One of the most over looked areas in creating an energy efficient home, whether old or new, is the the basement or crawl space. Conventional thinking has been that the because these areas are below grade and the earth is a natural insulator there is no need to to spend the money to add additional insulation. The problem with this thinking is that it simply is faulty. Most of us have have lived in homes or have been in basements that are cold and damp. This is the result of that traditional thinking. And because most mechanical equipment is placed in this cold and damp environment it has to work harder in order to heat our homes.

The culprit in all of this is concrete. While concrete may be an excellent structural material  it is a very poor insulator and is very porous,       (click on image to view article) allowing for moisture to be wicked from the outside of our structures to the inside. Furthermore, concrete’s thermal properties are such, that it will “absorb” the surrounding temperature to which it is exposed and maintain that temperature. There is some very excellent information available about how to mitigate this problem and one of the best books on the subject is a “Builder’s Guide to Cold Climates”. Also, visit www.GreenBuildingAdvisor.com for an ongoing discussion on green building in general.

The article to the left has some case studies that involve mostly energy retrofits for homes that were built in eras when energy efficiency of buildings was not a concern. While we applaud these efforts and think that they are excellent examples of  energy retrofits, by using Earthcore SIPs products we can improve upon these types of retrofits as well as provide better initial thermal barriers for basements and crawl spaces.

For the existing basement or crawl space Earthcore can offer a couple of products with better R-value than XPS rigid board and have the added benefit of  an OSB or Magnum Board skin that can reduce the labor required to insulate these spaces. By using these products one can eliminate much of the framing required to create an insulated wall. Because both OSB and Magnum Board are very strong structurally, framing can be reduced from 16″ OC to 4′ OC. These panels are applied with insulation already attached which reduces the labor to install rigid and batten insulation. When using the Magnum Board product  there is further reduction in cost because Magnum Board can be used as an alternative to drywall. So in one application insulation, structure and a finish wall can be installed in a single step.

These same same panels can be used in a floor application. With thicknesses ranging from 2″ to 4.5″  a floor system can be installed without greatly affecting the overall headroom available in the space. Using these panels can increase the R-value of the space up to a factor of 26.

In new construction Earthcore offers a complete foundation system that has all of the structure of a concrete wall, but the added benefit of an R-value of 60 and the ease of installation of a SIP panel. We accomplish this by using Magnum Board on both sides of the panel and combining this with our in house engineering. Magnum Board can be waterprooffed with a Watchdog system for a complete moisture barrier and on the interior the board can be finished just as drywall. By using this system a contractor can eliminate the expense of a concrete wall plus use the same crew to install the foundation that is used to frame the house. Using panels for the basement or crawl space is quicker and less expensive than concrete walls and best of all these types of foundations have been in the code book for years.

The bottom line for energy efficiency is don’t overlook the basement or crawl space. By improving the thermal performance of these areas one can increase the comfort of the space as well as create a  more friendly atmosphere for HVAC systems to operate. When considering how to improve the efficiency of these areas think in terms of ease of installation, increased R-value, and an economy of labor.