Double Walls

Double Walls

Double Walls The double wall has been used to build energy efficient homes for a long time. While there are many ways to do it, the basic premise is to build one structural wall (typically the inside wall), build a second wall around it, and fill the space between with insulation. It has several advantages…

Furred In Walls

Furred-in Walls

Interior Furred Wall An interior furred wall is a common method of achieving a cost-effective, energy efficient, highly airtight wall. A compromise between a conventional wall and a super-insulated wall, the “furred-in” wall improves your energy efficiency without the extra cost of building a REMOTE wall (which requires adding ⅔ the total insulation value on…

Integrated Truss

Integrated Truss Walls

Integrated Truss  The integrated truss is a prefabricated wall assembly that connects the roof, wall, and floor into a single structural piece that can be easily tipped into place. It was created for emergency housing situations that required extremely simple and quick designs but that could still perform well in the Arctic. In the first…

REMOTE Walls

REMOTE Walls

REMOTE Wall One of the greatest challenges of building in a cold climate is managing moisture in the building envelope. That’s because of a familiar concept called vapor drive, in which water seeks to go from a more concentrated state to a less concentrated state. What does this mean for your building? When it’s cold…

roofs

Roofs

Roofs Of all the building components, the roof system faces some of the most severe challenges. In cold climates, a roof must be properly sized, well sealed, energy efficient, and perform reliably under the extremes of each season. The roof has two main challenges: retaining heat effectively and controlling moisture trying to escape from the…