Some things make a home efficient

Some of the small things that have a big impact on energy savings
       
It all starts with the foundation

              There are tons of details that go into to making a home and it all starts with the foundation. Have you ever though about your foundation and how little insulation is has? Even new homes, built recently fall short in this area. Current building code requires that all foundations be insulated, the common practices used leaves something to be desired. Most homes built today have insulation on the exterior of the foundation but for some reason builders stop the insulation at grade. This creates a large area of your home that is subjected to the elements with almost no protection. Did you know that the concrete of your foundation only has an insulation value of about R-1? That's less than a window. One of the things we do is to insulate all the way up to the sill of the house. This results in your foundation being fully protected to an insulation value 12 times greater than traditional methods. Along with this we also insulate under the concrete floor of the basement and up the sides of the basement slab. These things combined have not only a big impact on your homes energy usage but also contributes greatly to the comfort within the home.

     I do know why traditional builds don't do this, it's simple. Costs! It isn't a huge cost but most builders are not willing to spend the extra time, money and effort to do this, but this is just one of the things that differentiate us from most builders. As a company we understand the implications that not doing this will have on your home and the costs to you the homeowner, having to heat and cool this home.

On to the framing next

Tom Pittsley
tom.pittsley@nextsteplivinginc.com