Monday, March 2, 2009

Project Outline

EDDT 231 – APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECT

Project: Assess the common inadequacies within the exterior wall assemblies in older pre-code buildings, and give an affordable and sustainable solution that ensures heating retention efficiency.

Steps: In order to achieve my project goal, I will be:
-inspecting a series of older homes to identify the problems,
-interviewing home owners to assess their complaints,
-look at case studies relative to my own,
-and review books and articles that relate to wall assemblies (includes: insulation, building
materials, etc.)

Special Problems:

1. Low budgets for renovations
2. Tricky situations = multiple solutions
3. Changes taking place within the living space (impact on living standards)


References:

Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency (2004) Keeping the heat in. [Ottawa] : Office of Energy Efficiency, 2004

Colin Smith (1942) This cold house : the simple science of energy efficiency. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007

BRITISH COLUMBIA (2006) British Columbia Building Code .[Victoria, B.C.] : Ministry of Forests and Range and Minister Responsible for Housing, 2006.

(2005) Canadian Wood-Frame House Construction. Ottowa: CMHC, 2005

Thomas J. Glover (1989) Pocket Ref. Colorado: Sequoia Publishing 2003
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11 comments:

  1. Meghan ThompsonMarch 11, 2009 at 2:54 PM

    Hey Fraser! I got this one book from the library called The Super-Insulated Retrofit Book and it talks a lot about renovations that can be done to improve energy efficiency in a home. I think there's some info you would find useful, let me know if you wanna have a look at it.

    Meghan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ivory winstonMarch 13, 2009 at 2:15 PM

    I found a very interesting article on the candian national research council website. it discusses the factors involved in bringing an older building up to modern codes. its not technical, but rather it seems to be focused on why a building is updated.
    here is a link:
    http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/cbd/cbd230_e.html

    i hope you find it useful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. nadineschneiderMarch 19, 2009 at 8:22 PM

    Hey,
    I was looking for some renovation articles for my project and I found an article for renovating older buildings that use lead paint, that is an issue with older homes? Here is the link for the article, but you might have to order it from another school? I hope this can help!
    Nadine

    ReplyDelete
  4. nadineschneiderMarch 19, 2009 at 8:23 PM

    http://ezproxy.tru.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24830422&site=ehost-live

    sorry i forgot to put it in the message!

    ReplyDelete
  5. IreneMarch 23, 2009 at 9:42 PM

    Hey Fraser,

    I found this site that you might find interesting; it’s from the National Research Council Canada. It talks about building envelope and structure, and I know you want to bring an exterior wall assembly up to code, and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you gave them a call about their research.

    Here is the web link if you think you’re interested:

    http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/bes/index_e.html

    Hope this helps!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fraser AllanMarch 27, 2009 at 1:33 PM

    Wow.. thanks everyone for the info. I found that the articles host site (Institute for Research in Construction) site to be especially useful in its own. I would also like to see that book if you still have it Meghan.

    ReplyDelete
  7. NathanMarch 28, 2009 at 6:41 PM

    Hey Fraser,

    Not sure exactly what age of homes you wanted to look at, but if it helps, you could have a look around my place. It was built sometime in the 1910's and definately has some major insulation issues.

    Let me know

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kale MastersMarch 28, 2009 at 7:24 PM

    Fraser,
    I was looking around and I found an article about insulation types (Does Fiberglass Still Make Sense?)and I thought this could be a useful reference for you. I've read several of the articles from this site and they are really good, but you have to sign up to read some of them. Hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ian CummingMarch 29, 2009 at 11:13 AM

    Hey fraser. this past summer my uncle bought a house that was built from around the 70's. we did a lot of renos on it this summer, changin and replacing the insulation and many of the other ext wall components. if your interested i can give you his number and im sure he would be happy to help you out.
    "Never play leapfrog with a unicorn" - Kei Quinn

    ReplyDelete
  10. Denton ElliotMarch 29, 2009 at 10:42 PM

    Fraser,
    Thanks for the link to Queens University. Those walls are pretty cutting edge. As for your topic, as you may know there are many different ways to rectify insulation and moisture problems. Closed cell spray maybe expensive up front but will give you the R-value and vapour barrier you are looking for.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dale ParkesMarch 29, 2009 at 11:07 PM

    Fraser, here is a new product that I recently came across: http://www2.basf.us/basf-canada/productsheets/walltite/walltite-ECO-brochure-E.pdf
    This brochure is obviously heavily biased, but as Denton suggested you may want to consider some kind of a closed cell spray foam insulation when renovating (especially basements) as it also acts an air barrier.

    ReplyDelete

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