{"id":254,"date":"2017-02-26T15:49:04","date_gmt":"2017-02-26T15:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/?p=254"},"modified":"2017-02-26T15:49:24","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T15:49:24","slug":"air-leaks-or-thermal-loss-which-is-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/air-leaks-or-thermal-loss-which-is-worse\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Leaks or Thermal Loss, Which is Worse?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n

Have we been brainwashed to consider only R-values?
\nPOSTED ON DEC 20 BY SCOTT GIBSON – GREEN BUILDING ADVISOR<\/p>\n

Beefing up R-values and reducing air leaks are the twin
\nrallying cries of builders focusing on energy efficiency.
\nRegardless of the particulars of the house design, more
\ninsulation and fewer air leaks make houses more
\ncomfortable, more durable, and less expensive to heat and
\ncool.
\nNo one seems to argue that point. But Al Cobb wonders
\nwhich is more significant.
\n“My real goal is to find the tipping point when a leaky
\nbuilding loses more energy via air changes then via the
\ninsulated envelope,” he writes in GBA’s Q&A forum. “I’ve
\nhad many answers where the losses from air leakage have
\nbeen as low as 10% or as high as 50%.”
\nCobb believes home buyers have been “brainwashed” into
\nthinking only about R-values, as energy codes give short
\nshrift to the importance of airtightness. Energy modeling is
\nespecially frustrating, he says, because it asks for highly
\nspecific information on R-values but only broad
\ngeneralizations when it comes to airtightness.
\n“Therefore, I’m looking for a study or analysis of homes (real or not)
\nthat have been modeled to the extent that heat loss from conductive
\nand air infiltration losses are clearly defined,” Cobb adds. “It only
\nmakes sense that as leakage rates increase, the decision to ignore airsealing
\ncan be shown as a critical mistake.”
\nAin’t no such animal
\nGood luck and God speed, suggests Robert Riversong: “Your question
\nis similar to, ‘What’s the difference between an apple?’,” he writes.
\n“The answer could range from near zero to near 100%, and is entirely
\ndependent on whole-house R-value and whole-house air exchange
\nrate during normal operation (not under blower door testing). If
\nyou’re asking about ‘average’ existing housing, there is some data on
\nthat. If you’re asking about a particular new construction project, you
\nhave to do the heat loss analysis for that specific building including
\ndesign or actual air exchange losses.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have we been brainwashed to consider only R-values? POSTED ON DEC 20 BY SCOTT GIBSON – GREEN BUILDING ADVISOR Beefing up R-values and reducing air leaks are the twin rallying cries of builders focusing on energy efficiency. Regardless of the particulars of the house design, more insulation and fewer air leaks make houses more comfortable, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions\/256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stricklandewing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}