net-zero home—a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. Using his secret formula for insulation you can make a net-zero home in the most northerly city in North America.
The era of net-zero homes is upon us. These super-efficient homes use rooftop solar energy production and smaller, electric powered heating systems such as air source heat pumps to produce as much energy as they consume.
That’s some sexy technology, but it only gets us halfway to net-zero.
The real secret is insulation.
“We like the double 2x4 wall because it gives us the most economical high R-value,” says Amerongen. “The true energy performance on this is about R40.”
Double studs - creating a true R40 wall “We like the cellulose because it's essentially a recycled material," says Amerongen. "It's got the lowest energy content in the insulation itself."
Amerongen also blows cellulose insulation into attics to a depth of two feet or more to achieve R80. In the basement, Amerongen shares another secret for energy efficiency.
“The heat loss from a basement wall can be just as high as the heat loss from above ground walls." he says. "We install four inches — two, two-inch layers of expanded polystyrene against the concrete — and then we build a 2x4 frame wall that we put a R22 mineral wool batt in. So we get a total of about R37, R38 in our basement wall."
“We also use it to some degree for giving us additional air tightness,” says Amerongen.
Double studs - creating a true R40 wall “We like the cellulose because it's essentially a recycled material," says Amerongen. "It's got the lowest energy content in the insulation itself."
Amerongen also blows cellulose insulation into attics to a depth of two feet or more to achieve R80. In the basement, Amerongen shares another secret for energy efficiency.
“The heat loss from a basement wall can be just as high as the heat loss from above ground walls." he says. "We install four inches — two, two-inch layers of expanded polystyrene against the concrete — and then we build a 2x4 frame wall that we put a R22 mineral wool batt in. So we get a total of about R37, R38 in our basement wall."
“We also use it to some degree for giving us additional air tightness,” says Amerongen.
“Air tightness is a critical part of energy conservation, as important as insulation.
A house that's highly insulated but still leaky will find its biggest [energy loss] is air
The final component in the home insulation puzzle are triple glazed windows, some of which achieve R8, a vast improvement over conventional windows.
The era of net-zero homes is upon us.
These super-efficient homes use rooftop solar energy production and smaller, electric powered heating systems such as air source heat pumps to produce as much energy as they consume.
For the FULL STORY on Peter's Recipe
Insulation 101: One builder's secret blueprint for a net-zero home | Blog Posts | Pembina Institute:
You may also want to check out another former Factor 10 warrior Rob Dumont's recipe
You may also want to check out another former Factor 10 warrior Rob Dumont's recipe
Murray Guy aka @Lean_tobe_Green
NetZero Projects: Learn Online LEAN LAB. Design Integrated Designs or Build EcoSmart
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