This AMA jumped out at me. I'm a carpenter of some years now with an undergraduate architecture degree. I'm in Minnesota, so most of the energy I am really concerned with is regarding staying warm....or, not dying in the Winter. The houses I work on are 80-120 year old relics. Insulation is nonexistent and drafting is easily the biggest contributor to heat loss. But, if I were to build new, (concerning your answer above) I'd tend towards a double wall. That is, instead of 24" OC to reduce bridging, why not 2x12 top and bottom plates and staggered 2x4's for walls (one exterior layout and one interior layout) along the plates with dense pack cellulose for insulation? This eliminates a tremendous amount of thermal bridging and gives R-50 plus. As for cost analysis, this should not quite approach that of ICF's and nonetheless kills it regarding R-value. Granted, daylight through those deep windows could get tricky.
verarschen7 karma
This AMA jumped out at me. I'm a carpenter of some years now with an undergraduate architecture degree. I'm in Minnesota, so most of the energy I am really concerned with is regarding staying warm....or, not dying in the Winter. The houses I work on are 80-120 year old relics. Insulation is nonexistent and drafting is easily the biggest contributor to heat loss. But, if I were to build new, (concerning your answer above) I'd tend towards a double wall. That is, instead of 24" OC to reduce bridging, why not 2x12 top and bottom plates and staggered 2x4's for walls (one exterior layout and one interior layout) along the plates with dense pack cellulose for insulation? This eliminates a tremendous amount of thermal bridging and gives R-50 plus. As for cost analysis, this should not quite approach that of ICF's and nonetheless kills it regarding R-value. Granted, daylight through those deep windows could get tricky.
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