by srmi | Jun 23, 2013 | Energy News
Questionable Guidance from the IRC The International Residential Code (IRC) identifies two different ways to build a new-home crawl space that resists frost heaving: place the footings below the frost line (historical frost-depth) or heat the a home to 64 degrees for...
by srmi | Jun 3, 2013 | Energy News
Cellulose the Air Barrier According to some experts in our industry, cellulose insulation has truly miraculous powers. Many years ago we noticed that blower-door readings dropped significantly after we dense-packed the walls of an existing home with cellulose...
by srmi | May 24, 2013 | Energy News
Building Energy Efficient in Alaska We at Saturn are pleased to announce a new project with the Alaska Craftsman Home Program (ACHP) to republish their excellent new-construction manual, Northern Comfort. Northern Comfort is all about building heavily insulated homes...
by srmi | May 15, 2013 | Energy News
Bad Siding In the past decade, the building industry has introduced pre-weathered galvanized siding for buildings. Same idea as weathered new blue jeans I guess. However if you look at the new building shown here, you’ll see that the siding is quickly...
by srmi | Apr 23, 2013 | Energy News
Recent Details: Superinsulated Retrofits This post is for building and insulation nerds. I’ve been thinking a lot about the superinsulation projects I’ve accomplished over the past decade and what those retrofits cost. Yesterday I got an eMail from Eric...
by srmi | Apr 22, 2013 | Energy News
Mother Nature had mercy on Montana yesterday dumping 5-20 inches of heavy snow over a wide area: Snow depth depends on elevation. Saturday offered a blustery spring folf match, and Sunday snowed a winter blizzard most of the day. Horray for moisture however we get...
