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Description
In this segment, green homebuilder Patty Shields talks about the importance of proper wall construction and insulation when building a passive house. Arlington County AIRE Green Home Choice program manager Helen Reinecke-Wilt introduces the segment. http://freshaireva.us/2011/11/greenhomechoice/. Links to all nine segments can be found at http://environment.arlingtonva.us/energy/how-to-build-a-better-home/
A
Hello,
I'm
Helen
ray
Nikki
wilt
of
Arlington
County's
initiative
to
rethink
energy
and
green
home
choice
program
you're
about
to
watch
one
of
a
series
of
videos.
We
call
how
to
build
a
better
home,
the
story
of
the
construction
of
a
passive
house.
We
hope
you'll
find
some
useful
tips
about
making
your
home
greener
and
more
cost
efficient,
whether
you're
building
a
new
home
or
simply
upgrading
your
present
one.
Here's
green
home
builder,
patty
shields
of
Metro
green
with
today's
tips
on
wall,
construction
and
insulation.
A
B
B
This
house
here
is
a
2x4
constructed
wall.
It's
got
another
two
by
four
on
the
outside,
which
gives
us
a
total
depth
of
10
inches
in
1940,
1960
and
1970
from
Maine
to
Florida.
We
built
our
houses
just
out
of
two
by
fours.
Okay,
there's
no
difference.
In
fact.
Today
we
often
build
our
houses
just
out
of
two
by
fours,
whether
you're
in
Maine
or
Florida,
we're
building
it
the
same
way,
but
we
don't
have
the
same
heating
and
cooling
needs.
B
Instead
of
build
a
mechanical
system
to
meet
the
construction
or
envelope
of
the
house
in
Virginia,
based
on
entered
energy
model,
we've
determined
that
10
inches
is
the
ideal
wall
depth
for
a
passive
house
wall
in
North
Carolina.
It
might
be
8
inches
in
Maine,
it's
14
inches.
So
here
we
have
built
two
construction.
Two
walls,
the
inside
is
a
2
by
4.
The
outside
is
a
2
by
4
and
they're,
separated
by
a
few
inches
of
space.
B
These
are
actually
3.5
inches
with
additional
few
inches
of
space
in
between
to
give
us
that
full
10
inches
what
this
space
does
is.
This
gives
us,
what's
called
a
thermal
break,
meaning
that
no
heat
or
cold
is
being
conducted
from
the
exterior
of
the
house
through
the
wood
all
the
way
to
the
interior.
Instead
we're
putting
insulation
here
that
takes
care
of
that
and
make
sure
that
we
don't
conduct
that
heat
or
cold
to
the
interior
of
the
house.
B
This
is
a
pretty
simple
way
to
build
it's
affordable
and
cost-effective,
and
what
a
homeowner
can
do
today:
green
home
choice
program
and
Energy
Star.
What
they're
promoting
is
going
to
a
two
by
six
stud
and
putting
foam
on
the
exterior
of
the
house,
but
this
is
also
another
affordable
way
to
build
a
house
that
gives
you
that
kind
of
insulation
value
that
green
home
choice,
Energy,
Star
and
indeed,
Passivhaus-
are
looking
for.
B
When
we
were
framing
the
house,
I
showed
you,
we
were
doing
a
double
wall
construction
and
you
can
see
that
here.
But
now
you
can't
see
the
double
wall
because
of
course
we
have
it
packed
with
insulation.
So
here
we
have
10
inches
of
dense
pack,
cellulose
cellulose
is
dense,
packed
cellulose
is,
is
essentially
recycled,
material,
newspaper
or
other
sorts
of
products
that
gets
blown
into
first.
B
They
put
this
netting
on
the
wall
and
then
they
blow
in
this
cellulose
to
a
certain
density,
3.5
pounds
in
this
case,
and
so
we
have
10
inches
of
dense
pack
insulation
here,
which
provides
us
in
roughly
an
hour
38
wall
assembly
code
compliant.
Is
our
13
I
believe?
So
you
can
see
this
about
three
times
what
you
would
have
in
a
normal
house
built
today.
B
B
And
so
we
address
that
in
most
houses
in
most
modern
applications,
today,
your
insulator
or
your
Builder
will
suggest
putting
in
foam
spray
foam
at
the
band
joist
of
the
house
and
the
band
joist
or
what
we
call
those
things
like
that
run
around
the
rim
of
the
house
at
each
floor.
All
of
this
is
all
the
way
out
to
the
outer
edge
of
the
house,
providing
a
quite
a
bit
of
insulation,
make
making
sure
that
entirety.
Tire
cavity
is
full
and
maximizing
our
insulation
on
the
band's
and
a
lot
of
older
houses.