Greg Labbe of BlueGreen consulting showcases many quality control issues with new housing construction. Presented to the Toronto Certified Sustainable Building Advisor Program

1. 12/04/2013
1
Putting Performance
Into Practice
April 12, 2013
Sustainable Building Advisor Course
Evergreen Brick Works, with Greg Labbé
ABOUT
Greg is a principal at
BlueGreen Consulting
Group Inc., offering high
performance energy
consulting and professional
services to architects and
builders, specialising in
building shell optimisation,
diagnostics, training and
testing.

2. 12/04/2013
2
Agenda
• Introduction
• Quality Management on the job site
• Who and what’s involved in:
– Design phase
– Construction phase
• On-site Testing and Inspecting
• Construction practices to avoid
• Conclusion
• Questions
Introduction
Building a sustainable, high
performance home starts at the design
phase and ends predictably with a
successful blower door test.
Let’s explore the steps in between to
learn more about what makes a high
performance, sustainably designed
home the best product on the market.

3. 12/04/2013
3
Introduction
A sustainable home means new
materials, methods techniques; are the
trades you hire up to the new
challenges? Do they know what to do?
A high performance home means you’re
raising the quality bar, always involves
setting a standard and measuring to it.
Performance isn’t this obvious.
Modeling optimises and testing proves it.

4. 12/04/2013
4
Students at Humber
College test the
Centre for Urban
Ecology (last week!).
It was LEED
certified, but never
air tightness tested.
ICI vs Residential
Quality Management
• Learning to build sustainably means
growing pains, yet>
• Contractors in the USA who switched to
high performance building found their
business grew as their peers businesses
continued to slide with the housing market.

5. 12/04/2013
5
Quality Management
• Quality is conformance to a written standard
• Quality is measured by the cost of non-
conformance
• It is cheaper to do things right the first time
• Most problems have roots in planning and
development
• Quality is shared by everyone from architect to
builder to site supervisors and the trades.
Philip Crosby, The Art of Making Quality Certain
What do the following 3 slides
have in common?

6. 12/04/2013
6

7. 12/04/2013
7
Any guesses?

8. 12/04/2013
8
There’s a shortage of good
planning, clear specifications
and an even greater shortage of
trades who have time to think
things through.
Let’s review>
How do
we get
the door
open.

9. 12/04/2013
9
A window was
added after
the wall was
built. Note the
bracing was
cut…
The tiles were removed
because someone forgot
the floor heating element.

10. 12/04/2013
10
What’s the Cost?
• “Quality is free, but no one is ever going to know
it if there isn’t some sort of agreed-on system of
measurement.”
• “The purpose of calculating the cost of quality is
really only to get management’s attention and to
provide a measurement base for seeing how
quality improvement is doing.”
Quality is Free
• A quality program can save a company more
money than it costs to implement
• Profitability is best accomplished by reducing the
cost of poor quality and preventing defects
• Cost savings include prevention, appraisal, and
failure costs.
Philip Crosby, The Art of Making Quality Certain

11. 12/04/2013
11
Quality is a Standard
Pick a standard or rating system and follow it!
Differentiating yourself in the market place.

12. 12/04/2013
12
A note on Quality Programs
Two interesting articles on implementing quality
programs on construction sites:
1. Applying Lean Thinking to the Passive House
Process, David Hawkins & Russell Richman,
Ryerson University.
2. Achieving High Performance Homes Through
Quality Management, Duncan Prahl, Home
Energy Magazine, 2012
Who’s involved in:
Design phase
• Once you’ve picked your standard, you’ll
have to assemble your high-performance
team:
– 3rd party energy modeller with field experience
– Architects that are familiar with performance
– Builders that know their work will be tested
– A mechanical designer who knows “micro
load” systems

13. 12/04/2013
13
What’s involved in:
Design phase
• Specifications are decided on early as part
of the IDP.
• Super high efficiency houses differ in:
– May not have “typical” heating systems
– Are quiet, so mechanicals need to be too!
– Allocation of budgets are different in
sustainable builds.
What’s involved in:
Design phase
• Super high efficiency houses differ in:
– Materials are different
• VIG, Densepack cellulose
• Double stud wall, VIP
• Straw bale Rammed earth
– Techniques are different to avoid thermal
bridges with significantly different details..
>so different skill set needed

14. 12/04/2013
14
What’s involved in:
Design phase
• Last but not least, high performance
structures differ form ‘code built’ in:
– You need the get the building inspector on
side
– Building Officials typically don’t like new
things, but if you show establish a relationship
early, they will see the value.
What’s involved in:
Design phase
Plan for and expect push back unless the
contractor is experienced in the techniques as
well as their sub-trades.
If using a builder new to the techniques, bring
them in early to make them feel like they are
part of the decision making process.

15. 12/04/2013
15
Design Phase: Simulations
Let’s look at the following, simplified example of a
wall section with a standard sized window in it.
10’
8’
2’
3’
R2 R20
Scenario 1: Consider a wall and a window…

16. 12/04/2013
16
10’
8’
2’
3’
R2 R20
What’s the R value of the entire wall assembly?
10’
8’
2’
3’
R2 R20
Entire wall assembly only R12*!
*This calculation IGNORES the thermal bridging
at each stud, so it’s even worse!

17. 12/04/2013
17
10’
8’
2’
3’
R2 R40
Scenario 2: New wall and same window…
Let’s spray foam the wall!
10’
8’
2’
3’
R2 R40
What’s the R value of the new wall assembly?

18. 12/04/2013
18
10’
8’
2’
3’
R2 R40
Composite R value: 16.5.
The window is dragging the R value
down; energy modeling identifies
these issues.
10’
8’
2’
3’
R8 R20
Reconsider Scenario 1: with a better window…

19. 12/04/2013
19
10’
8’
2’
3’
R8 R20
Any guesses on the composite R value?
10’
8’
2’
3’
R8 R20
New composite R value R18

20. 12/04/2013
20
Design Phase: Simulations
You cannot break the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics:
Heat goes from more to less.
Heat will find a way through “cheap” bridging
elements or features dragging the overall
performance down.
Luckily, good energy modeling can help you make
tough choices!
Design Phase: Simulations
High performance doesn’t just happen; it evolves
through an iterative process like the Integrated
Design Process (IDP).
This process is usually lead by a professional
intimately familiar with the standard you’ve chosen.

21. 12/04/2013
21
Design Phase: IDP+Simulations
Design Phase: IDP
The design team, homeowner and builder sit
with the energy simulator professional.
Together, they go through an iterative
process of optimisation where performance
is optimised and building costs are
minimised or as Paul Dawkins says
“tunneling through the cost barrier.”

22. 12/04/2013
22
Design Phase: IDP
Source: CMHC, IDP Guide
Design Phase: IDP
Source : Ann Edminster, GBA Advisor

23. 12/04/2013
23
Design Phase: Optimised
• Out of this IDP process, the final plans are
issued and the specifications for the
following are set:
– The R values and assembly details for the
whole building shell including the slab
– The air leakage threshold
– Exacting window specifications for each
façade.
– A short list of mechanicals
Design Phase: Optimised
"We need to use integrated design process
that can create new approaches and tools,
and beautiful environments that can restore
social, economic, and environmental vitality
to our communities."
— Bob Berkebile, BNIM, Kansas City, one of
the world’s most respected green architects

24. 12/04/2013
24
Design Phase: Optimised
Further reading:
– Integrated Design Process Guide, Alex
Zimmerman, CMHC
Who and what’s involved in:
The construction phase
• All hands involved in the planning,
directing, testing and assembly of the
building need to know the standard and
have clear written instructions.
• They must be able to explain the goals of
standard and must know why the standard
is important.

25. 12/04/2013
25
Who and what’s involved in:
The construction phase
• Starts in the design phase with the
selection of the standard and the detailed
specifications for the assembly and
materials to be used.
• You must impress that quality will be
measured both in the ‘cost of quality’, will
be visually inspected and air tightness
tested.
On-Site Testing and Inspecting
Identifying and respecting the air barrier.
• Most standards have min. threshold of air
leakage in order to be certified.
• Everyone on the jobsite must be able to id
the air barrier, even at transitions.
• All should be able to draw it’s placement
on a cross section with a red pen.

26. 12/04/2013
26
ID Air Barrier
Polyethylene air barrier
system (very cold climates
only—Zones 6 or higher)
Source:
www.buildingscience.com
ID Air Barrier
Housewrap air barrier
system
Source:
www.buildingscience.com

27. 12/04/2013
27
ID Air Barrier
Exterior sheathing (insulated or
not) air barrier system
Source:
www.buildingscience.com
This is a blower door.
Love this guy/gal!
S/he can help you find the
leaks and be part of your
quality management team.
They see lots of different
things… and can be a source
of great information
Air Barrier
Testing

28. 12/04/2013
28
Educate Crews
Often the best way to educate reluctant crews is to
break the message down into it’s barest elements.
>Like the following about ultra-efficient houses.

29. 12/04/2013
29

30. 12/04/2013
30
Construction practices to avoid
• The following slides are a collection of
common issues in contemporary
construction.
• Most are dry walled over and will haunt the
homeowner.

31. 12/04/2013
31
Notes on Spray foam
Foam is combustible

32. 12/04/2013
32
Check your foam for depth!
W H E R E D I D T H E F O A M FA I L ?
M a n y ‘ b l i s t e r s ’ ( p a i n t e d o r a n g e )
w e r e f o u n d t h r o u g h o u t t h e ½
p o u n d f o a m . W h e n p r e s u r i s e d
t h e y l e a k e d a l o t o f a i r. F o a m w a s
u n a t t a c h e d o r d e l a m i n a t e d .

33. 12/04/2013
33
WHERE
DID THE
FOAM
FAIL?
The blisters
were nearly
14oC hotter
than the
surrounding
foam.
Foam to poly>

34. 12/04/2013
34
Brick ledges & Lintels WRT Sheathing

35. 12/04/2013
35
The Pony wall: Diaper vs batt.

36. 12/04/2013
36
Watch Those
Transitions

37. 12/04/2013
37
2LBS Spray foam
Cellulose Insulation
Soffit vent
Follow the air
barrier
Notes on Steel
• Steel has amazing strength, but not only
does it conduct heat amazingly well, it also
is really hard to detail insulation and air
barriers around it.
• It has been known to cause condensation
problems and discomfort.

38. 12/04/2013
38
Is it
really
sealed?

39. 12/04/2013
39

40. 12/04/2013
40

41. 12/04/2013
41
Beam pocket: How do you seal
the air barrier to the beam?
Steel
every
where!

42. 12/04/2013
42
What steel looks like in Infrared..
http://www.rensolutions.co.uk/thermal_bridge.php
Ducts in Unconditioned Spaces
• Installing ductwork outside the envelope is
never a good design; avoid it.
• We get called back to “improve” these
design flaws.

43. 12/04/2013
43
More exposed supply
side leakage means
hot humid attic,
depressed living
space, constantly
washed with fresh
outside dry air.
www.buildingscience.
com BSD-102:
Understanding Attic
Ventilation
C O N D E N S AT I O N E V E R Y W H E R E !
… f o r m i n g m i n i p o o l s o f
c o n d e n s a t i o n o n t o p o f
p o o r l y i n s u l a t e d E R V
i n l e t d u c t , s o m u c h
s o t h a t i t ’ s d r i p p i n g
d o w n . . .

44. 12/04/2013
44
U N D E R T H E D U C T S TO O !
The Bonus Room

45. 12/04/2013
45
Exposed
floor
Ducts

46. 12/04/2013
46
Skylights
This was a 17’
tall triangular
shaft, with a
20’x2’ opening in
the ceiling for a
2’x4’ skylight.
Condensation
and uncalculated
heatloss.

47. 12/04/2013
47
Top plate penetrations:
The OK…
The
bad

48. 12/04/2013
48
The
ugly
Stairs vs Poly: who’s there first?

49. 12/04/2013
49
Who’s
there first:
Electrician
or
insulator?
Air tightness
• Houses don’t need fresh air; occupants
do.
• Build tight; ventilate right.
• Ventilation is not something you let the
building shell take care of through
‘leakage’.
• Ventilation is something that needs to be
controlled precisely and actively.

50. 12/04/2013
50
Which envelope is more airtight?
Ed Marion’s analogy…. www.passivehouseontario.ca
A tight envelope>
1. More durable: Has less moisture pumped
through the envelope.
2. Saves money: Less
3. More comfortable: Keeps humidity and
more even temperature throughout.
4. Less liability: We’ll show you pictures of
recalls that dogged designers and
contractors.

51. 12/04/2013
51
Zen master says>
Moisture movement can
only be controlled by
stopping air flow*.
* And capillary action.
Control moisture by>
• Stop unwanted air flow and you stop
moisture from causing condensation that
leads to unhealthy mould and structural
rot.

52. 12/04/2013
52
Good ventilation strategy?

53. 12/04/2013
53
For optimum health a human
needs:
• Q: How many glasses of water per day?
– A: 8 glasses per day
• Q: How many m3 of fresh air per day?
– A: 10m3 per day* or ASHRAE 62**
recommends 611m3 per day.
*Assumes 7.5litres per human/minute to deplete air from 21% O2 in to 16% O2
out.
** Based on 15CFM per person or min 0.35 ACH.
Heat Recovery Ventilation

54. 12/04/2013
54
Heat Recovery Ventilation
• Often, lose and leaky buildings have HRVs
in them and the intent for precise
ventilation is lost at a huge energy penalty.
• As the building shell gets more air tight,
the value of having an HRV increases.
Dedicated
returns to
HRV

55. 12/04/2013
55
A 40’
duct
run!!
That’s better

56. 12/04/2013
56
Columns

57. 12/04/2013
57
The
bump
out from
outside.
The bump out from the
basement..

58. 12/04/2013
58
The bump out from the
main floor..
The bump out from the
2nd floor..

59. 12/04/2013
59
Above
grade
Bump-
out

60. 12/04/2013
60

61. 12/04/2013
61
• What it could have looked like.
• Source: http://hammerandhand.com/
Side
Attics

62. 12/04/2013
62
The
double
wall

63. 12/04/2013
63
Clamp that
poly!
(if it’s your
air barrier)

64. 12/04/2013
64
Clamp
that poly
in the
drop
ceilings.
Bad
foam/
poly.
Getting air
barrier
sealing
around all
penetrations

65. 12/04/2013
65
Design
Flourishes
that
squander
Ban faux chimneys

66. 12/04/2013
66
Extra
bedroom:
gone!

67. 12/04/2013
67
Silly
Recom-
mendations

68. 12/04/2013
68
Conclusion
• Do it once, do it right;
• Select your team & standard carefully
• Optimise your house by energy simulation
• Get everyone on board early
• Calculate mistake cost as a % of sales.
• Test and inspect, especially with new
players.

69. 12/04/2013
69
QUESTIONS?
Thanks for your time
today.
TAKING THE BLUES OUT OF BEING GREEN!