A Welcome Disruption: How Prefab Construction Savings could Transform the Industry White Paper | 2019-08-21 | Walls & Ceilings This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more. This Website Uses CookiesBy closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn…

In part I of this blog, we looked at some puzzling examples of unidentified substances from buildings I have investigated over the years and discussed how sometimes it is challenging to determine whether what looks like something that is growing on various surfaces of buildings is actually alive, dead, or neither. In my work, I came across a guru of unidentified substances, Russ Crutcher of MicroLab Northwest. I decided to interview Crutcher as a way of addressing the puzzles presented in Part I. If you are just interested in the results of Crutcher’s work, browse this blog’s  and take a…

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of posts describing the construction of a net-zero energy house in Rochester, Minnesota, by Tracee Vetting Wolf, Matt Vetting, and their son Max. You can find their complete blog here. A list of their previous posts appears at the bottom of this column. Before starting our net-zero house, we rented a 2,165-square-foot house built in the late ’90’s. The house has two levels, four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. The lower level of the house is one-half to three-quarters below ground, with the master bedroom and the kitchen on the upper level. A portion…

Writing from Long Island, New York, Joe C describes repairs that he’s been making to his house to correct water and insect damage. Two of the four walls of the room are exterior walls, and Joe is concerned that thermal bridging through the new framing he’s adding significantly degrade energy performance. “With all the extra studs, I’m concerned there will be a lot of thermal bridging,” he says in a Q&A post. “To counteract this I’m considering installing rigid foam [insulation] on the interior side of the wall framing.” For reference, on the outside of the studs is a layer…