September 26, 2024 • 25 mins
Welcome to the podcast! In this first episode, Alison Keay and Mark Hertzler dive into the rising importance of high-performance homes and offsite construction, exploring how certain innovations are reshaping the future of homebuilding across the U.S.
Learn more about Bensonwood by visiting our website: bensonwood.com
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Episode Transcript
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Alison Keay (00:00):
Music.
(00:05):
Welcome to a new era ofhomebuilding, where we explore
sustainable home building, highperformance design, innovative
off site construction andgroundbreaking practices that
are transforming thehomebuilding industry. This
podcast is produced by Unityhomes, a brand of bensonwood,
and welcome to our very firstpodcast episode. I'm your host,
Allison K Sales Lead at Unityhomes, and I've been in the
(00:28):
Building Science and Sustainablearchitecture realm for about 14
years, and I've been at withbensonwood for about eight
years.
Mark Hertzler (00:37):
And I'm your co host, Mark Hertzler, Director of
unity homes. I've been in homebuilding for a little over 25
years, which I think means Imust have started when I was 10.
But anyway, I've been with UDhomes for a little over six
years. So today
Alison Keay (00:55):
we're going to talk about the purpose of this
podcast, and what is a new eraof home building. What do we
mean by that? And highperformance and off site
construction is where we thinkthe future is going. So let's
start by talking about energyefficiency. Insulation is the
first thing that comes to mind.
Superior insulation in thewalls, roofs and floors that is
going to minimize heat loss andheat gain.
Mark Hertzler (01:18):
I think the important thing to remember is
it's about managing the movementof air, heat and moisture, and
however you accomplish that, aslong as you're managing that,
then you're well on your way toenergy efficiency, and, you
know, comfortable indoorenvironment.
Alison Keay (01:35):
And that also plays into the home, acting as a
system. So this is veryimportant for high performance
homes. Wood based assembliesthat react to the environment in
similar ways, like with theUnity homes assembly and up here
in the north northeast, wherewe're located, the insulation is
most commonly designed to dry tothe outside. And in other
(01:57):
climates, it is different. Andthe next thing that is also
talked a lot about with energyefficiency is air tightness. So
air tightness details in newconstruction have come a long
way. They can go a lot furtherand offsite construction is one
of the things that can havethose extra air tightness
details that really have thehome working as a system really
(02:19):
well. Windows and doors isanother thing to touch on. High
performance. Windows and doorsare going to reduce the heat
transfer and radianttemperatures and improve the air
tightness, and this usuallymeans triple pane windows.
Mark Hertzler (02:31):
And the great thing about the triple pane
windows, not only is it reducingthe heat transfer, but as you
mentioned, it's a surfacetemperature. So if you're
talking about comfort inside ifthat inside pane of the window
is closer in temperature to theair temperature, then it's not
going to feel cold. And that'sreally one of the advantages of
triple pane windows over doublepane windows, is that inside
(02:53):
surface temperature, and
Alison Keay (02:55):
we see the newer designs having more glazing,
where that becomes even moreimportant and and smaller, more
efficient designs mean thatyou're going to be closer to a
window no matter where you arein that floor plan, too. So
Windows can play an importantrole in comfort. We also have
HVAC systems, so we're with highperformance. We're looking at
advanced heating, ventilationand air conditioning, which is
(03:17):
what HVAC stands for. Thosesystems are going to be more
efficient and provide betterindoor air quality as well,
which all results in lowerenergy costs.
Mark Hertzler (03:27):
And the most common heating and cooling
system that are in highperformance houses now are air
source heat pumps. And airsource heat pumps are have a low
electrical load. They're veryefficient, and the technology
has improved significantly overthe last 10 or 15 years, and
they can operate in very coldclimates now. And keeping that
(03:51):
electrical low is important ifyou're going to go net zero all
electric keeps your PV system assmall as possible and allows you
to have lower upfront costs inthat area. When we talk about
net zero, what we're reallytalking about is net zero
energy, meaning you're gettingthe house with renewable energy
(04:15):
to the point where you'reproducing as much energy as
you're using over the course ofa year. And so that's the goal
of net zero energy, is to beable to produce as much
electricity as you are using.
Yeah,
Alison Keay (04:28):
I'll also mention HRVs and ERVs.
Mark Hertzler (04:31):
Can you explain to everyone the difference
between HRV and an ERV and whatthey what that means?
Alison Keay (04:38):
Yes, so I'll start with an HRV. So HRV is heat
recovery ventilator. Andessentially this is a mechanical
ventilation system that has acore that can has a heat
exchange core, so it'll actuallytransfer the temperature of the
outgoing air to the incomingair, saving energy. G on not
(05:01):
having to condition thatincoming air, but the Airstreams
themselves don't pass eachother, so it's keeping those
Airstreams separate, buttransferring that energy in that
core for your ventilation, andan ERV is energy recovery
ventilator, and so that's goingto be doing essentially the same
thing, but it does have anelement where humidity and
(05:21):
moisture are able to betransferred a little bit as
well.
Mark Hertzler (05:25):
And in the northern climates, we typically
recommend an HRV correct
Alison Keay (05:30):
right where the humidity exchange is less
necessary, yep. So given the airtightness of most high high
performance homes, they're goingto be required by code, but
they're a great addition to anHVAC system, just for the indoor
air quality benefits,
Mark Hertzler (05:46):
and that's one of the most common questions we get
when we are explaining highperformance and airtight houses
to people. As soon as youexplain that we're making the
house as airtight as possible,they ask, Well, how do you deal
with breathing and fresh air.
And as you just mentioned, it'sthrough that HRV, that
mechanical ventilation is reallywhat makes sure that the indoor,
(06:07):
indoor air quality is where itneeds to be.
Alison Keay (06:12):
Another aspect would be lighting. And this kind
of seems like a no brainernowadays, but LED lighting, it
has significant lower energyloads than even the CFLs that we
see still out there. And CFLmeans compact fluorescent
lighting. A benefit to thedesign itself can be maximizing
that natural light, soyou need to lean on electrical
lighting less, yeah,
Mark Hertzler (06:35):
and this is where the some of that automation can
also play a big part. LEDs are agreat fit for remote monitoring,
turning them off, just makingsure that you don't have lights
on where they don't need to be.
And so that is one aspect wheresort of automation and
technology can play a part inthe lower electrical use of your
(06:56):
house. Yeah,
Alison Keay (06:59):
there's some really smart lighting solutions out
there, there are so the nexttopic is sustainability. So this
is talking a lot about thematerials and the operational
use or energy use of the home aswell. So for materials, this
means the use of sustainable,non toxic, locally sourced
materials, sometimes that'srecycled materials that are
(07:21):
going to reduce environmentalimpact. For unity, that means
wood based materials andrecycled insulation, like our
cellulose we use
Mark Hertzler (07:30):
that we're really looking for in sustainability,
materials that are going to lasta long time as well. We want
this house to last, and that'sone of the most sustainable
things that you can do is, if ahouse is not lasting and it's
going to have to be torn down,there's a lot of energy that
goes into that, and building awood based house that's going to
(07:53):
last hundreds of years, andstoring all that carbon for all
that time.
Alison Keay (07:58):
And of course, renewable energy, the
integration of renewable energysystems like solar panels and
wind turbines to reduce theirreliance on fossil fuels. And
the most common way to get tonet zero is going to be the
addition of solar panels on yourhome as well. Next, we've got
durability and resilience. Thisis important for the overall
(08:18):
life of the home, for themaintenance that you're putting
into the home as well. And thisstarts with the with the
building envelope. Soconstruction of a durable, well
sealed building envelope thatwithstands weather extremes and
minimizes maintenance is goingto be really important, and it
hinges greatly on how thesystems manage moisture, and if
(08:38):
they can do that appropriatelyfor their climate. When
Mark Hertzler (08:41):
it comes to the moisture management on the
outside of the house, we referto that as bulk water.
Generally, it's rain. And howdoes that house shed the
rainwater? How does it come offof the roof? How does it come
off the siding, and how doesthat interact with the entire
building? So for durability,resiliency, we want to make sure
(09:03):
that the bulk water is managedproperly and it's drained away
from the house.
Alison Keay (09:09):
We also want to talk about the design a
resilient design is going to beis going to create a home that's
more resilient to naturaldisasters like earthquakes,
floods, hurricanes, and one ofour houses was even recently hit
by a tornado here in NewHampshire. And Mark you visited
that. Do you want to talk alittle bit about it?
Mark Hertzler (09:28):
Yeah, interesting case study. So one of our houses
was in a direct path of an EFone tornado, and you can see all
around the house. You know,trees that were toppled, snapped
in half. Just incredible forceof nature, taking the screens
off of the porch and wrappingthem around trees about 100
(09:51):
yards away and this particularhouse that had some cosmetic
damage, a couple of clapboardsbroken, some shingles. That were
pulled off by the wind, and acouple of windows that had
debris slammed against them thatwere broken. But other than
that, cosmetic damage, the housestood engineering wise. It was,
(10:12):
it was solid inside, no damagewhatsoever. The homeowners,
fortunately were sitting orWell, unfortunately, they were
on the reports when the tornadohit, but fortunately, they were
able to get inside before it gottoo bad, and they were able to
ride out that tornado completelyunscathed. So those things are
(10:33):
important to think about whereyou are, what your environment
is around you, as Allison said,whether it's earthquakes,
floods, hurricanes or evenwildfires in some areas. Yeah,
Alison Keay (10:44):
another. Another thing that New Hampshire
experiences a lot is poweroutages due to snow and ice
storms and resiliency and ourability to have the envelope
perform in a way that actuallyis protecting you during times
of power outages, through theincreased level of insulation to
protect you from excessive heat,and for losing power in the
(11:05):
summer and heat loss of yourhome during the winter, if you
lose power,
Mark Hertzler (11:11):
yeah, that's a good, very important point,
especially in the in thewintertime, you lose power if
you don't have a backup sourceof power, you want to keep your
House as warm as possible for aslong as possible, so well
insulated envelope airtight willallow you to go much longer,
keeping your house comfortableinside in those conditions. Yep,
Alison Keay (11:33):
we also have comfort and health. This has
become more and more of a reasonthat I think people are
searching out high performancehomes, and that starts with
thermal comfort, so maintainingconsistent indoor temperatures
throughout the home simply forcomfort reasons that you're not
always chasing that sweater andacoustic comfort is another
aspect. So the high levels ofinsulation and the triple pane
(11:56):
windows go into how quiet thehouse can be and how protected
it is from noises outside of thehome. You know, a lot of the
time we have noisy neighbors, wehave traffic or trains or things
like that that do our health abenefit to kind of buffer those
for the
Mark Hertzler (12:15):
thermal comfort.
You know, any house, you canturn your heat up high to try to
get that temperature up, butit's not necessarily
comfortable. Heat by justturning your heat up, different
types of heat are either blowinghot air for some period of time,
and then the thermostat tells itto shut off, and the temperature
starts dropping, and it's cold,and then comes back on, then it
(12:36):
blows again. And that constantfluctuation back and forth is
not necessarily comfortable. Andolder houses, not well
insulated, not very airtight,get what's called the stack
effect, where all the heat willrise to the highest point. So
the upper levels you'll be hot,the lower levels, you know, you
may be cold. So that thermalcomfort really goes to that
(13:00):
consistent feeling andtemperature throughout the
house, no matter where you'regoing, and just trying to
minimize the fluctuations,
Alison Keay (13:12):
enhanced ventilation systems that are
typically part of a highperformance home are going to
ensure a constant supply offresh air and the removal of
indoor pollutants. This isespecially important in areas of
wildfires, families that haveallergies, and can really be a
factor in childhood asthma aswell. So part of the indoor air
(13:34):
quality element is reducing thepollutants that are in the home
to start with. So thinking aboutthe materials you're bringing
into the home and their voccontent, thinking of the
combustion appliances that youmight have within the house,
which is one of our majorreasons for designing all
electric is to remove those.
Cooking can actually be a indoorair quality issue as well, and
(13:58):
especially when you're using agas range or a gas stove.
Mark Hertzler (14:04):
You had mentioned materials with low VOC explain
what VOCs are? Oh, yes.
Alison Keay (14:09):
So voc stands for volatile organic compounds, and
those are chemicals that arereleased via off gassing from
manmade materials, essentially.
So it's usually coming fromglues and other things that are
off gassing over time, releasinginto the air. Formaldehyde is
the biggest kind of culprit forpoor indoor air quality and off
(14:31):
gassing from things likefurniture, but also building
materials. Cabinetry is often agood one or not a good one.
Cabinetry is often a source ofVOCs, and so seeking out
specific brands and materialsthat that are low in their voc
content is important, and
Mark Hertzler (14:52):
some people are very sensitive to those VOCs.
Other people are not necessarilysensitive in the way that
they're aware. Yeah, but it addsto the in there. You know, the
low quality of the air insideand sometimes is not necessarily
noticed, but it does have animpact on your overall health,
whether it's anyone who hasallergies or asthma, those sorts
(15:18):
of things can make those worse,and removing those things can
actually make their healthbetter.
Alison Keay (15:23):
Indoor moisture control is important, and that's
where the exhaust, appropriateexhaust from the kitchen and the
bathrooms is important. So we'redesigning strategies to manage
the moisture and prevent thingslike mold growth and ensuring a
healthier indoor space for that,and that's going to rely on
mechanical solutions, so the HRVor ERV are going to be a player
(15:46):
in that. And we really are infavor of direct to the outdoors
kind of exhaust in the kitchenareas as well. You want to get
those indoor air pollutants andexcess moisture from boiling
that pot of pasta or somethinglike that out of the house as
soon as you can,
Mark Hertzler (16:01):
or cooking your fish. Oh, cooking fish,
Alison Keay (16:05):
you'll need, you'll need the air quality and
moisture control for that. Sothe second part of the future of
home building is off siteconstruction. There's different
forms of offsite construction.
Sometimes offsite constructioncan also be called just
prefabrication or prefabricatedconstruction. It can come in
volumetric or modular, as it'sbetter known, that's probably
(16:27):
the most common, and thatrequires fabricating in a
factory in boxes. So those aregoing to have at least three or
four, three sides to a box. Iguess it is four if you include
the ceiling and floor and twowall, two walls at least. And so
those are fabricated in that wayso that they can be lifted into
place by your crane, shipped ona truck, and put together on
(16:50):
site. And those can have agreater level of finishing, so
even plumbing, electrical,drywall, paint finishes even can
be installed in that type ofoffsite fabrication. And
Mark Hertzler (17:06):
most of you've probably seen this, the big
modular sections going down theroad on a truck, and they
probably had an escort with awide load, yeah. So that would
be the modular version. The
Alison Keay (17:17):
other type of offsite fabrication is called
panelization. This is a methodwhere the walls and roof and
floor systems are built aspanels, and it goes together a
lot more like a gingerbreadhouse might go together, and the
flexibility of the size of thepanels can vary, and they are
shipped a little bitdifferently, in that they can be
(17:39):
shipped upright and have smallertrucks potentially shipping
them. However, with panelizedconstruction, the finishes and
utilities are mostly completedon site
Mark Hertzler (17:49):
and just one other differentiation, so
there's sort of a thirdcategory, which is manufactured
housing. Yes, that's a separatecategory, manufactured housing,
what most people would refer toas a mobile home permanently has
wheels. Modular does is not thesame as manufactured. Modular
has floor framing. It's cranedinto place, and it's permanent.
(18:11):
Is not on wheels. Well, I'llalso
Alison Keay (18:13):
add the differences amongst their foundation types.
So with modular, because itcomes in a box and there is a
floor system on every piece.
There is a need to have at leasta crawl space foundation. So
most modular homes are going tobe on a full basement or a crawl
space foundation panelized. Itdoes allow you to build on a
slab on grade, which hasmultiple benefits, cost savings,
(18:34):
amongst other things,panelization can also have full
basement and walk out basements.
But the common advantage of allof these methods are that much
of the work can be done in acontrolled environment, out of
the weather, while the site isbeing prepared, so there's some
parallel processing going on,yeah, and
Mark Hertzler (18:53):
that allows for a much higher level of precision
in the final product. As Imentioned before, I've been in
the home building industry for alittle over 25 years. And I
started out building stickbuilding on site, swinging a
hammer. And there is somedrawbacks to doing that, and you
know, measuring and cuttingeverything on site. So a lot of
(19:16):
houses are built built that way,but the off site construction
can allow a much higher level ofprecision.
Alison Keay (19:23):
So we've got what Mark just alluded to, the
improved quality. So qualitycontrol in a controlled
environment is much easier.
Building in that factory settingallows for more control over the
construction process, thematerial, storage and all of
that leading to the higherquality, more consistent
product. There's precisionmanufacturing that's available
(19:44):
as well. We're using advancedtools and techniques to ensure
that the components are built totighter specifications, reducing
errors and defects. And there'san actual quality control
process that's overseeing thatin most manufacturing. Measuring
environments. Yeah, that's
Mark Hertzler (20:01):
a good point, because the off site
construction can still be, Iwant to say, somewhat low tech.
You know, it's in a controlledenvironment, but much of it is
still being done the way itwould be done on site or as
unity homes. Does we have somepretty advanced equipment that
is measuring, you know, cuttingeverything, assembling
(20:24):
everything to exact dimensions.
So there is a wide variety ofthat precision in the controlled
environment. And
Alison Keay (20:33):
I think one of the most sought after value points
of off site construction isusually the faster construction
time. There are processes thatare happening at the same time,
the site prep and buildingcomponent construction in the
factory can often occursimultaneously, significantly
reducing the overall site timeand timeline of the project.
(20:55):
Cost savings is the next valuepoint so the reduced labor costs
by using factory basedconstruction, it can be more
efficient, requiring fewerworkers, and done in less time,
which reduces the labor costs.
Yeah.
Mark Hertzler (21:08):
And for those of you in finance, it comes down to
even things like workers comp.
So when you have workers out onsite in those conditions, the
workers comp rate is very highcompared to having workers in a
factory in a much more safe andcontrolled environment. So it's
not just the actual labor that'sbeing reduced, but the other
(21:31):
costs that are around it thatcan be reduced as well
Alison Keay (21:36):
and minimized waste the precise manufacturing
processes results in lessmaterial waste, which lowers the
material costs and theenvironmental impact. There's
also some sustainabilityefficiencies that are possible
in a manufacturing environmentthat are not possible on a site
built job site, so for example,utilizing renewable energy to
(21:59):
power the machines that arebuilding the off site fabricated
components, recycling andreusing the wood that is the off
scraps. With off
Mark Hertzler (22:09):
site construction, it does increase
the overall safety, especiallyfor the people that are
producing the panels or themodules. As we had mentioned
earlier, the workers comp rateis much lower because it is a
safer environment. It alsoallows the opportunity to use
equipment to reduce the strainon the workers. So in many
(22:33):
factories, there are things likeoverhead cranes, there are
vacuum lifts, things that assistthe people that are moving those
materials around, so thatthey're not straining themselves
quite as hard. And that's justit's a safer and it's a
healthier environment for thepeople that are doing that work.
Alison Keay (22:52):
There's also the opportunity to reduce site
disruption, so we're minimizingdisturbance on the site by a
reduced timeline and a quieterconstruction period too, for
that framing stage. And that's areally great solution for infill
projects. There's going to beless noise, dust and disruption
(23:13):
to the neighbors and surroundingarea. Yeah,
Mark Hertzler (23:15):
we we've gotten that comment many times from
neighbors of projects that webuilt, where they've commented
on generally, as we mentionedbefore, they could be doing
framing for three four months.
And as anybody knows, it's had aproject that gone next to their
house. You know, there's nailguns and hammers and things
going on for that period oftime. So when you can come in
and within a few days to acouple of weeks, have all that
(23:38):
work done, it's a huge advantageto the neighbors. Off
Alison Keay (23:43):
site fabrication also allows for scalability with
efficient production. Off siteconstruction methods can be
scaled to produce multiple homessimultaneously, making it ideal
for larger developments and orhousing projects. And there's
also repeatable quality, so theconsistency of that construction
can ensure that each one ofthose units is meeting those
(24:05):
high standards and allows forgrowth in the in the housing
industry, which we so very badlyneed.
Mark Hertzler (24:12):
Yeah, and that scalability, what that
translates into for thehomeowners is a lower cost so
you can get a higher qualityproduct for a lower cost through
that scalability andrepeatability. Yes,
Alison Keay (24:27):
high performance has a reputation for being more
expensive. It is delivering morethan the standard code, so that
makes sense, but offsiteconstruction is the path to
lowering those costs for highperformance specifically as
well. That's
Mark Hertzler (24:41):
right, and that's really the goal that we're
working towards, is everybodyshould be living in a high
performance home that iscomfortable and healthy.
Alison Keay (24:51):
Thanks for listening to our very first
episode of a new era of homebuilding. If you're passionate
about high performance homeslike we are, be sure to
subscribe. To our podcast andstay tuned for our next episode
on the basics of off siteconstruction with guest Jay
Lepley of bensonwood. You won'twant to miss it. You can also
visit unityhomes.com to learnmore about our upcoming events.
(25:13):
Subscribe to our newsletter.
Check out our home plans and getin touch. Thanks to George
Peavey, Jason reamer and JoshRiemer of our company's very own
plum Gable band for the musicyou hear on this podcast, and
thanks to Damaris Graham for theproduction and editing of the
podcast. We hope you enjoyedthis episode. Until next time,
I'm Allison K and I'm MarkHertzler, and here's to better
building you.
Music.
(00:05):
Welcome to a new era ofhomebuilding, where we explore
sustainable home building, highperformance design, innovative
off site construction andgroundbreaking practices that
are transforming thehomebuilding industry. This
podcast is produced by Unityhomes, a brand of bensonwood,
and welcome to our very firstpodcast episode. I'm your host,
Allison K Sales Lead at Unityhomes, and I've been in the
(00:28):
Building Science and Sustainablearchitecture realm for about 14
years, and I've been at withbensonwood for about eight
years.
Mark Hertzler (00:37):
And I'm your co host, Mark Hertzler, Director of
unity homes. I've been in homebuilding for a little over 25
years, which I think means Imust have started when I was 10.
But anyway, I've been with UDhomes for a little over six
years. So today
Alison Keay (00:55):
we're going to talk about the purpose of this
podcast, and what is a new eraof home building. What do we
mean by that? And highperformance and off site
construction is where we thinkthe future is going. So let's
start by talking about energyefficiency. Insulation is the
first thing that comes to mind.
Superior insulation in thewalls, roofs and floors that is
going to minimize heat loss andheat gain.
Mark Hertzler (01:18):
I think the important thing to remember is
it's about managing the movementof air, heat and moisture, and
however you accomplish that, aslong as you're managing that,
then you're well on your way toenergy efficiency, and, you
know, comfortable indoorenvironment.
Alison Keay (01:35):
And that also plays into the home, acting as a
system. So this is veryimportant for high performance
homes. Wood based assembliesthat react to the environment in
similar ways, like with theUnity homes assembly and up here
in the north northeast, wherewe're located, the insulation is
most commonly designed to dry tothe outside. And in other
(01:57):
climates, it is different. Andthe next thing that is also
talked a lot about with energyefficiency is air tightness. So
air tightness details in newconstruction have come a long
way. They can go a lot furtherand offsite construction is one
of the things that can havethose extra air tightness
details that really have thehome working as a system really
(02:19):
well. Windows and doors isanother thing to touch on. High
performance. Windows and doorsare going to reduce the heat
transfer and radianttemperatures and improve the air
tightness, and this usuallymeans triple pane windows.
Mark Hertzler (02:31):
And the great thing about the triple pane
windows, not only is it reducingthe heat transfer, but as you
mentioned, it's a surfacetemperature. So if you're
talking about comfort inside ifthat inside pane of the window
is closer in temperature to theair temperature, then it's not
going to feel cold. And that'sreally one of the advantages of
triple pane windows over doublepane windows, is that inside
(02:53):
surface temperature, and
Alison Keay (02:55):
we see the newer designs having more glazing,
where that becomes even moreimportant and and smaller, more
efficient designs mean thatyou're going to be closer to a
window no matter where you arein that floor plan, too. So
Windows can play an importantrole in comfort. We also have
HVAC systems, so we're with highperformance. We're looking at
advanced heating, ventilationand air conditioning, which is
(03:17):
what HVAC stands for. Thosesystems are going to be more
efficient and provide betterindoor air quality as well,
which all results in lowerenergy costs.
Mark Hertzler (03:27):
And the most common heating and cooling
system that are in highperformance houses now are air
source heat pumps. And airsource heat pumps are have a low
electrical load. They're veryefficient, and the technology
has improved significantly overthe last 10 or 15 years, and
they can operate in very coldclimates now. And keeping that
(03:51):
electrical low is important ifyou're going to go net zero all
electric keeps your PV system assmall as possible and allows you
to have lower upfront costs inthat area. When we talk about
net zero, what we're reallytalking about is net zero
energy, meaning you're gettingthe house with renewable energy
(04:15):
to the point where you'reproducing as much energy as
you're using over the course ofa year. And so that's the goal
of net zero energy, is to beable to produce as much
electricity as you are using.
Yeah,
Alison Keay (04:28):
I'll also mention HRVs and ERVs.
Mark Hertzler (04:31):
Can you explain to everyone the difference
between HRV and an ERV and whatthey what that means?
Alison Keay (04:38):
Yes, so I'll start with an HRV. So HRV is heat
recovery ventilator. Andessentially this is a mechanical
ventilation system that has acore that can has a heat
exchange core, so it'll actuallytransfer the temperature of the
outgoing air to the incomingair, saving energy. G on not
(05:01):
having to condition thatincoming air, but the Airstreams
themselves don't pass eachother, so it's keeping those
Airstreams separate, buttransferring that energy in that
core for your ventilation, andan ERV is energy recovery
ventilator, and so that's goingto be doing essentially the same
thing, but it does have anelement where humidity and
(05:21):
moisture are able to betransferred a little bit as
well.
Mark Hertzler (05:25):
And in the northern climates, we typically
recommend an HRV correct
Alison Keay (05:30):
right where the humidity exchange is less
necessary, yep. So given the airtightness of most high high
performance homes, they're goingto be required by code, but
they're a great addition to anHVAC system, just for the indoor
air quality benefits,
Mark Hertzler (05:46):
and that's one of the most common questions we get
when we are explaining highperformance and airtight houses
to people. As soon as youexplain that we're making the
house as airtight as possible,they ask, Well, how do you deal
with breathing and fresh air.
And as you just mentioned, it'sthrough that HRV, that
mechanical ventilation is reallywhat makes sure that the indoor,
(06:07):
indoor air quality is where itneeds to be.
Alison Keay (06:12):
Another aspect would be lighting. And this kind
of seems like a no brainernowadays, but LED lighting, it
has significant lower energyloads than even the CFLs that we
see still out there. And CFLmeans compact fluorescent
lighting. A benefit to thedesign itself can be maximizing
that natural light, soyou need to lean on electrical
lighting less, yeah,
Mark Hertzler (06:35):
and this is where the some of that automation can
also play a big part. LEDs are agreat fit for remote monitoring,
turning them off, just makingsure that you don't have lights
on where they don't need to be.
And so that is one aspect wheresort of automation and
technology can play a part inthe lower electrical use of your
(06:56):
house. Yeah,
Alison Keay (06:59):
there's some really smart lighting solutions out
there, there are so the nexttopic is sustainability. So this
is talking a lot about thematerials and the operational
use or energy use of the home aswell. So for materials, this
means the use of sustainable,non toxic, locally sourced
materials, sometimes that'srecycled materials that are
(07:21):
going to reduce environmentalimpact. For unity, that means
wood based materials andrecycled insulation, like our
cellulose we use
Mark Hertzler (07:30):
that we're really looking for in sustainability,
materials that are going to lasta long time as well. We want
this house to last, and that'sone of the most sustainable
things that you can do is, if ahouse is not lasting and it's
going to have to be torn down,there's a lot of energy that
goes into that, and building awood based house that's going to
(07:53):
last hundreds of years, andstoring all that carbon for all
that time.
Alison Keay (07:58):
And of course, renewable energy, the
integration of renewable energysystems like solar panels and
wind turbines to reduce theirreliance on fossil fuels. And
the most common way to get tonet zero is going to be the
addition of solar panels on yourhome as well. Next, we've got
durability and resilience. Thisis important for the overall
(08:18):
life of the home, for themaintenance that you're putting
into the home as well. And thisstarts with the with the
building envelope. Soconstruction of a durable, well
sealed building envelope thatwithstands weather extremes and
minimizes maintenance is goingto be really important, and it
hinges greatly on how thesystems manage moisture, and if
(08:38):
they can do that appropriatelyfor their climate. When
Mark Hertzler (08:41):
it comes to the moisture management on the
outside of the house, we referto that as bulk water.
Generally, it's rain. And howdoes that house shed the
rainwater? How does it come offof the roof? How does it come
off the siding, and how doesthat interact with the entire
building? So for durability,resiliency, we want to make sure
(09:03):
that the bulk water is managedproperly and it's drained away
from the house.
Alison Keay (09:09):
We also want to talk about the design a
resilient design is going to beis going to create a home that's
more resilient to naturaldisasters like earthquakes,
floods, hurricanes, and one ofour houses was even recently hit
by a tornado here in NewHampshire. And Mark you visited
that. Do you want to talk alittle bit about it?
Mark Hertzler (09:28):
Yeah, interesting case study. So one of our houses
was in a direct path of an EFone tornado, and you can see all
around the house. You know,trees that were toppled, snapped
in half. Just incredible forceof nature, taking the screens
off of the porch and wrappingthem around trees about 100
(09:51):
yards away and this particularhouse that had some cosmetic
damage, a couple of clapboardsbroken, some shingles. That were
pulled off by the wind, and acouple of windows that had
debris slammed against them thatwere broken. But other than
that, cosmetic damage, the housestood engineering wise. It was,
(10:12):
it was solid inside, no damagewhatsoever. The homeowners,
fortunately were sitting orWell, unfortunately, they were
on the reports when the tornadohit, but fortunately, they were
able to get inside before it gottoo bad, and they were able to
ride out that tornado completelyunscathed. So those things are
(10:33):
important to think about whereyou are, what your environment
is around you, as Allison said,whether it's earthquakes,
floods, hurricanes or evenwildfires in some areas. Yeah,
Alison Keay (10:44):
another. Another thing that New Hampshire
experiences a lot is poweroutages due to snow and ice
storms and resiliency and ourability to have the envelope
perform in a way that actuallyis protecting you during times
of power outages, through theincreased level of insulation to
protect you from excessive heat,and for losing power in the
(11:05):
summer and heat loss of yourhome during the winter, if you
lose power,
Mark Hertzler (11:11):
yeah, that's a good, very important point,
especially in the in thewintertime, you lose power if
you don't have a backup sourceof power, you want to keep your
House as warm as possible for aslong as possible, so well
insulated envelope airtight willallow you to go much longer,
keeping your house comfortableinside in those conditions. Yep,
Alison Keay (11:33):
we also have comfort and health. This has
become more and more of a reasonthat I think people are
searching out high performancehomes, and that starts with
thermal comfort, so maintainingconsistent indoor temperatures
throughout the home simply forcomfort reasons that you're not
always chasing that sweater andacoustic comfort is another
aspect. So the high levels ofinsulation and the triple pane
(11:56):
windows go into how quiet thehouse can be and how protected
it is from noises outside of thehome. You know, a lot of the
time we have noisy neighbors, wehave traffic or trains or things
like that that do our health abenefit to kind of buffer those
for the
Mark Hertzler (12:15):
thermal comfort.
You know, any house, you canturn your heat up high to try to
get that temperature up, butit's not necessarily
comfortable. Heat by justturning your heat up, different
types of heat are either blowinghot air for some period of time,
and then the thermostat tells itto shut off, and the temperature
starts dropping, and it's cold,and then comes back on, then it
(12:36):
blows again. And that constantfluctuation back and forth is
not necessarily comfortable. Andolder houses, not well
insulated, not very airtight,get what's called the stack
effect, where all the heat willrise to the highest point. So
the upper levels you'll be hot,the lower levels, you know, you
may be cold. So that thermalcomfort really goes to that
(13:00):
consistent feeling andtemperature throughout the
house, no matter where you'regoing, and just trying to
minimize the fluctuations,
Alison Keay (13:12):
enhanced ventilation systems that are
typically part of a highperformance home are going to
ensure a constant supply offresh air and the removal of
indoor pollutants. This isespecially important in areas of
wildfires, families that haveallergies, and can really be a
factor in childhood asthma aswell. So part of the indoor air
(13:34):
quality element is reducing thepollutants that are in the home
to start with. So thinking aboutthe materials you're bringing
into the home and their voccontent, thinking of the
combustion appliances that youmight have within the house,
which is one of our majorreasons for designing all
electric is to remove those.
Cooking can actually be a indoorair quality issue as well, and
(13:58):
especially when you're using agas range or a gas stove.
Mark Hertzler (14:04):
You had mentioned materials with low VOC explain
what VOCs are? Oh, yes.
Alison Keay (14:09):
So voc stands for volatile organic compounds, and
those are chemicals that arereleased via off gassing from
manmade materials, essentially.
So it's usually coming fromglues and other things that are
off gassing over time, releasinginto the air. Formaldehyde is
the biggest kind of culprit forpoor indoor air quality and off
(14:31):
gassing from things likefurniture, but also building
materials. Cabinetry is often agood one or not a good one.
Cabinetry is often a source ofVOCs, and so seeking out
specific brands and materialsthat that are low in their voc
content is important, and
Mark Hertzler (14:52):
some people are very sensitive to those VOCs.
Other people are not necessarilysensitive in the way that
they're aware. Yeah, but it addsto the in there. You know, the
low quality of the air insideand sometimes is not necessarily
noticed, but it does have animpact on your overall health,
whether it's anyone who hasallergies or asthma, those sorts
(15:18):
of things can make those worse,and removing those things can
actually make their healthbetter.
Alison Keay (15:23):
Indoor moisture control is important, and that's
where the exhaust, appropriateexhaust from the kitchen and the
bathrooms is important. So we'redesigning strategies to manage
the moisture and prevent thingslike mold growth and ensuring a
healthier indoor space for that,and that's going to rely on
mechanical solutions, so the HRVor ERV are going to be a player
(15:46):
in that. And we really are infavor of direct to the outdoors
kind of exhaust in the kitchenareas as well. You want to get
those indoor air pollutants andexcess moisture from boiling
that pot of pasta or somethinglike that out of the house as
soon as you can,
Mark Hertzler (16:01):
or cooking your fish. Oh, cooking fish,
Alison Keay (16:05):
you'll need, you'll need the air quality and
moisture control for that. Sothe second part of the future of
home building is off siteconstruction. There's different
forms of offsite construction.
Sometimes offsite constructioncan also be called just
prefabrication or prefabricatedconstruction. It can come in
volumetric or modular, as it'sbetter known, that's probably
(16:27):
the most common, and thatrequires fabricating in a
factory in boxes. So those aregoing to have at least three or
four, three sides to a box. Iguess it is four if you include
the ceiling and floor and twowall, two walls at least. And so
those are fabricated in that wayso that they can be lifted into
place by your crane, shipped ona truck, and put together on
(16:50):
site. And those can have agreater level of finishing, so
even plumbing, electrical,drywall, paint finishes even can
be installed in that type ofoffsite fabrication. And
Mark Hertzler (17:06):
most of you've probably seen this, the big
modular sections going down theroad on a truck, and they
probably had an escort with awide load, yeah. So that would
be the modular version. The
Alison Keay (17:17):
other type of offsite fabrication is called
panelization. This is a methodwhere the walls and roof and
floor systems are built aspanels, and it goes together a
lot more like a gingerbreadhouse might go together, and the
flexibility of the size of thepanels can vary, and they are
shipped a little bitdifferently, in that they can be
(17:39):
shipped upright and have smallertrucks potentially shipping
them. However, with panelizedconstruction, the finishes and
utilities are mostly completedon site
Mark Hertzler (17:49):
and just one other differentiation, so
there's sort of a thirdcategory, which is manufactured
housing. Yes, that's a separatecategory, manufactured housing,
what most people would refer toas a mobile home permanently has
wheels. Modular does is not thesame as manufactured. Modular
has floor framing. It's cranedinto place, and it's permanent.
(18:11):
Is not on wheels. Well, I'llalso
Alison Keay (18:13):
add the differences amongst their foundation types.
So with modular, because itcomes in a box and there is a
floor system on every piece.
There is a need to have at leasta crawl space foundation. So
most modular homes are going tobe on a full basement or a crawl
space foundation panelized. Itdoes allow you to build on a
slab on grade, which hasmultiple benefits, cost savings,
(18:34):
amongst other things,panelization can also have full
basement and walk out basements.
But the common advantage of allof these methods are that much
of the work can be done in acontrolled environment, out of
the weather, while the site isbeing prepared, so there's some
parallel processing going on,yeah, and
Mark Hertzler (18:53):
that allows for a much higher level of precision
in the final product. As Imentioned before, I've been in
the home building industry for alittle over 25 years. And I
started out building stickbuilding on site, swinging a
hammer. And there is somedrawbacks to doing that, and you
know, measuring and cuttingeverything on site. So a lot of
(19:16):
houses are built built that way,but the off site construction
can allow a much higher level ofprecision.
Alison Keay (19:23):
So we've got what Mark just alluded to, the
improved quality. So qualitycontrol in a controlled
environment is much easier.
Building in that factory settingallows for more control over the
construction process, thematerial, storage and all of
that leading to the higherquality, more consistent
product. There's precisionmanufacturing that's available
(19:44):
as well. We're using advancedtools and techniques to ensure
that the components are built totighter specifications, reducing
errors and defects. And there'san actual quality control
process that's overseeing thatin most manufacturing. Measuring
environments. Yeah, that's
Mark Hertzler (20:01):
a good point, because the off site
construction can still be, Iwant to say, somewhat low tech.
You know, it's in a controlledenvironment, but much of it is
still being done the way itwould be done on site or as
unity homes. Does we have somepretty advanced equipment that
is measuring, you know, cuttingeverything, assembling
(20:24):
everything to exact dimensions.
So there is a wide variety ofthat precision in the controlled
environment. And
Alison Keay (20:33):
I think one of the most sought after value points
of off site construction isusually the faster construction
time. There are processes thatare happening at the same time,
the site prep and buildingcomponent construction in the
factory can often occursimultaneously, significantly
reducing the overall site timeand timeline of the project.
(20:55):
Cost savings is the next valuepoint so the reduced labor costs
by using factory basedconstruction, it can be more
efficient, requiring fewerworkers, and done in less time,
which reduces the labor costs.
Yeah.
Mark Hertzler (21:08):
And for those of you in finance, it comes down to
even things like workers comp.
So when you have workers out onsite in those conditions, the
workers comp rate is very highcompared to having workers in a
factory in a much more safe andcontrolled environment. So it's
not just the actual labor that'sbeing reduced, but the other
(21:31):
costs that are around it thatcan be reduced as well
Alison Keay (21:36):
and minimized waste the precise manufacturing
processes results in lessmaterial waste, which lowers the
material costs and theenvironmental impact. There's
also some sustainabilityefficiencies that are possible
in a manufacturing environmentthat are not possible on a site
built job site, so for example,utilizing renewable energy to
(21:59):
power the machines that arebuilding the off site fabricated
components, recycling andreusing the wood that is the off
scraps. With off
Mark Hertzler (22:09):
site construction, it does increase
the overall safety, especiallyfor the people that are
producing the panels or themodules. As we had mentioned
earlier, the workers comp rateis much lower because it is a
safer environment. It alsoallows the opportunity to use
equipment to reduce the strainon the workers. So in many
(22:33):
factories, there are things likeoverhead cranes, there are
vacuum lifts, things that assistthe people that are moving those
materials around, so thatthey're not straining themselves
quite as hard. And that's justit's a safer and it's a
healthier environment for thepeople that are doing that work.
Alison Keay (22:52):
There's also the opportunity to reduce site
disruption, so we're minimizingdisturbance on the site by a
reduced timeline and a quieterconstruction period too, for
that framing stage. And that's areally great solution for infill
projects. There's going to beless noise, dust and disruption
(23:13):
to the neighbors and surroundingarea. Yeah,
Mark Hertzler (23:15):
we we've gotten that comment many times from
neighbors of projects that webuilt, where they've commented
on generally, as we mentionedbefore, they could be doing
framing for three four months.
And as anybody knows, it's had aproject that gone next to their
house. You know, there's nailguns and hammers and things
going on for that period oftime. So when you can come in
and within a few days to acouple of weeks, have all that
(23:38):
work done, it's a huge advantageto the neighbors. Off
Alison Keay (23:43):
site fabrication also allows for scalability with
efficient production. Off siteconstruction methods can be
scaled to produce multiple homessimultaneously, making it ideal
for larger developments and orhousing projects. And there's
also repeatable quality, so theconsistency of that construction
can ensure that each one ofthose units is meeting those
(24:05):
high standards and allows forgrowth in the in the housing
industry, which we so very badlyneed.
Mark Hertzler (24:12):
Yeah, and that scalability, what that
translates into for thehomeowners is a lower cost so
you can get a higher qualityproduct for a lower cost through
that scalability andrepeatability. Yes,
Alison Keay (24:27):
high performance has a reputation for being more
expensive. It is delivering morethan the standard code, so that
makes sense, but offsiteconstruction is the path to
lowering those costs for highperformance specifically as
well. That's
Mark Hertzler (24:41):
right, and that's really the goal that we're
working towards, is everybodyshould be living in a high
performance home that iscomfortable and healthy.
Alison Keay (24:51):
Thanks for listening to our very first
episode of a new era of homebuilding. If you're passionate
about high performance homeslike we are, be sure to
subscribe. To our podcast andstay tuned for our next episode
on the basics of off siteconstruction with guest Jay
Lepley of bensonwood. You won'twant to miss it. You can also
visit unityhomes.com to learnmore about our upcoming events.
(25:13):
Subscribe to our newsletter.
Check out our home plans and getin touch. Thanks to George
Peavey, Jason reamer and JoshRiemer of our company's very own
plum Gable band for the musicyou hear on this podcast, and
thanks to Damaris Graham for theproduction and editing of the
podcast. We hope you enjoyedthis episode. Until next time,
I'm Allison K and I'm MarkHertzler, and here's to better
building you.
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