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The company works with the Building America research teams of the U.S. Department of Energy to employ cutting-edge and proven energy-efficiency techniques, including the advanced framing methods. Some potential subcontractors balk at the idea of switching from standard techniques to advanced framing. “It’s not a difficult thing but it’s just enough different that we’ve heard people say ‘never done that and don’t know if I want to,’ " says Ferrier, who was named Green Building Advocate of the Year in 2007 by the National Association of Home Builders.
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This graphic from NAHB’s Model Green Home Building Guidelines shows some advanced framing techniques. (c) NAHB
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“Studs 24 inches on center instead of 16, single top plate instead of double top plates, no headers on non-load-bearing walls—the differences are subtle,” he says, but they add up. For example, instead of two smaller headers, advanced framing would place one larger header that would allow for up to two inches of foam insulation that can increase R-value from 1.5 to 7.5.
“We don’t do conventional, never have,” says Ferrier. “We’re committed to advanced framing, even if only for interior walls when the exterior is SIPs, structural insulated panels, or ICF, insulated concrete forms.” That insistence on energy efficiency has brought the company top awards four years in a row. This year, it won another, a gold award for most energy-efficient custom home in a hot climate, in the EnergyValue Housing Award program sponsored by NAHB’S Research Center, DOE’s Building America program and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The program honors builders in five categories—affordable, custom, factory-built, multifamily and production—in each of three climate regions—cold, moderate and hot—who voluntarily incorporate energy efficiency into all aspects of new home construction.
Cost and Energy Savings
Kevin Morrow, NAHB program manager for green building standards, says the organization is doing all it can to increase builder education in all levels of green building. He suggests consumers look for a builder with the NAHB designation as certified green professional to ensure they are schooled in innovative techniques such as advanced framing.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, advanced framing not only means the saving of resources, it also means savings for the homeowner. It estimates materials cost savings of $500 for a 1,200-square-foot house and $1,000 for 2,400-square-foot house—a labor savings of three to five percent and heating and cooling costs savings up to five percent. The NRDC has estimated that using advanced framing techniques can reduce framing costs as much as $1.20 per square foot and reduce the amount of wood used for framing by 11 to 19 percent.
“Any savings is good savings,” says NAHB’s Morrow. “Whether it is on a $100,000 home or a $500,000 home, those percentages add up to real money. People would rather have that money in their pockets than thrown away. As energy costs go up, what you also are buying is the benefit in increased energy savings.”
A research project in Victoria, Minn., conducted by Centex Homes and DOE’s Building America team in 2005, also examined costs and savings in the field. Two identical 2,000-square-foot homes were built, one with standard wall framing and the other with advanced framing. According to data provided by the NAHB Research Center, installation and material costs were $4,039 for standard wall framing versus $1,927 for advanced framing. The amount of wall that could be insulated increased from 68 percent to 75 percent with advanced framing. Heating and cooling costs also differed with $1,003 in 2005 for the standard home and $710 for the advanced framing home.
Read other Green Homes Special Series articles here.
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Text by Maureen Blaney Flietner
© 2008 BobVila.com
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