To Vent or Not to Vent?

That is the Question.

By Roger V. Morrison, PF, RRC, Deer Ridge Consulting, Inc.

The spray polyurethane foam (SPF) community has been installing unvented-conditioned attic in homes for decades.  But with the changes in the International Residential Code, which were first implemented in the 2004 Supplement, the code now recognized the practice, and unvented-conditioned attics are broadly accepted.  The SPF community has embraced this development because SPF’s combination of high R-value and low air permeability make it an ideal insulation for this application.

But, do unvented attics always make sense?  In my opinion, the answer is an unequivocal “No”.

[Read the rest of this entry...]

Declutter Your Home

It’s perhaps one of the greatest challenges of a homeowner’s life: getting and keeping your home organized. As those who have many years of home ownership under their belts know, it only gets tougher to keep your house, closets and drawers in working order as life gets busier and stuff gets acquired. The good news is that there are plenty of simple, affordable and effective ways to not only get organized but stay that way as well, no matter how overwhelming the task may seem right now.

A good place to start is by designing a closet to your needs and Toler Insulating on Airpark Drive in Lynchburg knows this process better than most. This locally-owned, eco-friendly business employs a closet specialist by the name of Anders Sunwall. Owner Wayne Toler has been in business for 15 years but, recently, he decided to provide customers with “after paint products.” This includes things like closet shelving and light fixtures; basically the finishing touches to any new home or remodeling project. Sunwall, a Lynchburg native, came on board in 2007 to focus on designing and remodeling closets.

Toler offers Rubbermaid shelving products, which carry the “Green Guard” stamp and provide the client with the choice of coated wire or melamine shelving systems. The latter comes in a variety of colors from stark white to cherry wood finish.

“We have worked very hard to provide our customers with these products for less than you can buy them at Lowes,” Sunwall said, and this effort to offer a discount includes the cost of planning and installation.

Sunwall can plan a fully interchangeable and flexible shelving system to fit your changing needs. He even provides a nifty 3D digital image of your design before he installs it.

So how does the process work? First, Sunwall comes to your home to identify your needs and assess your budget.

“We work to fit anybody’s price range,” he explained, adding that in today’s economy, he feels it is important to offer ideas for lower cost products without sacrificing quality. “I don’t want to sell something I don’t believe in… Right now, I can go home knowing I’ve not only offered a service by helping the customer get organized, but I’ve also saved them money doing it.”

If you are like many women, you might run into a shoe dilemma (as in, having far too many!) when it comes to your closet. For this problem, Sunwall suggests making use of the closet’s side wall. By installing Rubbermaid wire racks that hang them upside down and at a slant (where the back lip becomes the shoe holder), your closet suddenly begins to look much like a department store’s racks. This gives shoe lovers the option of stacking three pairs of shoes across each shelf and, therefore, quickly cleaning up closet floors.

Of course, hiring a consultant may not be a realistic option for everyone, in which case, you should consider clearing out any excess first before organizing yourself. Just don’t take it all to the dump! There are plenty of ways your cast-offs can help out our community, like the numerous Goodwill stores in the area. With the very important mission of “Helping people and families in our community achieve a better life through work and independence,” last year alone, the local branch of Goodwill served 18,225 individuals in our community, with 92 cents out of every dollar of revenue going directly to support training and employment programs for individuals with disabilities and disadvantages.

Suni Heflin, Goodwill of the Valleys Market Manager, says there is a myth circulating that Goodwill stores are simply places for the economically challenged.

“We help people who need a hand-up, not a hand-out,” she said.

Many people don’t realize that the stores not only train disabled and disadvantaged workers, but they also help bring area youth and senior citizens into the workforce. Last year alone, they assisted more than 1,000 local people who lost their jobs due to company closings and layoffs through job training and placement.

Heflin says all of the local stores accept donations every day of the week, and all of the centers’ hours are listed at http://www.goodwillvalleys.com/. The stores don’t just accept clothing, but also shoes and accessories, house wares and small appliances, electronics, furniture, toys and games. They will not accept large appliances, mattresses or anything that has a motor and runs on gasoline because they are unable to dispose of these things responsibly. But, you need not only donate your nicer items.

A surprising fact: Goodwill Industries of the Valleys is also eco-friendly, having kept over 11 million pounds of materials out of area landfills through their retail and salvage operations. Although they resell the gently used items in their retail stores, they also take torn and broken items for their salvage and recycling operations. This includes all old computers and electronic parts. Heflin says they participate in the Reconnect Program with Dell which works to recycle any brand of computer in any condition in order to reuse the parts. Both Goodwill and Dell are committed to recycling these parts and keeping them out of our landfills.

The YWCA of Central Virginia is also happy to accept donations.

“Anything ladies or girls like would be gratefully received by the residents of the YWCA,” JoAnne Nickerson said, adding that this only includes very gently used items, if used at all. “Our motto is empowering women. These women are not homeless or destitute. They pay monthly rent and work to earn a living.”

In addition to clothes, the YWCA also accepts furniture, house wares, and hygiene items.

If you find yourself having a hard time getting rid of sentimental items, earning some extra cash might help you to let go. In this case, consider one of the many local consignment stores in town. For instance, “Nice as New” on Linkhorne Drive accepts donations by appointment only and all items must be gently used, freshly laundered and on hangers. Nice as New accepts up to 35 items at one time but does not accept items with stains, tears or wrinkles. Items will be held in the store for two months. If they sell, you get 40 percent. The only catch is remembering to pick the items up by the specified date. Otherwise, they will be donated to local charities. The same is true of many other local shops of this nature like “On Second Thought” on 221 and “New to You” on Old Forest Road.

After you’ve cleaned out your closet’s overstock, it’s time to get creative. Star Hansen of HGTV suggests sorting remaining items into categories of long-term and short-term storage and immediate use. Those items for long-term storage, like the skinny jeans you just can’t bear to get rid of can be placed into vacuum sealed bags. These affordable bags slim down into easily stackable small packages, once the air is vacuumed out of them. They can then be stacked on the high, harder-to-reach shelves or in the basement or attic. Short-term storage like sweaters and boots for next fall can be placed into plastic storage bins stacked on the floor or shelves. Bins with rollers are also very useful since they slide easily under the bed.

Sunwall says one of the common problems with closets is the failure to use the vertical space, so he suggests installing a simple double hanging rod, which provides double the amount of space for clothing. While you are at it, replace all wire hangers with plastic ones to keep from damaging the shape of your clothing. Hansen also suggests making use of the affordable variety of hanging shoe racks, belt and tie hangers, and adjustable purse hangers for the backs of doors or the closet side walls.

Once you have that closet cleaned and your house de-cluttered, you might consider additional ways to keep your home neat and organized for the rest of the year. For this, Sharon or Michael Sprague at Merry Maids may be just the ticket. With 11 years of experience in the Lynchburg area and a great reputation, they specialize in helping people who are “overworked and out of time” by taking care of those pesky cleaning chores around the house. Although they don’t do closets, they will help keep the rest of the house neat and clean, and they offer “customized service to each home,” which includes working within your budget. For more information, check out http://www.merrymaids.com/.

No matter what stage of life you are in, there are many affordable ways to get organized. Remember that spring and summer are the best times of the year for many people for a thorough cleaning, making it the perfect time to donate your unwanted clutter and overstock from around the house. While you’re at it, don’t forget to take advantage of the many local businesses who will work hard to help you stay organized this year.

Five Easy Steps for Cleaning Out the Junk Drawer

1. The first step to take when tackling the dreaded junk drawer is to immediately dump out all of its contents. This will not only give you a better idea of what has been lurking in there, but it will help you form two piles�”what to keep” and “what to toss.”
2. Exploring the contents of your junk drawer will no doubt reveal some interesting finds. Resist the temptation to keep anything that is not important, useful or that you did not know was missing in the first place. Throw away everything in your “toss” pile.
3. Divvy up the contents of your “keep” pile. Everything has a place but the “Catch All” drawer is just where they tend to collect. The best strategy is to divide the items by the rooms they belong in. When you are finished, immediately take those items to their proper places.
4. Realistically, you are still going to have lost items that don’t seem to have a place elsewhere. These items, and these items only, are then left to reside in the “Catch All” drawer.
5. Purchase a desk divider, silverware holder or anything else with separate compartments and then take the remaining items and neatly organize them. Be sure to label anything that is not immediately recognizable (like parts to a piece of equipment). Finally, try your best to keep this drawer as clean as possible by constantly placing items that do not belong in the “Catch All” drawer in their respective spots.

By Centers for the Polyurethanes Industry

One of the largest growing uses of spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation is in residential attics and crawl spaces.  As with all other foam insulation applications, this use is regulated by building codes to assure that occupants are properly protected from the risk of fire.  In order to demonstrate compliance with these requirements, the spray foam supplier typically performs fire tests, the results of which are submitted to an evaluation organization, such as the International Code Councils Evaluation Services (ICC-ES), for review.  A product’s performance is assessed against an Acceptance Criteria meant to clarify code requirements or to provide a technical basis for products or systems that are alternates to what is specified in the code.  Through a public hearing process, the ICC-ES developed the Acceptance Criteria for Spray-applied Foam Insulation (AC 377).

  [Read the rest of this entry...]

Project Title: Energy Audit: R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church

CEC Team Leader: Alexander Kelley

Engineers: Justin Smith

Adam Stewart

Advisor: Col. Arthur

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Over the course of the spring 2009 semester, our VMI CEC team worked on an energy audit for the Robert E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church in Lexington, VA.  Throughout this process, we have had the opportunity to work with several people and companies who not only provided assistance with this project but also helped us to grow as engineers. We would like to sincerely thank Mr. Wes Hurt from Toler Insulating Company, Inc. in Lynchburg, VA, Mr. Bob Schumacher from Allied Window Inc. in Cincinnati, OH, Mr. Ken Lambert from K.W. Lambert Construction, Drilling, & Equipment Company of Bridgewater, VA, and Eddie from Valley Boiler Inc. of Roanoke, VA for providing us with valuable information on their products and services and cost estimates. We would also like to thank our client representative at the church, Mr. John Burleson, and the rest of the congregation for providing us with the opportunity to conduct our senior project on their facility. Finally, we would like to thank Col. Arthur, our faculty advisor, for his suggestions and insights that helped this project progress.

ABSTRACT

The Robert E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church requested an energy audit to assess their current energy consumption and learn about possible ways to reduce energy cost and become better stewards of the environment. An energy audit consists of utilizing utility bills, research, observation, and analysis to make recommendations in changing the energy usage of an existing structure. The building consists of the church building and the Parish House for a total of 17,180ft cooling equipment, utilities, and occupancy use, it was determined that water, natural gas, and electricity bills could be reduced by various long and short term measures to eliminate excess energy use. During the course of the energy audit different alternatives were examined in order to reduce energy consumption. This consisted of using an hourly analysis program to observe changes in heating and cooling loads with various added insulation, considering church policy changes, receiving cost estimates from local companies for various modifications, and performing a cost analysis for the viable possible recommendations. Through these adaptations, not only would the congregation save money by reducing their energy consumption, they would also become better stewards of the earth.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF OPTIONS

The following is a summary of the final options to decrease energy costs and become better stewards of the environment based off cost analysts and research as describe in the previous sections.

Summary of Options: Costs, Savings, and Payback

2. After surveying the building of its heating and

Attic Ins.                     Only $2,400.00              $2,270.02               1yr, 1 months

Wall Ins.                     Only $5,200.00              $1,926.47               2 yrs, 10 months

Interior Windows        $11,559.40                     $554.44                       32 years

Compact Fluorescents $165.00                          $1,061.17                Less than 1 Year

(100 bulb replacement)

Undercroft Interior Storm  $2,268.07                $437.00                     5 yrs, 3 months

Windows

Knight Boiler Replacement $31,700                $1,771                         23 yrs, 5 months

Toilet Bricks / Bottles            $1.36                   $35.92                       Less than 1 Month

Geothermal Heat Pump          $275,000            $6,245.84                  79 years, 6 months

Along with these recommendations implementing the minor changes to include the following:

• Weather-stripping large wooden doors (front doors of sanctuary, Parish House Bottom Floor exit door, etc.)

Directional floor registers in sanctuary

Using ceiling fans during both cooling and heating months

Increasing/decreasing thermostat in cooling/heating months respectively

Consolidating offices to one floor

Creating permanent signs to “Turn Lights Off After Use” in bathrooms, closets, etc.

Starting November 1st, Toler Insulating Company is a new member of the Air Barrier Association of America.  Our team has been tested and certified to meet the ABAA’s installing specifications.

Why Should You Be Concerned with Air Barriers?

Air Barriers control the unintended movement of air into and out of building enclosures.  A properly functioning Air Barrier System provides a barrier against both air leaks and diffusion of air caused by wind, stack, and mechanical equipment pressure.

When Air Barrier Protection is neglected it can cause an increase use in energy costs up to 30-40% in heating and 10-15% in cooling costs.  Not only is Air Barrier Systems energy sufficient but can also provide protection from pollutants.  Which includes water vapor leaks, the key component in formation of mold and smell.

With this reduction in both energy costs and cosmetic maintenance, a properly installed Air Barrier System will over time pay for itself!

Which Spray Foam Is Right For You?

Appropriate applications for open-cell and closed-cell foam insulation

Thermal insulation for low-rise residential construction has historically been dominated by loosefill and pre-formed blanket cavity-fill materials, primarily fiberglass and cellulose. With a new generation of building insulation materials and systems on the market, a careful assessment of their physical properties needs to be made in the context of potential applications to assure that performance matches expectations and that unintended consequences, in this case moisture related building-envelope failure, are avoided. This guideline focuses on performance benefits and the potential performance limitations of open-cell and closed-cell spray polyurethane foam. [Read the rest of this entry...]

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has expanded on the already existing federal tax credit for installed insulation.  The 2009 economic stimulus bill included a 30% federal tax credit on the purchase price up to $1500 on added insulation in existing homes.

Q:How do non-vented attics work, and how is SPF properly used and applied in them?

A: To better understand why spray polurethane foam (SPF) is a viable solution for non-vented attic insulation in both hot and cold conditions, let’s take a look back at the origins and science behind the traditional vented attic.  Attics are vented to: remove moisture, reduce the potential for ice damming, and vent excess heat.

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