Blog

Project Spotlight: Phoenix Haus - Launch of the H19 Passive House Project Spotlight Location: Mesa, Colorado, USA Project type: Single-family new construction Prefab Builders: Phoenix Haus Design and Passive House Certification: Shape Architecture Assembly: 2x framed wall with densepack cellulose, continuous wood fiber insulati … read more

Ten Golden Rules for Foam-Free Flat Roofs When insulating a flat roof wood structure, 475's goal, as always, is to do it in the most healthy, structurally sound, durable, and ecologically friendly way - achieving truly high performance. This means we try to generally avoid using foam above or below the roof deck (for more on that, see … read more

475 On-Site: High Performance Timber Framing with Bellwether Craftsmen of Vermont Project Spotlight Location: Huntington, Vermont, USA Project type: Single-family new construction Custom Design Builders: Bellwether Craftsmen Assembly: Timber frame, INTELLO X wrapping 2x6 wall with densepack cellulose, continuous Gutex MULTITHERM ext … read more

ADHERO and VISCONN Flex Their Airtight & Waterproof Might Although other WRBs may have entered the arena for the ASTM E331 (water infiltration testing) challenge, Pro Clima's ADHERO self-adhered membrane and VISCONN liquid-applied membrane emerge the champions. In independent, third-party tests both succeeded in passing for full 2 hou … read more

Foam Free Wall Assembly By Climate Zone Guidelines by Climate Zone Spanning eight climate zones, from very hot and humid to subarctic, and desert to rainforest, North America presents widely varied demands on our building enclosures. Anecdotally, there is much written on assemblies in cold climates but not so about hot climates … read more

Resistance Is Not Futile: Laura Blau and a Legal Win for Passive House Levels of Insulation When Laura Blau had a fine art exhibition in Paris, in the early 1980s, at the American Center, it was requested that two pieces be taken down - the observer saying one looked like a “foetus” (in English: “fetus”), and another like “merde” (tha … read more