This is an example of one of the products that we found during our research in Germany in February. It is a bracket made by Simpson Tie, that allows beams to be structurally bearing without penetrating the interior airtight barrier or interrupting the thermal envelope. We are currently talking to Simpson Tie to try and bring the brackets in to the US market.
Click on this link to see the video: Thermal-bridge free beam hanger
We are just back from the ACI conference in Austin. Many good discussions regarding PHIUS and the strong push that we are seeing towards, not just energy efficiency, but net-zero project. One of the products that we are seeing entering the market at reasonable prices are the Domestic Hot Water heaters using very efficient Heat Pumps. Some of these have COPs of 3.7, such as the Stiebal Eltron ( the highest efficiency model that we are seeing), also GE and Rheem are making them. One thing to remember regarding these units is that they are removing heat from whatever enclosure they are in. So placing one of these within the thermal envelope of your house will be great during the cooling season, but increase the demand of the heating system during the winter. We are looking at ways to capitalize on this characteristic by perhaps routing excess heat from the dryer to the heat pump location or by designing high airflow solar preheaters. We will see.
We are currently obsessed with vapor-open wall assemblies. In late January 2010 we traveled to Germany to visit the Agepan manufacturing facility and to meet with Hans-Robert Holzer (Marketing Manager) and Susanne Renz (Technical product Manager) to begin the process of using their products on our projects. Agepan manufactures several vapor-open sheathing materials, as well as OSB, and insulation. All are Formaldehyde-free and FSC certified. We also met Klaus Muller of Muller Schreinerei GmbH, who manufactures Optiwin Windows. We find them to be the highest performance window for the money.
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