Sustainable Home Building and Remodeling - North Twin Builders

April 13, 2022

By: John Volkmann
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Sustainability in the world of new home construction or renovation can take on a variety of meanings. At North Twin Builders, we believe sustainability starts with minimizing resource usage from the materials selected to the home design and energy management.

We pair building code with building science and have established new construction methods that surpass code and make the homes physically stronger, while also reducing materials. One example is our transition from 16-inch studs centers on walls to 2-foot centers to remove wood that is not needed while more evenly distributing weight for the overhead 2-foot centered trusses. The result is smart framing because when you remove extra studs from walls, you achieve a better net R-value and you also use fewer trees to build the home.

Insulating Your Dollars

The type of insulation used in your home can have a long-term impact on your lifetime energy usage. Many contractors still use insulation with an R value of 19, while building code says they should be using a minimum of R value 20. Our team at North Twin uses R-21 value insulation, which is made for 5 ½-inch thick walls. On the exterior of your home, we recommend an additional layer of foam insulation to further reduce heat transfer, while we look to use cellulose in the attic over traditional fiberglass, which is less effective when air is mixing buoyantly. Cellulose is made from recycled newspaper, so we avoid the cost and emissions of factory fiberglass production, reducing the impact on the environment.

Letting the Light Shine

While windows help us see the beauty surrounding our homes, one way to further improve sustainability is by limiting the number of windows, especially for homes built in the Midwest. A typical window will offer an R value of 3, leaking energy far more than the surrounding walls, and the only way to practically improve its thermal performance would be to either reduce the number or size of windows, because windows with a higher R value are a specialty product and, this can vastly increase the initial construction costs. While appealing from a sustainability perspective, their costs are high enough to be considered unfeasible for most homeowners.

By building houses sized for the family and following traditional square and rectangular floorplans, the homeowner can save on materials and labor, thus reducing the cost to build the home and eliminating material usage to let the forests grow taller.

Siding Smarts

The siding used in the home construction can also improve sustainability and energy usage. The popular vinyl siding is made from oil, fades, and becomes brittle over time. North Twin Builders recommends looking into options for LP Smart Siding, which is a greatly improved OSB material: it’s made locally, offers a longer warranty, and is more durable and weather resistant. Wood siding is another option to consider, but does require staining every four to five years, so maintenance costs or homeowner labor can be a concern.

Natural Beauty

Sustainability extends beyond the home and includes things like the landscaping and driveway. Fieldstone and gravel driveways leading up to a home are more environmentally friendly than concrete or blacktop, while natural grasses and wood decks also make an impact. The industry has seen a shift from wood-based decks to composite decks, which offers less maintenance free but does use a high amount of plastic. Many sustainably-minded families choose to put in a treated deck with wood grown and treated locally. With minimum upkeep, these all-wood decks can last for decades.

Creating Designs

During the planning phase of a sustainable home, a consultation with North Twin Builders will help improve efficiencies, balance sustainable sourcing costs, and minimize the embodied energy and carbon footprint of the selected structure. We help to analyze the materials selected to ensure they are durable because we design our homes to last 100+ years with basic maintenance. In our consultation, we plan for thermal efficiencies in creating homes that are beautiful with consistent surfaces and designs we can properly insulate, cautioning the homeowners about layouts that can lead to future issues. We also look at budgeting for energy efficiency, exploring options for LEED certification and alternative energy solutions from solar and wind. This sustainable building plan balances energy, cost, and material efficiency to reduce the total embodied energy in the home.