Cold
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A Plumbing Feature Every Home Should Have
Install ball valves where they're easily accessible for emergency plumbing shutoffs where and when you need them
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Pouring a Concrete Foundation in Cold Weather
How do you keep concrete warm when everything else is freezing?
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Cold-Climate Vapor Control
Contrary to the American IRC, the Canadian NBC allows only one method of vapor management to be used in a residential building
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An Avoidable Downside to Heat Pumps
Heat pumps have an Achilles' heel in the form of improper pairing with electric resistance auxiliary heat
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Building Affordable High-Performance Housing
What are the essentials, and what gets trimmed from the budget?
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Pretty Good House Benchmarks and Assemblies
Meet high-performance energy efficiency goals by following the PGH approach to designing and building
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How Do Heat Pumps Get Heat From Cold Air? Part 2
Reframing a common question to better understand why heat pumps really do work in extremely cold climates
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Air-Sealing and Insulating an Existing Wall
What are the most effective air-sealing strategies and best insulation types for minimizing airflow through a north-facing wall?
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Details for a “High-Performance Garage”
An insulated slab, Larsen truss wall system, careful air-sealing, and dense-packed insulation in deep cavities mitigate heat losses at a garage door
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Rafter Tail Removal for Home Performance Upgrade
A “chainsaw retrofit” was the solution for creating continuous air and thermal barriers from wall to roof on an old timber-frame farmhouse
