Rain, rain …

The PanelWrights crew has been busy  in between the ridiculous amount of rain that has made the CraftWorks site a giant mudpit!  Even with the uncooperative weather, progress is being made. The roof panels were flown in and set two weeks ago – SIP-experienced local crane operator Lloyd Fink of Lloyd’s Crane helped the roof install go smoothly.

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Al’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame

PanelWrights definitely had an exciting day last week when Hewlett Packard sent a film crew to our West Virginia office to shoot footage for an upcoming promo on  HP’s new ePrint and Share printing solution.   What we thought would be a few hours of picture taking took on the feel of a major movie shoot as we went from office to jobsite back to office again. 

PanelWrights uses the ePrint and Share utility daily – Dan can redline drawings in the field, snap a picture with his smartphone and upload design and detail questions to the ePrint and Share cloud.  Our designer Eric can access those changes sitting at his desk in the PanelWrights office and make necessary adjustments electronically.  Combined with Tyvec plans and HP’s waterproof ink system, PanelWrights has improved efficiency and communication between field and office.

Al likes the ability of this system to facilitate large file sharing and electronic collaboration with engineers, architects and owners.  Al has  been recruited by HP’s Experts and Mentors Program and will be speaking at the upcoming AIA convention in New Orleans on the success of ePrint and Share in the PanelWrights office.

The SIP Walls are going up!

Thankfully the weather has cooperated this week and on Monday the PanelWrights crew began setting the wall SIPs.  Here’s a short video of PanelWrights lead Dan Nelson and Chris Stokes as they prep and set the panel.

Mud & Textured Concrete

If you ever want to increase the level of frustration in your life, I recommend trying to start a construction project in February. If you’re looking for a little more stress, put your project in a valley where water and topsoil tend to accumulate. Needless to say, the weather has not been our friend and the relationship continues to be a stormy one.  With a little perseverance and rubber boots, the Panelwrights crew pushes forward. After stripping the footers of the 3/4″ poplar boards, these same boards are being recycled into faux form boards to create a textured pour in the foundation walls.

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The team from Starting Pointe Foundations Inc worked closely with us to install the poplar boards inside the concrete forms. The process is fairly simple and with a few screws to hold the poplar in place along with spraying the boards to prevent unwanted sticking, the walls were ready to pour. Due to the muddy conditions, a pumper truck was used to fill the forms. When the forms were stripped, I was delighted with both the dimensional accuracy of the pour and the appearance of the interior finish. The grain from the poplar boards gives the appearance that the foundation may have been poured before the days of steel and aluminum forms. The design of this foundation wall system is being insulated on the exterior. This method does a number of good things for us. First, it moves the dew-point outside of the structure. This simple detail means no wet smell in the basement level. In addition, the mass of the concrete wall is completely insulated and can act as thermal mass that buffers any temperature fluctuations. The idea of thermal mass is being used in both the walls and the slab in the lower level. I’ll show a lot more detail as we insulate and ultimately clad the outside of our poured wall.

How Energy Efficient Is It?

The team at PanelWrights always strives for maximum efficiency. We also hold fast to the belief that real efficiency starts with the envelope. This project will show that our Structural Insulated Panel System is the cornerstone to our success at building super energy efficient structures for almost twelve years. We are no stranger to maximum energy efficiency and proved that with a recent build in Bethesda Md. This home conforms to the very strict Passive House standard. Passive House uses three performance metrics to define energy efficiency. The one measurable component of this trifecta of efficiency is the blower door test. This test must show that the quality of construction and air-sealing yields a level of performance seldom seen in most conventionally built homes. The CraftWorks studio will perform at these very low numbers! For those of you wanting to be part of that test I urge you to register for notifications of new posts (use the e-mail subscription link) We’ll provide plenty of notices about our testing and  proof that this structure will stand up to the scrutiny of my claim.

The CraftWorks project is giving us the opportunity to showcase many of the tricks and techniques we’ve mastered over the years. For those of you who follow this build, you’ll notice that we’re not using a points system like LEED or NAHB’s Green Build program. This project will be an opportunity for PanelWrights to prove that real energy efficiency doesn’t cost a premium and isn’t difficult.

We’re very excited about this project as it should serve as a valuable training opportunity. I hope to educate builders, owners, code officials, and our states legislators about what energy efficiency is and how it can be achieved.

As a sign-off to this first of many posts, I want to direct you to an article about the current state of our energy code. Recent changes to the code will increase minimum standards and force us as an industry to build better buildings. What a concept! Better buildings for all the right reasons. The following article highlights the current fight and how the NAHB and other industry dinosaurs are fighting tooth and nail to hold our industry back based on inaccurate information.

http://www.greenbuildermag.com/Blogs/Ron-Jones/March-2011/Got-Mustard-

It’s a very good and short read that every building official and politician ought to digest and then join the fight to improve the way we build homes.

 

I hope we speak often and I hope you all make it to the ribbon cutting where we WILL christen this building as the most energy efficient building in West Virginia.

 

Off the Grid and Out of this World

Panelwrights is pleased to have been the SIP installers on this creative project designed by Hugh Lofting Timber Frames.  You can read all about it in the latest issue of Rural Builder Green RBG_Spring2011.  The PanelWrights team is trained and has the experience to handle a job of this caliber.  This particular job used polyurethane core panels and some of the special onsite challenges included difficult terrain, mud up to your you know whats, and consistent rain.  We’re happy to see the beautiful finished product.

The best laid plans…

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On site at CraftWorks – we begin the most energy-efficient building in West Virginia!

PanelWrights begins the most energy-efficient building in West Virginia

Finally!  On site work will begin tomorrow at CraftWorks here in Jefferson County, WV.  Dan and crew will be onsite to pour footers now that the weather is cooperating.  While they were waiting for optimum temperature for the concrete pour the guys spent time salvaging oak lumber from a turn of the century barn right down the road from the PanelWrights office.   Denailed, planed and power-washed, this 100 year old wood will find new life in CraftWorks studio.

CraftWorks at Cool Spring – Cool Spring Blog

CraftWorks at Cool Spring – Cool Spring Blog.