Don’t Do That! Do This: Proper Sealing Even When Certification Criteria is Met

If you’re in the home and building performance industry, you’ve likely seen some things that made you scratch your head and wonder, “What were they thinking?” You’ll be glad to know that you’re not alone. The good news is that if you’ve seen something installed incorrectly or inefficiently, you’re likely there to fix it…thank goodness!

This is the first in our new image-based series titled the “Don’t Do That, Do This.” In this monthly post, we’ll be sharing images of green building and home performance techniques that could have been implemented better using best practices—from improper insulation and installation to not meeting building codes and everything in between.

The goal when building any home, especially a high-performance home, should be to build a safe, comfortable, resilient, and energy-efficient home. Sometimes in the chase to achieve performance metrics for certification, one or more of those things get unintentionally sacrificed once the performance metrics are met. This IR photo shows a home that was previously tested out with a blower door measurement of 3 ACH50. That’s more than tight enough to meet the program certification metric.

However, due to poor rater oversight, the top plates of the home where the interior walls meet the unconditioned attic were never sealed properly. This oversight caused the home’s owners to sell their “green certified” home because they were never comfortable upstairs. The current owners had the home re-evaluated for remediation—and this image was taken. The opportunity to build a great home that was “certified green” was certainly missed here!

Tell us how you feel about this in the comments section and submit your own photos to content@building-performance.org.