Visitors experiencing the 2016 edition of The New American Home® in Las Vegas won’t just see and hear how Owens Corning is helping builders turn building science into building genius™ –they will be able to feel it! That’s because The New American Home® was designed and built with comfort in mind. How did builder Element Design Build achieve a high-performing, uber-comfortable home in one of North America’s most challenging environments?
1. Connecting the Builder’s Vision with Building Science
Element Design Build owner Josh Anderson had a vision to create a comfortable, energy efficient home without compromising a design aesthetic incorporating extensive glass to take in the impressive Las Vegas skyline . “Essentially, we were building a glass home in the desert,” Josh remarked. Understanding that vision at the blueprint stage was central to deploying Building Science that helps the home deliver ultimate energy efficiency and comfort.
2. Performance Through Predictive Modeling
With the builder’s vision in mind, Owens Corning building scientists applied predictive performance modeling to assess the home’s comfort under many different variables including climate, home orientation, topography (the home is literally built into a mountain), seasonal weather variances and even the clothing of occupants at various times of the year. Every room of the house was evaluated and the mean radiant temperature was considered to address a range of thermal, air and moisture variables.
3. A Spirit of Collaboration
Armed with the builder’s vision and modeling data, Owens Corning building scientists collaborated with the Element Design Build team from blueprint to completion to achieve a comfortable, high-performing home that is greater than the sum of its parts.
4. Comfort Delivered
Las Vegas is famous for its triple-degree temps, but frigid temperatures are also common in the winter and the desert climate means there is often a huge variance between daytime and evening temperatures. And as temperatures shift, so does the mean dew point, creating moisture management considerations. Element Design Build and Owens Corning Building Science experts created a customized, climate-specific strategy that assesses how the home performs year-round, allowing the home to balance air and moisture levels while minimizing thermal bridging in the home’s walls. The result? A home that is as comfortable in January as it is in July, March or October.
Don’t miss the finished New American Home at IBS- Visit Owens Corning Booth #P3 for all the info.
Photo Credit: Element Design Build, Video Courtesy of NAHB
The New American Home® is a registered trademark of the National Association of Home Builders.