Design and Construction of Low Energy Houses in Saskatchewan

of 38 x 38 mm (2 x 2) or 38 x 63 mm (2 x 3) material.
5. When the exterior frame has been completed it is squared. It is
then raised onto temporary supports so that the space between inner and outer
frames can be Set. Plates of plywood, 7 mm (5/M in.] are used to hold the
walls at the correct spacing. They are nailed or stapled to the top and bottom
plates to complete the framing of the wall, This holds the frames in their
proper, relative positions, and provides final straightening.
6. When the wall is raised to the vertical position, properly located
an the floor arid nailed in place, it is necessafy only to brace the wall at
the ends. No further straightening is necessary before putting on roof
trusses or flam joists for the next stage oE construction. The continuity
of the air-vapour barrier is provided by a bead of acoustfcal sealant, which
is added when the polyethylene is applied to the ceiling or over the joist
headers for intermediate floors.
The air-vapour barrier is located well sway from the inner face of the
wall and will be somewhat colder than in more common designs. It has been
assumed that at least 2/3 of the thermal resistance should be placed on the
cold side of the air-vapaur barrier. If the interior stud space contains
insulation of RSI 2.3 [R 13) the total resistance of the wall would have to
approach RSI 7 (R 40) to achieve this.
In conventional house design, the Space between the top plate and the
roof is not large enough to allow much insulation to be placed on top of the
plate. In low energy houses, high lift trusses are used. Insulation 250 to
300 mm (10 to 12 in,] thick can be placed directly over the plate and still
permit air te flow from the soffit into the attic for attic ventilation.
Plywood sheathing and/or cardboard soffit baffles, made for this purpose,
prevent this insulation from falling into the soffit space. The "high liftn
effect is obtained by using trusses 1200 mm (4 ft.) longer than normal or by
using specially designed roof trusses.
Basements are used in some cases; in others a crawl space is employed.
In both instances large amounts of insulation have been installed. Special
designs may be needed for basement walls to accommodate the large mount of
insulation and at the same time to meet the structural requirements imposed
by horizontal soil pressures.
Three different double stud wall designs are shown in Figures 1 to 3.
One or more houses have been built following each of these designs.
Energy emsumption data have been obtained for the house represented
in Figure 2, It has two storeys, no basement, and a total floor area of
approximately 250 m2. The estimated annual energy cmsumption for space
heating based on the.measured energy input to the house was 35 G3.