205 South 6th Street.
What makes this build unique?
For this build we paid extra attention towards its environmental impact. We wanted to build a highly energy efficient house that could withstand Gunnison winters, made with natural and local materials. With the help of volunteers, our dedicated green builder and fellow environmentalists, we were able to meet this goal with flying colors.
How it was built!
This house was built with thick insulated walls, using a combination of Straw bale and Borate only Applegate Cellulose, as well as a thick layer of insulation in the attic and under the floor. Instead of spray foam, we opted for Havenlock wool in the cavities between the windows, doors and the framing. We also used insulating materials like rock wool and cork.
The house is an “Air-Tight, Vapor Open" enclosure. It has R-45 to R-70 Walls, R-55 Floor and R-85 Roof with a perm rating of 40. It is well insulated and has a high ability to dry (Sometimes referred to as "Breathable"). We did this using a Mento WRB and Air Control Layer installed with 1x4 spruce diagonal "Skip Sheathing" as well as an Intello air and vapor control layer in-floor system.
For the framing of the house we used Rough framed 2x6 Local Air-Dried Spruce walls. The floor framing is all local Colorado rough cut, air dried Doug fir. Our trusses were built by inmates at Crowley Prison as part of a very successful rehabilitation program. The Finish and Sub Floor act as one floor made with 2x6 T&G Colorado pine. We used local Doug Fir timbers for decking and siding.
We used straw clay for mass and sound attenuation in our interior walls. We opted to use Lathe for the walls so volunteers could easily apply the LimeStrong Plaster. For the bathroom we used Tadelakt, a waterproof, antimicrobial, soap stone like material.
We installed high performance quad-pane Alpen windows and doors and opted for larger south facing windows to allow for higher solar heat gain.
The house temperature is efficiently regulated with a Minotair HRV system. We also installed an Air to water Sanden Heat Pump which provides domestic hot water to the house.
The homeowners went with a 6KW solar system to power their all electric home. During the day the system provides more power than the homeowners could ever possibly use.
Cabinets and countertops were also built through Crowley Prison’s rehabilitation program. The tile, interior doors, bathtub, toilet and other important pieces to the house were donated or reclaimed.
Thanks to help from Rich Stromberg of Western University, Onset Instruments and Habitat, we have installed sensors to monitor many aspects of how our building behaves. This typical array of three sensors at different depths, will monitor the temperature and humidity patterns in all our walls.
