How to Insulate a High-Performance Country Cottage

Mixing curb appeal with ground-breaking wall framing, this home could be heated with a hair dryer.

Figure 1. Approximately two years ago, my wife and I broke ground on a super-insulated home based on Passive House design, in Morrisville, Vt. We built the 1,000-square-foot home on property we owned with the notion of moving into it when we downsize our lives in the future (in the near term we plan to rent it out). And although we built it to meet PHIUS Passive House certification—adding saleable value—we’re not pursuing official PHIUS certification. Our goal was to build an attractive home that needs very little energy to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. With the help of Passive House consultant, Chris West of Eco Houses of Vermont, we built a cozy, aesthetically-pleasing home with the lowest heating bills modern building science can provide. The whole house has a heating load of approximately 3,200 Btu/hour at -2°F. The typical code-built house of this size has a heating load in the 50,000 Btu/hour range. For information about the detailing of home’s stone and cedar shingle cladding, see Backfill (Jun/16).

Figure 1. Approximately two years ago, my wife and I broke ground on a super-insulated home based on Passive House design, in Morrisville, Vt. We built the 1,000-square-foot home on property we owned with the notion of moving into it when we downsize our lives in the future (in the near term we plan to rent it out). And although we built it to meet PHIUS Passive House certification—adding saleable value—we’re not pursuing official PHIUS certification. Our goal was to build an attractive home that needs very little energy to heat in the winter and cool in the summer. With the help of Passive House consultant, Chris West of Eco Houses of Vermont, we built a cozy, aesthetically-pleasing home with the lowest heating bills modern building science can provide. The whole house has a heating load of approximately 3,200 Btu/hour at -2°F. The typical code-built house of this size has a heating load in the 50,000 Btu/hour range. For information about the detailing of home’s stone and cedar shingle cladding, see Backfill (Jun/16).

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The ultra airtight home constructed with superior insulation, moisture resistance, and 12-inch-thick foundation will keep its residents comfortable even during Northeastern winters for pennies a day. In this story from JLC, Sean Gyllenborg details the products and materials that went into the high-performance dwelling.

Figure 2. Strips of 10-mil Stego Wrap vapor barrier (yellow) were placed over the 40-inch-wide by 12-inch-deep footings. The strips were later used to join the Stego under-slab and foundation-wall membranes together. At rebar tie-in locations, the vapor barrier was air-sealed with Extoseal Finoc watertight barrier tape (see inset). A strip of Grace Vycor Plus was installed to protect the Stego Wrap where the foundation wall and interior, rigid EPS insulation met the footing.

Figure 2. Strips of 10-mil Stego Wrap vapor barrier (yellow) were placed over the 40-inch-wide by 12-inch-deep footings. The strips were later used to join the Stego under-slab and foundation-wall membranes together. At rebar tie-in locations, the vapor barrier was air-sealed with Extoseal Finoc watertight barrier tape (see inset). A strip of Grace Vycor Plus was installed to protect the Stego Wrap where the foundation wall and interior, rigid EPS insulation met the footing.

Figure 3. The 12-inch-thick foundation wall was poured with an 8-inch-wide shelf to support the stone veneer. Stego Wrap was run up the foundation’s exterior face and then folded onto the stone shelf. To protect the Stego from puncturing during backfilling, a dimpled drainage mat was installed against the wall. Later, 12-inch-thick EPS foam would be installed on the foundation’s interior, which would create a continuous insulation plane from the foundation up to the framed wall.

Figure 3. The 12-inch-thick foundation wall was poured with an 8-inch-wide shelf to support the stone veneer. Stego Wrap was run up the foundation’s exterior face and then folded onto the stone shelf. To protect the Stego from puncturing during backfilling, a dimpled drainage mat was installed against the wall. Later, 12-inch-thick EPS foam would be installed on the foundation’s interior, which would create a continuous insulation plane from the foundation up to the framed wall.


Click here for larger image.


Photos 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 15, 16, 17, and 18 by Sean Gyllenborg
Photos 9, 10, 12, and 14 by Chris West
Photos 1, 19, 20, and illustration by Tim Healey


This article was originally featured on our sister site, The Journal of Light Construction >>

About the Author

Sean Gyllenborg

Sean Gyllenborg is the founder and owner of Gyllenborg Construction in Morrisville, VT. He has been a builder in Vermont since 1990 and is a Certified Green Professional.

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