Our first Exemplary Buildings Program charrette was ably led by task force member Brad Carmichael of JRS Engineering. The set of guidelines that came out of the charrette includes several simple and cost-efficient common wall assembly designs suitable for affordable multifamily housing construction.
For each wall type, guidelines are provided for the following characteristics:
- Achieving Effective R22 Assembly Thermal Efficiency
- Framing Considerations
- Assembly Airtightness
- Water Management
- Vapor Control
- Cladding Attachment
- Material Durability
“Guidelines for Wall Assemblies 1.0” flipbook [download or share]:
We’re eager for these guidelines to get out in the field and put in play to encourage this critically important work. Performance data from the Exemplary Buildings Program demonstration projects—and data from any developers who apply them and are willing to share their learnings with us—will be used to continually refine the guidelines and update these publications.
Our thanks to the wall assembly charrette’s sponsors: Construction Instruction, JRS Engineering, and OrePac.
About Our Design Charrettes
HDC’s Exemplary Buildings Program, led by a task force of remarkably committed local thought and practice leaders, champions development of housing that is simultaneously healthy, safe, ultra-energy-efficient and affordable.
We believe having standardized practices in place will help us more consistently and cost-effectively achieve our performance goals.
To define those standardized practices, we’re hosting a series of intensive design charrettes focused on seven technical areas (Balanced Ventilation & Heat Recovery; Domestic Hot Water; Healthy Building Materials; Early Integrative Design; Solar Integration; Wall Assembly; and Water Conservation & Management). Each charrette will produce a set of recommended guidelines for that particular technical area.
The guidelines are intended to streamline the process of building ultra-efficient homes and facilitate the affordable housing sector’s ability to achieve construction cost efficiency, quality, and durability while pursuing the ultra-efficiency performance goals of HDC’s Exemplary Buildings Program and the specifications for projects in King County, Washington.
