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Understanding R-Value and Insulation

evstudio — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:20:42 +0000

This post is provided by Earthcore SIPs.

There are many conditions that determine the effectiveness of any building material to provide comfort and energy efficient performance. R-Value is only one of these factors or measurement tools.

R-Value is the measure of resistance to heat flow through the defined material. The higher the R-Value the less heat will transfer through the wall, making the system more energy efficient.

R-Value is determined by testing or by the addition of tested components. When “effective” R-value is used, it represents that at a given condition or circumstance, the system performs the same as a product with the “real” R-value.

It is important to understand the conditions at which the “effective” R-value was determined, and see if your application is the same. For example, a masonry wall may have a high “effective” R-value for a 5 hour test period, but have a very low R-value during a 24 hour test period. Where “real” R-value products will have the same R-value during both test periods.

There are several items to consider when evaluating R-Value and it’s effect on your project

Effective R-Value

An example would be masonry products. Masonry product have a very low R-Value but have a high thermal mass. Foam type products have a high R-value but low thermal mass. There is not a standard measurement or number for the energy effectiveness of thermal mass. While R-value resists the flow of heat, thermal mass delays the transfer of heat but does not reduce it. During a short period, thermal mass has the same “effective” R-value, so it is sometimes advertised with this R-value rating. It is not a real R-value but, under those conditions, an “effective” R-value. Please review other technical bulletins for more details and other related items.

Installed R-Value vs Advertised R-Value

It should be noted that R-Value of an item is the value that was tested in a laboratory and is real, but the item may not perform at the same R-value when installed. Most insulating materials obtain their insulating values from trapped air spaces, often the higher the density of air pockets, the higher the R-value. If these air spaces are compressed, a lower R-value will result. For example, batt type insulation may be rated at R-19 in its free state, but requires a 6 ½” thickness to obtain that value. When this material is installed in a 5 ½” frame cavity, the batt is compressed and the R-value is less than R-19. Likewise, putting two batts in the space for one does not increase insulating value; it might even reduce the R-value. Review the Technical Bulletin on Air Infiltration in Insulation for more related information.

Nonuniform Material

Whole wall R-value is the term used to describe the average R-value for the total wall taking into consideration variations and non-uniformity’s in the insulating material. Often, the R-value of the insulating material is advertised without stating the effect of the total system.

An example would be installing an R-19 batt insulation in a 2×6 frame wall. The resultant “whole wall R-value” is the average of the R-19 insulation and the R-5 stud. Tests have shown that the actual “whole wall R-value” of an R-19 wall system to be R-13.7, much less than the R-19 advertised. This applies to all non uniform wall systems.

The R-value of building materials may be effected or altered by the following items.

Non uniform material
Thermal shorts
Material compression
Air infiltration in the insulation
Humidity
Temperature swing or range of environment
Effects of time and aging.

Along with R-Value, several other factors need to be considered to determine the overall energy efficiency of a building structure.

Thermal Mass
Air infiltration in the building
Radiated heat gains
Internal heat gains
Latent and Sensible heat transfer

Originally posted 2010-03-05 00:01:00.

LEED Project Team Formation is an Important First Step in any LEED Certification Project

Elicia Ratajczyk — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:20:37 +0000

The first step in preparing for the LEED Certification process on a building project is the formation of the LEED Project Team. Integrated design is one of the most important sustainability strategies and a good project team will become the key to an integrated, efficient, cost-effective and ultimately successful sustainable design and LEED Certification project. It is important to include as many of the Project Team members as may be needed early in the process because this allows for a more seamless flow of information and work and allows for the valuable input of multiple experienced and knowledgeable stakeholders in the project from the onset. Every project will have a different team formation because every project will have different needs and sometimes multiple roles may be filled by a single team member. The following list includes some of the most common team members that may be included on a LEED project:

Project Administrator – By default, the person who registers the project with the USGBC will become the Project Administrator for LEED Online. This person should be a LEED-AP (accredited professional), if possible, and should be experienced and knowledgeable about LEED certification projects and process. This person is responsible for managing the assignment of team roles in LEED Online and the management of all of the LEED documentation and coordination throughout the LEED certification process.
Developer / Owner – This is the person responsible for making the final decisions for the project including all strategies, targets, project goals, financial decisions etc.
General Contractor – This is the person responsible for the construction of the project and plays a key role in assuring that all of the LEED strategies and design elements are effectively and efficiently carried through to reality. It is helpful if this person has previous experience with LEED or green building projects but not essential if they are included in the process from the beginning of the project and there is a LEED-AP or experienced Project Administrator on the project team.
Sustainability Consultant – This person is knowledgeable and experienced with LEED, green building or sustainability projects. This person should be a LEED-AP as well and will provide valuable knowledge, resources and structure to the LEED certification process.
Architect / Designer – This is the person responsible for the architectural design of the building. An architect with experience in LEED or other green building or sustainability projects can skillfully include highly effective, low-cost sustainability strategies into the design of a high performance building such as passive solar design, reduced building footprint, etc.
Landscape Architect – This is the person responsible for the landscape planning of the site and can also skillfully include a number of highly effective, low-cost strategies into the design that will benefit the project goals and LEED certification.
Engineers – This category may include Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering and MEP (Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) Engineering. The engineers are responsible for a large portion of the LEED criteria, including both pre-requisites and credits and are the key to designing a truly integrated and efficient building design.
Energy Modeler – This team member will model the energy usage of the building according to the required standards and utilizing the required software platforms that conform to LEED criteria and a myriad of additional modeling needs that may be included in the project goals such as analysis for tax incentives, energy rebates and additional building or energy certifications for the project.
Commissioning Authority – This is the person responsible for organizing, coordinating & overseeing the Commissioning of the building after construction and according to the LEED criteria, must have previous experience on a minimum of two LEED projects. Although the commissioning does not take place until after the major building systems have been installed and are operational, it is very helpful to include this team member early in the process so that they can provide valuable information, resources, real-world experience and knowledge from their previous LEED projects.

These team members are essential to the success of a LEED certification and building process and each of the above mentioned roles should be filled in some capacity. As previously mentioned, it is possible that a single team member may fulfill several of the above mentioned roles. For example, it is common for the MEP Engineer to also be the Energy Modeler and even sometimes the Commissioning Authority or for the Architect or Designer to be the Project Administrator and/or Sustainability Consultant. The following list includes some more team roles that are helpful to a LEED certification project and should be included in the Project Team meetings whenever possible:

Broker / Real Estate Agent
Marketing / PR Director
Financial Manager / Cost Consultant
Facility Manager
Suppliers
Key Sub-contractors
Key Stakeholders (building tenants, users, community members)

EVstudio includes several LEED-AP’s who are experienced on previous LEED certification projects. In addition, EVstudio incorporates green building practices and sustainability strategies into our design strategies for each project. There are many strategies that improve livability without increasing cost. It is our philosophy that sustainable design is sensible design and that many of the most effective strategies require great designers, not great amounts of money.

Originally posted 2009-09-12 00:24:19.

The Six Components of Successful Daylighting Part III

Anthony Ries — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:46:37 +0000

Presented today are the last two components of successful daylighting:

Integrate the daylighting scheme into the architecture
Integrate the daylighting scheme with building systems

These final two points remind us that architecture is synergistic, that is it becomes more than the sum of its parts. They tie the entire daylighting strategy together and their implementation can make or break a design.

Integrate the daylighting scheme into the architecture

Daylighting provides an excellent opportunity to give intentional and unique form to a building. The north, south east and west façades of the building are all in need of different daylighting strategies. This makes it easy to create a solution that is eclectic. At the same time it gives the opportunity to create a dynamic façade that is consistent in fundamentals yet different in the details.

Integrate the daylighting scheme with building systems

Last time we touched on daylight controls. Integrating daylighting systems with building systems goes beyond simple controls. It also has to do with the difference in the color temperature of daylight versus that of electric light. To improve the cohesiveness of the lighting design it is important to specify lighting that is compatible with natural light.

Since reducing electricity use is one of the reasons for incorporating daylighting into a building it is important to have simple controls that dim or switch off the electric light when it isn’t needed. Simple controls are easy to repair or replace and contribute to the success of a daylighting strategy.

Lastly the combination of daylight and supplemental electric light provide an opportunity to reinforce a particular lighting strategy or to play off of it. Realizing the passage of time is a side effect of using natural lighting solutions. This passage of time creates an opportunity to differ the electric lighting strategy in the morning, evening and night to help reinforce the passage of time, something that many occupants are missing in modern buildings.

Originally posted 2010-03-20 00:01:20.

Residential or Commercial

Sean O'Hara — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:46:32 +0000

Even when I was in college, people would frequently ask me if I wanted to do residential or commercial architecture. There seems to be a belief that there is a distinct difference in architects who choose to do residential and architects who choose to do commercial. There are definitely some differences, but I always wanted to do both. Dean and I share this fascination, so EVstudio does a roughly even mix of residential and commercial projects. We also do multifamily residential and hospitality work which must fall somewhere in the middle.

Originally posted 2008-06-14 00:01:36.

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Passive Solar Cooling – Solar Chimneys & Cool Tower

Anthony Ries — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 23:49:59 +0000

Passive solar cooling may seem like an oxymoron to many. After all, the sun is hot and we've learned that radiant energy heats up everything on earth that it strikes? That is true and we can use it to our advantage.

Keeping things cool

The first step in passive solar cooling is to simply keep the building from heating up in the first place. Think of all the things that heat up a building:

The sun
Lighting
Computers, etc
Appliances
Occupants

Let’s start with the sun. We can reduce the effects of the sun by properly siting a building with a long east/west orientation that utilizes thermal mass and appropriate glazing and window frames. We can also provide shading with exterior architectural features and trees primarily on the south and west. It is important not to block summer breezes as these can help radiate heat away and even pass through the structure.

The next largest heat load tends to be lighting. Through the use of properly implemented daylighting strategies and LED task lighting that heat load can be almost completely eliminated.

There isn’t a lot that can be done with computers and other technology since it is so ubiquitous in our world. However, we can use technology that has a sleep mode when not in use and processors that operate slower and with less heat when we are doing low impact tasks. Even turn off or hibernate computers of occupants who are not there at the time. Proper energy management goes a long way in reducing energy loads.

What office or home doesn’t have a refrigerator or other appliances? The use of low energy appliances reduces heating loads since they are creating less heat through electricity usage.

There isn’t much that can be done about the occupants. With out them we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.

Solar Chimneys

At this point I know you are asking how the sun can be used to cool a building. The simplest way is to create a solar chimney. This is a structure that is referred to as a stack. The stack is essentially a taller portion of the building similar to a tower. It is also a great opportunity for an architectural feature.

The top of the stack is generally black or some dark color and has operable openings. An insect screen is a good idea. The sun heats up the black surface which in turn heats up the surrounding air. This then creates an upward draft since warm air rises. This draws cool air through the building. This cool air can come from a vegetated area, which are typically a few degrees cooler than surrounding air, or through tubes that pass through the earth.

Cool Tower

An alternative to the solar chimney is the cool tower. This also uses a stack feature but works similar to an evaporative cooler. At the top of the tower is an evaporative cooler that draws in air and cools it as it passes through a wet medium. That cool air then falls down the stack and into the space. The motion of the air is supplemented with clerestory windows that allow warm air to be drawn out of the space.

With proper modeling the cool tower can be designed to keep the building cool throughout the warm months. Additional features that go hand in hand with a cool tower are appropriate thermal mass, minimization of summer solar heat gain and supplemental fans to assist in air circulation when needed.

It soon becomes apparent that sustainable design doesn’t hinge on one particular solution. Rather there are a variety of solutions that need to be combined in various ways in order to create a workable solution for a particular building type and climate. Through understanding the fundamentals we have springboard into more in depth considerations and solutions.

Originally posted 2010-03-17 00:01:33.

The Components of Solar Hot Water – Collectors and Circulation

Anthony Ries — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:19:34 +0000

In the world of solar hot water there are many names for systems that are identical or do similar things. It is important to know the basics and general components of any system one is working with. Once the basics are understood and mastered then it is possible to have intelligent conversations about a subject even though the terminology may be different.

I would like to go into the two basic components of solar hot water, the collectors and the circulation system.

Collectors

Collectors are the part of the system that collects the radiant energy from the sun and transfers it into the system for use.

Batch collectors:

This collector consists of a dark colored tank or a series of tubes within an insulated box. The water then remains in the system tank until there is demand for the water. This system can overheat if there is low demand so a release valve should be part of the system. There is also another valve often know as a tempering valve that mixes in cold water as needed in order to avoid scalding.

This system is not recommended in climates where freezing occurs. Also by definition it is incompatible with a closed loop system discussed below.

Flat plate collectors:

This is a flat insulated box that is faced in tempered glass and backed with a panel that is painted flat black. In the middles are a series of parallel pipes that are connected on each end with inlet and outlet manifolds.

Sizing varies on climate and family size. In the Denver area 65 SF of collector combined with a 120 gallon tank is a good starting point for a family of 4.

Evacuated tube collectors:

This is the most high-tech collector solution. In this collector there is a series of glass tubes. Each glass tube contains water or glycol and is then surrounded by another glass tube. The air between the two is vacuumed out which insulates the tubes from heat loss.

This collector is the most efficient currently available. It can work in overcast conditions and temperatures of up to 40° below zero.

Circulation

Circulation is how the hot water from the collector gets into home so it can be used. Circulation is a combination of direct/indirect and active/passive.

Active:

An active system uses pumps to circulation the water or glycol through the system. This is the most reliable system but requires energy to operate the pump.

Passive:

This circulation system relies on the natural convection of hot and cold water known as thermosiphon. This relies on the tendency of hot water to rise and cold water to sink. This can be unreliable due to air entrainment and in sufficient temperature gradients.

Direct:

In a direct system the water circulates through the collectors and then either stored in a tank or used immediately. This water is directly used so that the water in the system is the same water that is used to wash clothes or take a shower.

Indirect:

Indirect, also known as closed loop, are the best systems for use in climates where freezing occurs. Here the system circulates a water and glycol solution that does not freeze. The mixture then circulates through a heat exchanger in a storage tank in order to provide hot water.

When used in the correct way, solar hot water can be a great way to provide hot water and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels as energy sources. It is also a good way to reduce energy bills and conserve water. When we know there isn’t limitless hot water in the tank people tend to use water more efficiently.

Originally posted 2010-02-27 00:01:09.

Links from EVstudio.info to Your Website

Sean O'Hara — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:02:53 +0000

With the increasing number of link requests that we get from Consultants, Clients, Engineers, Contractors and Builders, I thought it would be useful to explain how to get EVstudio.info to link to your website.

First, an important distinction, generally speaking our evstudio.us domain does not provide links unless we have an interest in the company. Most of our linking comes through evstudio.info which actually has higher page rank anyway.

What we have devised as the most fair way to distribute links is that we provide links within posts where describe projects. That way if we're only working on one project with a certain company we are providing less links that if we are working on five projects with another company. Just let us know that you'd like to be mentioned in conjunction with projects and we'll make sure that we do. The blog currently has a page rank of 5, so we can really help out.

The other way is we provide links to organizations and blogs that our readers may find interesting, just email me and I'll look over your site.

We always appreciate any reciprocal links as it helps more people find us and the information that we have generated to let them know more about architecture and the architectural process.

Originally posted 2009-04-16 00:46:42.

The Six Components of Successful Daylighting Part II

Anthony Ries — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:09:45 +0000

Last week we talked about the first two components of successful daylighting. This week we follow up with the next two:

Assess lighting needs for typical visual needs
Use of apertures to create focus and mood

These two components are somewhat advanced strategies the breathe life into the space and make it more dynamic, all with out resorting to electrical lighting for the majority of the day.

Assess lighting needs for typical visual needs

Daylighting must address the needs of the visual task that is to be performed within the space. The lighting level needs of an occupant vary between warehouse space and office space. Therefore the amount of light provide by the daylighting strategy must be also vary.

Placement of the daylighting aperture and its controllability are critical. The quantity and quality standards set forth by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) is applicable to daylighting and is a great resource.

It is also good to keep in mind that the best daylighting strategy may need supplemental electric task lighting as well. This is particularly true in early morning and evening situations.

Use of apertures to create focus and mood

The use of natural light to illuminate a space doesn’t mean that the light levels need be uniform throughout. With special consideration of the size and placement of apertures, daylight can be directed to accentuate a design, indicate important spaces and act as a wayfinding strategy within a building. Scale models and digital models are excellent tools in exploring different strategies.

Another aspect to these apertures is that they can perform double duty. An efficient lighting solution can be incorporated so that in the evening and night the same visual impact is created. Light sensors ensure that the electric lights only come on when light levels dip below a predetermined threshold.

Next time we will wrap up with the final two components: integrate the daylighting scheme into the architecture and integrate the daylighting scheme with building systems. See you then.

Originally posted 2010-03-16 00:05:25.

Avoid Costly Future Alterations: Free Fair Housing and Accessibility Presentation

evstudio — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:09:44 +0000

This week the Department of Local Affairs (DORA) Civil Rights Division offered one of four free lectures on Fair Housing, Accessibility and Reasonable Accommodations. The lecture is given by DORA's fair housing expert, Jennifer McPherson, she covers the local, state and federal fair housing regulations.

This is a must see for architects, real estate agents, housing property managers, and owners of rental housing. In addition to the free lecture DORA provides stacks of detailed brochures and other materials you can take and hand out at your office to build awareness.

The material covered in this presentation includes an overview of the many levels of fair housing regulations, how they overlap and how to be sure you comply. Fair Housing regulations cover a broad range of classes and vary at the Federal, State and Local level.

Federal Law requires that one can not discriminate based on:

Race
Color
Religion
Sex
Handicap (disabilities)
Familial Status
National Origin

Colorado State Law adds:

Marital Status
Creed
Ancestry
Sexual Orientation

Local Ordinances (City and County of Denver) add yet again:

Age
Military Status
Gender Variance

Keeping in mind that fair housing covers many different protected classes the most common issue for architects is disability. Many of the discussions I have had with clients that must provide accessibility in their buildings revolve around the loss of square footage in a living room or bedroom due to more space required in bathrooms and kitchens. Of course, if these requirements are carried out within the building it could result in very costly alterations in the future in order to comply. During this lecture you are given clear ideas of how to communicate why these requirements are necessary.

Educating architects, real estate agents, developers and owners on this topic is one way to ensure we are preventing future noncompliance. This key for the DORA Civil Rights Division because currently the division is a reactionary or complaint-driven agency. Meaning, the division needs to improve its education and outreach to transform into a more preventative department.

The more we can educate our clients the more we can provide fair housing! The next FREE lecture is June 1st 9:30 am-11:30 am offered at 1560 Broadway, Conference Room 110 B (first floor), Denver. The following two lectures are offered September 7, 2010, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and November 2, 2010, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at the same location.

Another helpful organization to check out is Fair Housing Accessibility First. This site gives you a detailed look at design and construction requirements with regard to accessibility.

Originally posted 2010-04-13 00:01:57.

Software as a Design Tool – Cantilevered Stairs

Anthony Ries — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:22:18 +0000

Here at EVstudio we use a number of different software packages to design and document our work. Our documentation may be done in AutoCAD, Revit or Bently BIM. Our design work is sometimes quickly completed in SketchUp. I even used it to fully document some requirements for a local HOA. It is was very easy to produce 3D images that where approachable by the various homeowners.

Our structural department often uses Bentley products including: Elements, Concept and Connections. They also use TJIBeam, StruCalc, Enercalc, PTISlab and a variety of custom spreadsheets.

Below are two stair schemes I put together in SketchUp along with a top view showing the unique tread pattern. This stair is in a location that is already built and has some very restrictive geometry. As a result we were forced to get very creative with the stair treads. The treads look straight forward in plan view.

Top View of Custom Stair

In perspective we can see more of the unique character of each of the individual treads.

Perspective of Stair Option

Since the main wall that the stairs will attach to is already existing and has plumbing in it, we designed a couple schemes. The two shown here are the most and least invasive that we arrived at.

Perspective of Stair Option w/ Visible Stringer

The great thing about using SketchUp for this stair layout is that I was able to quickly create it in plan then start to orbit around and refine the exact geometry of each tread. Each scheme took at most 10 minutes to create. This software is also a great tool to use with clients. It is simple enough that geometry can be re-worked on the fly and the model can be placed on GoogleEarth for the owner to get a better idea of views and overall siting.

Yes, most of those treads are, in fact, cantilevered.