I will be attending the upcoming AIA conference in NYC, NY. For more information please see our News and Current events page.
The Chaleff & Rogers Energy Calculator, which can be used to calculate residential building heat loss, has been recently updated and can be downloaded here.Q: I’m interested in designing and building a two-story house using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs). Which way should the panels be oriented, and what are my options for attaching the second floor to the walls?
For the answer please see The Journal of Light Construction article by Bill Chaleff. When I first started practicing architecture, primarily residential, back in the Stone Age in the early 1970’s, about 90 percent of all new homes in my region (Building Climate Zone 4) had heating-only mechanical systems, with only about 10 percent having Central Air Conditioning systems installed as original equipment. Today these percentages are exactly reversed, with even the “modest” homes built to Habitat for Humanity standards in our region out-fitted with Air Conditioning as part of their original mechanical equipment package. While some of this is due to the fact that when constructed to EnergyStar or comparable standards exceeding current code requirements tightly sealed buildings may develop mold or mildew issues, most are the result of ever-climbing cultural standards -- the same phenomenon that has made a second bathroom pretty much standard in a three bedroom home as small as 1200 square feet.The residential construction industry is being flooded with a raft of new products that are aimed at those who are finally beginning to understand some of the basic physics at work in their buildings; the framers and contractors are becoming what is now referred to as “Building Science” savvy.
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SIPs & more...Blog on SIP's, Sustainable Architecture and Design & more ....
Bill ChaleffRegistered Architect East End Green Architect who has designed with
SIPs since 1986. * Archives
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