Cold climate housing / Guides

...Cold Climate Housing Research Centre in Alaska. REMOTE stands for 'Residential Exterior Membrane Outside-insulation TEchnique' . Edelweiss house LEED Platinum V4 wall assembly detail © Cosella Dorken Remote walls are framed the way you would be used to seeing it done with 2x6s and sheathing; the difference is t...

...climate change to get a better perspective. This is slightly reminiscent of the Earthship, a housing catastrophe that paints itself as a solution to the global housing and climate change crisis. Poppycock. The world is facing resource depletion and a climate crisis - so we need to keep our eye on the ball and be wary...

...housing: 1. Energy efficiency: Metal is a conductor - of both heat and cold - as evidenced by the popularity of metal frying pans over say...wooden ones, for example. This makes metal a less than ideal substance in many applications of home construction. To render a container house energy efficient in a cold cl...

...coldest of climates, or at least change their location within the wall assembly to avoid the possibility of interstitial condensation damaging wall structures. Moisture-impenetrable vapor barriers work great in winter and, before air conditioning and heavily insulated walls, they were relatively harmless in summer. B...

...climates, the REMOTE wall was developed by the CCHRC (Cold Climate Housing Research Center) In Fairbanks, Alaska. Walls are framed and sheathed, with the inclusion of a stick-and-peel exterior membrane to control air and moisture movement, and it does so exceptionally well. With the inclusion of cavity insulation, th...

...cold climate zone a basement foundation counts on being buried at depths of between four and five feet to protect the footing and basement floor from freezing temperatures. Since this creates additional floor area underground, it is a natural desire to claim that space, and so born is the basement rec room or man-cave ...

...colder climate, as the power that is necessary for the instantaneous heating of water (which is close to zero degrees Celsius during the colder months) is too great. In cold climates, it would therefore be preferable to rely on gas-fired instantaneous water heaters. Furthermore, if your initial budget is limited, you...

...cold and miserable. We are strong proponents of greenhouses, even in cold climates and small scale food production, but they are not an environment that is sensible for human habitation as they won't heat in cold climates. According to health Canada, the optimum range of relative humidity for a health...

...cold surfaces to mitigate condensation, is that it can also happen when there's simply too much humidity in a home. As noticed most often in the colder months of the year, when it meets the cold glass of bedroom windows, as cooling air becomes unable to hold as much moisture, it condenses. So condensation is the resu...

...cold climate home. After seeing firsthand in a hostile climate in North America with the Conservation House the kind of energy efficiency that was possible, we proceeded to ignore it like we did electric vehicles, and continued to build very average homes that matched the energy performance of a 5-litre Mustang being...

...Cold Climate Housing Research Center Window-type air conditioners often have air leakage issues around their edges, and they are also inefficient. Ductless split-type units are much more efficient , while having no direct connection between indoor and outdoor air. Window air conditioners should not be used during w...