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BRINC Products Featured in GreenBuilt Home Tour

The Illinois Green Alliance has announced that its 2020 GreenBuilt Home Tour is going virtual – and we’re a part of it!

This year’s event features four unique online sessions that focus on 12 different green home projects across Illinois. Each online event has a theme: passive house design, all-electric homes, deep energy retrofits, and homeowner-driven sustainability projects.

BRINC Building Products is proud to recognize two of our building envelope materials featured in the July 15th Deep Energy Retrofit event – part of the high-performance home of Jamie Carr, Project Manager of Eco Achievers consulting firm.

 

“ThermalBucks were a great alternative to wood bucks. They were fast and simple to install.”

 – —Jamie Carr, Project Manager, Eco Achievers & Net Zero Energy Homeowner 

The Carr family loved the location of this Glen Ellyn home, but wanted to update it to be both beautiful, and highly practical. Healthy and comfortable, yet affordable to renovate.

For this all-electric, net zero energy home, Jamie chose a 10 kw solar array, energy recovery ventilator (ERV), heat pump for heating and cooling, and a split-system heat pump for hot water and radiant floor heating. For the building envelope, he installed high-performance Alpen windows in ThermalBuck, and was an early adopter of our new ThermalTight™ System, which features a Neopor ®GPS rigid insulation panel with a self-gasketing, vapor permeable WRB laminated to the exterior. For more information and photos about the Glen Ellyn (net zero) Deep Energy Retrofit, visit greenbuilthometour.org.

 

GreenBuilt Home Tour Sessions

  • All-Electric Homes – July 8th – 3:30-5pm CT
  • Deep Energy Retrofits – July 15th – 3:30-5pm CT
  • Passive House Showcase – July 22nd – 3:30 – 5pm CT
  • Wellness + High Performance – July 29th – 3:30 – 5pm CT

The first part of each session will be presented by experts in the high-performance homebuilding industry. The last half “happy” hour is the perfect chance to ask questions, get advice, and connect with these industry professionals.

Join any individual session for only $5, or purchase a ticket to all four tours for a discount at $15.  Purchase tickets here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We look forward to Jamie’s tour, and sharing more details (and hopefully HERS ratings)  of this beautiful home on July 15th. Please consider joining any or all of these sessions, and supporting the work of Illinois Green, a USGB community.

 

Want to learn more about the work of individual chapters of the US Green Building Council (USBGC)? Check out these resources to get started! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Zero Deep Energy Retrofit – Energy Conservation Specialists

Bill McKnight is no rookie when it comes to energy-efficient building. His company, Energy Conservation Specialists, is a leading New York residential and commercial energy-efficiency consulting firm, specializing in the field of historic preservation and restoration in the Hudson Valley.

Bill and his wife, Melinda Terpening McKnight, are passionate about history, their community, and energy efficient building. With over 20 years in the field of deep energy retrofits, Bill has achieved both BPI Accreditation and Energy Star Certification, teaches building science at Ulster University in NY, and has been featured in Home Energy Magazine.

 

Vibrant History, Energy-Efficient Future

We had the opportunity to work with Bill  and Melinda on a recent net zero deep energy retrofit of a historic Port Ewen home that will soon become the new ECS company headquarters.

Originally built in 1850, the house has been in the Terpening-McKnight family for nearly 40 years, and was in danger of being torn down after a devastating fire. Bill and Melinda decided to restore it, and move their company into the space. The building will not only be energy-efficient, it will achieve net-zero certification, meaning it will consume only as much energy as it produces.

Net Zero Deep Energy Retrofit with Energy Conservation Specialists & ThermalBuck

WATCH:  Net Zero Deep Energy Retrofit with ECS and ThermalBuck  

A signature of deep energy retrofits, is both interior and exterior insulation on the walls and roof, completely eliminating the thermal bridge through the building envelope. Thorough air sealing is crucial to achieving the desired performance. Having worked for years installing windows with rigid foam, Bill knew the challenge they presented in creating a thermal break at windows and doors, as well as potential moisture damage in the building envelope.

“You wouldn’t be able to seal a wood buck like that. We can feel confident that everything on the outside is completely sealed.”

-Bill McKnight, CEO, Energy Conservation Specialists

 

ThermalBuck Integration with The Building Envelope

Bill chose to install his triple pane Earthwise windows with ThermalBuck because it extends and insulates the mounting point to reduce thermal bridging, and create a flush plane for cladding. It also acts as an air and water barrier, and completes the continuous insulation of the building envelope. With his background in building science, he knew it would do a better job preventing moisture than a wood buck in the building envelope.

ThermalBuck Installation with Energy Conservation Specialists, NY

WATCH:  ThermalBuck Installation with Energy Conservation Specialists  

The proper integration of building materials is critical to an efficient building envelope. Take a look at how simple the installation of ThermalBuck is, and how easily it integrates with the WRB.  You’ll see why Bill McKnight feels a lot more confident keeping moisture out of his building envelope with ThermalBuck.

 

Behind the Scenes in Port Ewen

 

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For more information on deep energy retrofits, read “Planning is Key to Net Zero Deep Energy Retrofit”.