The five six of you that are following ahouseinafield.com will know that we had two big energy efficiency tests to pass during the construction of Dash Landing :
- Blower Door Testing: Contractor to coordinate, schedule, and perform (2) certified blower door tests by an independent party. Tests to be scheduled at (1st) post-insulation/pre-drywall, and (2nd) prior to substantial completion. Testing to achieve the following performance ratings: Test (1) pre-drywall = 1.5 air changes per hour at 50 pascals. Test (2) prior to substantial completion = .5 air changes per hour at 50 pascals.
The first of those tests took place yesterday. Our “independent party” was Erik North. Erik runs an energy auditing / consulting business here in Maine. We’ve used him on a previous project and liked his straight-ahead, no silliness, practical approach to the subject.
And some of you have asked if we’re going for EnergyStar or PassivHaus certification. That’s not in the “official” plan, but we’re definitely following many of those standards.
He’ll write-up a final report, but we got this email about an hour after he arrived :
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Here’s a photo of the test number.
The target was 875 CFM50 for a 1.5 ACH50.
We hit 212 CFM50 for a 0.36 ACH50.
Beat the final number on the first test. I would say the closed cell foam and attention to detail did the trick.
Cheers,
Erik
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Not only did we CRUSH this test, but we comfortably beat the second standard too. We’ll pick up a few more points with the drywall, but the house is plenty tight. Last week’s endless hassle over insulation installation has definitely paid off.
Hope that HRV we’re installing is a good one….
* Apparently some of you were raised by wolves. Start here.
A House In A Field 
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