The most demanding projects are builders’ personal homes. The builder’s expectations and skill are sharpened by their personal investment and aspirations.
Mossy Rock is the personal home for Aaron Wilson of Kia Kaha Construction. Set into a hillside in Crumpet Woods, Squamish, the expansive windows open to views of the Chief and Howe Sound.
Mossy Rock is required to comply with B.C. Energy Step Code tier 3. To achieve tier 3 energy efficiency without compromising on the window-to-wall area ratio, 1.5” exterior insulation was included in the design. The product of choice, QuikTherm, is EPS with a film facer. The film facer allows for the seams of the sheets to be sealed with tape for it to also function as secondary plane waterproofing and a tertiary air-barrier.
QuikTherm a low perm product that will limit vapour drive through the exterior. For that reason, I recommended SIGA Majrex for the interior air-barrier and vapour control layer as it allows vapour drive to occur to the interior. SIGA Majrex is unique in that it is a directional vapour control layer allowing vapour diffusion of 0.09 perms into assembly, but 4.25 perms out of it. SIGA Majrex is also a much more effective air-barrier than poly.
The combined efforts of the Kia Kaha crew and ours lead to a mid-construction blower door test result of 0.83 ACH20! Aaron posted a photo of the reading on-site to celebrate this success and to stress the importance of the air-barriers to subsequent trades.
@aaron.wilson.921025@siga_north_america@dan_thetapeman_luu
I’m excited to have had the chance to contribute to the #thunderbirdcabin designed by @hunter_office and built by @will_mckeen .
The details include: SIGA Majrex 200 on exterior walls for a variable and direction vapour control layer and air barrier; SIGA Majvest 200 on overhangs for a vapour open air barrier; Genyk closed cell spray foam on the interior of the roof sheathing to form a conditioned attic.
It’s key to the durability of spray foam insulated assemblies that the substrate it’s applied to be dry. I took weekly moisture readings until we achieved our target of an average of 12% MC, and then we proceeded.
0.91 ACH20 at the mid-construction blower door test.
The owner’s of the Bowen Bay project have been buying mid-century modern architecture to renovate and make their homes for decades. But, the low-banked ocean front of the Bowen Bay project makes it a favourite for them. It also makes a durable building envelope an absolute must as it is exposed to high winds, ocean spray, and heavy rain. For that reason we opted to use SIGA products throughout. Our scope of work included the WRB and VB and required 3 different membranes and 6 different tapes. We also provided the spray foam install for the insulation of the unvented roof and crawlspace. Fun fact: we saw both orca and humpback whales from site.
Products used:
SIGA Majvest 500 SA
SIGA Majvest
SIGA Majrex
SIGA Fentrim 430
SIGA Fentrim 230
SIGA Fentrim IS20
SIGA Wigluv
SIGA Rissan
Protecto BT20XL
Rockwool Comfortbatt
Rockwool Safe & Sound
Design: @fdvarch
Builder: Kerr Residential LTD
Under-Slab insulation is complete for @qualitechconstructiongroup in #britanniabeach ! Excellent work by our friend’s at H&H Insulation. The owner himself, @hanielhammal , spent Saturday on-site spraying to finish it on schedule!
The owners of the Seymour Bay house approached their build with the objective to have it operate on only solar power. To achieve that within the broader constraints of the build it needed to be very energy efficient. The general contractor, Custom Coastal Homes, approached us with this paradigm and asked what we can recommend for the insulation and building envelope. We suggested that a high degree of air tightness would be the best approach and set the goal of achieving < 1 ACH. To do this we planned to use SIGA Majvest 200 as the weather resistant barrier and primary air barrier and SIGA Majrex 200 as the vapour control layer and secondary air barrier. To nail the execution of the install of the SIGA products we met with the lead carpenter to discuss pre-stripping during framing, the lead plumber and electrician to discuss penetrations, and posted job site signage. The effort paid off at our mid-construction blower door test when we achieved 0.63 ACH50. Well below our goal! Finally, we met with the drywall contractor to discuss ways to not damage the air barrier during their install. We look forward to seeing how it performs at the final blower door test!
@custom_coastal_homes@siga_north_america@dan_thetapeman_luu@sigaswiss@labelledrywall@capitalhomeenergy
SNUG COVE: The owners of the Snug Cove house and their general contractor, Bowen Island Construction, requested we provide a building envelope that would be efficient and durable.
The land was the site of the owner’s parents’ summer cabin and it was their experience with it that informed their interest in ensuring their house be constructed with those characteristics as priorities.
To achieve the owner’s requests within the constraints of their budget we did not utilize high-performance products throughout, but rather where we considered them a priority for durability.
Soundproofing was a further requirement as the house is in proximity to a ferry passage and includes a secondary suite.
Important details of the design we recommended and installed included:
- Rockwool R-6 Comfortboard
- Typar Air/Weather Resistant Barrier with SIGA Tapes
- Rockwool R-22 Comfortbatt
- SIGA Majrex 200 Air/Vapour Control Layer
- Rockwool Safe’n’Sound
The house is nearing completion now and the owners are ecstatic at how it is performing. And, I believe it has the potential to continue to for 100+ years.
#Climatechange is here and we’re feeling its effects. A warming stripes graphic by climatologist, Ed Hawkins. The blue (cooler) to red (warmer) stripes illustrate the long-term increase of average global temperature from 1850 (left side of graphic) to 2018. The built environment and the energy it consumes drives global C02 emissions. As an industry it is essential for us to #buildbetter and adopt #builtgreen , #netzero , and #passivehouse to become a part of the solution to the #climatecrisis . We must consider #embodiedcarbon in our materials choices. Let’s work towards a better future.
