After the drywall is up and finished.

It is part of the envelope.

I do mine after home is complete so that I can test ductleakage also and verify efficiency of system
water heater windows etc.

the soonest would be as brickeyee says
when sheetrock is finished.

going into attic when sheetrock is finished
will allow you to see where light enters attic from
living space below. this will show you leakage
to seal prior to blower door test & attic insulation.

someone else here does a blower door when blacked in..
but I've never done that. maybe he is a builder??

best of luck

if you are willing to pay for 2, then certainly do one before the insulation and drywall. From experience, this is one of the easiest ways to find and seal leaks in your shell. I view the shell as your external layer of defense against the elements. Your siding, sheathing, windows and doors. I view your envelope as your complete wall assembly. Both are important. If you can make your shell as tight as possible, doing a tight envelope will only make it better. Do your second one after the gyp is installed and your HVAC system is installed (including ducts taped/sealed, etc).
If you only do one, this is a varying of opinion. I still prefer prior to insulation so you can find the leaks. Other Building Scientists also recommend this method. Prior to the hvac install can also allow TRUE j calcs to be performed with knowing your infiltration and heat loss real world rates instead of a hopeful number. This typically leads to a slightly smaller HVAC system as most oversize for tight homes.
However the fact that you are actually doing one is a great move.

How much do they cost? I wonder the cost/benefit of two? It seems like before sheetrock would be better because, like you said, you can actually fix all the leaks then. . .

The hvac is already installed so no downsizing, unfortunately. . .

costs vary.
as stated above drywall provides a lot of
air sealing, if all seams are taped and floated.
google air tight drywall approach.

in blacked in stage of house you can see light from
leakage sites. one area that you can't easily see
that leaks is sole plate to slab connection.
we use sill seal, but some caulk.

best of luck.

They used seal sill on the soleplate/slab connection. Does this mean we don't have to caulk there? There was some caulking done where light came through before the brick went up and some foaming as well. Not sure it was all caught and now that we have brick you can't see the light through it. . .

Not sure what you mean by floating the drywall - will have to google!

We had one at the end - I am not sure what the point was except to get Energy Star certification. We had 50% of the leakage of the standard so I don't think the standard is very strict. I found huge leaks after the test - cat door needed some foam and caulk; and I put a panel on the attic door. I still need to put a weight on my hood vent damper .... 2 years later.

My only point is that our house was 50% below standard (ie better) but it could still use some work.

Athens - if you are using seal sill and appropriate blocking and foam, you really aren't going to have an issue. I say this partly because your builder sounds like a decent high-end custom builder who isn't taking stupid shortcuts. Are you doing Energy Star certification? I suspect your blower door test will be well below specs and all you can do with that info is thank your builder. Now - if you are really tight, then the whole ERV discussion comes up. That maybe beyond what you want to get into and a retrofit is not as good if it were done earlier.... so maybe you don't even want to know.

When do we need an erv? I figured we would need one since we were foaming penetrations, caulking, etc. Do we not? I thought we were getting one (discussed multiple times) but I don't think it was installed.

One thing that does worry me some is we are putting a direct vent fireplace in the basement. I know of problems with vent free fireplaces, but what about direct vent?

you don't know hot tight or how leaky until the blower door test.
if the house is .35 air changes or less then
erv or alternate form of fresh air is needed.

as per ashrae 62.2 ventilation standard.

the software I use prints a page that reflects air leakage
it refrences the ashare standard and tells you how much
fresh air is needed.

above .35 air changes you don't need the fresh air.
a good rule of thumb for the blower door test is that
the living sq ft of the house and the blower door test
numbers should be close. for example if your house is
3500 sq ft (living) and the blower door test is 3500
cfm (cubic feet per minute) @ 50 pa (pascals)
then you are tight but not tight enough to require fresh air. if the blower door test is 2500cfm50...then you add
fresh air.

too tight doesn't just happen, you work towards it.
even foaming and caulking don't always achieve as
much of an air seal as you would think. thats why things
like A.D.A. are needed.
here is building science's link to ADA:

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/information-sheets/air-barriers-airtight-drywall-approach/files/bscinfo_401_airtight_drywall_approach.pdf

things like IC recessed lights, oversized cuts at bath and stove fans, uninsulated and unsealed attic accesses all contribute a LOT towards air infiltration.

as david said he found leaks after testing...I seal off
pet doors when testing and have visually inspect dampers
of bath fans and stoves during my intermediate (thermal bypass) inspection.

its hard to come in on the end and test. you can find the leaks, but they are harder to address depending on where they are once house is complete.

best of luck

our HERS rater said that for CA title 24 energy requirements, that he would do it after walls and flooring are in, including carpeting. Of course, now that our energy calcs were recalculated, apparently that test is no longer an requirement.

Air tight drywall does make a difference, sometimes large. However I am still of the opinion it should be your secondary air infiltration barrier, and not considered part of your primary. I just did a project that tested out, pre insulation, at .16. After the drywall was installed, it dropped to .09. THe goal for my own house under design is .07 in the end, but we shall see if I can hit that or not.

Direct vent fireplaces are fine. The air for combustion is taken from outside so it is far better than a standard fireplace if you are talking indoor air issues. It is also far tighter from an infiltration standpoint.

I never did an ERV but I believe the best way to do it is with its own duct system so to speak. You can add on but it isn't ideal. You might want to check if drywall isn't up yet. ERVs are not all that common around here. Houses generally aren't that tight and even if they are, you can just do fresh air ventilation. I was supposed to have that but they forgot and I didn't push it because that would be easy enough to add. I am thinking an ERV is about $2000 to save less than $50 a year in my climate.

we use a filtered return to exterior
duct with barometric damper to return.

clean filtered air only when house goes negative.
no electrical parts to fail. that whole KISS school
of thought. (keep it simple stupid)

best of luck

Talked to the builder today and we do have fresh air ventalation. The HVAC guy says they generally do visual inspection of holes, caulk, penetrations etc after the guys get through caulking and foaming and reseal areas where it is needed and then do the blower door test after drywall. They can cut out the drywall if there is a leak that needs to be fixed. My builder seemed to think we wouldn't need an ERV . . . he said he has used that when folks were foaming walls and rafters but he hasn't ever used one on a house with batts/caulk.

Next question, if they are being diligent about caulking/foaming (which it seems like they are), do we need to do a blower door test? It will run 700-800 dollars due to the size of the house so not cheap. . .

Anything else we should look at? In particular, I am wondering about the vent for the range and the fireplace (not the direct vent, the masonry one). Those seem like places where you would lose a lot of air. Is there a damper or something you can put on the range vent?

If you are building Energy Star, a blower door test is required. Southface requires blower door if you are building Earthcraft. The new Georgia energy code requires blower door for new construction. The date for this requirement has moved and not sure of current status.

Besides all that, it is wise to spend the money and get the test done. We had it done after the drywall was done and made a few adjustments. I was not at the site then but was for the second, final Earthcraft certification. They turned on the blower and in no time shut it down. The two guys looked at each other and said "wow". It feels good to get confirmation after all the work everybody puts into the process.

Interesting about the Georgia thing since we are in GA - will have to check that! This HVAC guy does everything to Earthcraft standards apparently although they don't usually get the certification done (only when requested) so they are pretty familiar with the whole concept. The HVAC guy is also certified/licensed to do the blower door test, which makes me feel better about the level of detail going into the process

The cut date for the new code was 1/1/2011 but it was delayed six months. So it was supposed to become effective 7/1/2011 but have not heard any updates.

Here is a link that might be useful: Georgia New Code

your vent fan for the stove should have a backdraft damper installed. as should bath fans.

the blower door test will show you what areas need to be
sealed.and if the house is tight enough to require fresh air.
a duct leakage test can be done at the same time.
both cost money.

is the house Energy Star? then testing is required.
not just blower door, but duct testing also.

every trade, builders & hvac says/thinks their work doesn't leak. this is not so.
unbiased testing is the only way to independently verify
quality of work of all trades.
the cost for the blower door & duct test is small
compared to the cost of building.
and is the only quality control on air & duct leakage
offered. this type of testing determines the efficiency
and performance of the home.

people talk about testing, and when it gets time to test
decide to listen to the contractors/builders.
it is certainly a cheaper option.
there is a reason that many builders are opposed to this testing. it costs more, and if they have agreed to build better and don't then they are liable.

at the end of the bldg
project money is tight. but you live will live in the house
and pay the utility price whereas the trades people & builders are off to the next project.
utility costs go up not down.

personally I doubt you'll test. just the feeling I get from
the posts of your build. each step of the building process when upgrades above code were options the choice was code
and not better building practices.

some people opt for triple crown molding and granite countertops, others invest in a better structure and add
cosmetic items later.

best of luck.

Don't know whether I'll test or not. I am a dollars and cents person so the fact it might save energy is not the deciding factor - it is payback. Sorry if that offends some of you that disagree with that philosophy but that is the situation. My goal is not to build the most energy efficient house on the planet. My goal is to spend my resources wisely to get an energy efficient house within reason. I am not foaming where there is a 100 year payback. . . I have a friend who decided differently, and made many decisions that would admittedly not pay back (like geothermal, foaming everything, etc.). Her thought was to minimize maintenance/ongoing costs and to pay for things when they are still earning a paycheck. We don't have those same concerns, so we decided not to foam the rafters (100 year payback) or to pay for a 100,000 plus geothermal system (again - no way we would ever make up the difference).

We are not doing a "code basic" build - but neither are we looking to spend money to save energy when it doesn't actually save us money personally or affect our family bottom line. . .

If youre not getting a blower door test then you arent interested in cost effective Energy Efficiency.

Air sealing has been proven to be the most cost effective way to save money on your energy bills not to mention the environment and impact on your neighbors. I havent seen your other posts but I agree with energy rater that you have wasted enormous opportunity. Iam sorry you couldnt find a better team to bring together a cost effective energy efficient home.

Payback is most dependent on your building envelope. Not spray foam, Not R, Not mechanical systems but Building Envlope: 1. Airtightness 2. Reduced Thermal Bridging. This is the most cost effective way to save money on energy bills. Its also the most permanent component of a home and its your responsibility to reduce its impact over its 100+ years of service.

My energy rater charges me 75 dollars for an extra blower door test. It sounds like youre not even doing Energy Star which is a pathetic starting point for efficient homes.

Energy Rater is right about your HVAC subs too. Even though they may know some best practices I would put money on them doing a very poor job on your project. Are you sure your builder and HVAC guys arent talking about a Duct Blaster test? This is also required for energy star and will tell you very quickly how good of a job they really did.

I bet your "fresh air Introduction" is nothing more than a hole in your building envelope that is introducing unconditioned air to your HVAC system. This is considered a bad practice by most experts.

If you agreed with your builder that you would be getting blower door tests and an ERV, why would you back down? These are the most cost effective efficiency measures you can take and with your 3 children's Air Quality at risk, I would refuse to not have an ERV in a new home even if it is leaky and drafty.

A layer of exterior foam sheathing could have made a world of difference in your project. Did you calculate this payback. Probably not because it sounds like you dont have a good builder or an Energy Rater/Third party certification at all.

If you want to make the biggest difference at this point, I would do a Blower Door test PRE insulation and drywall and with the test running, seal up as much as you can. Once its covered you wont get another chance. If youre lucky, you will get a result as good as davids which is still pretty awful in my opinion. I might go so far as to higher a third party with a blower door and weatherization experience since your builder obviously doesn't care or have any motivation to do so.

Absolutely research Airtight Drywall Approach but good luck implementing it with your builder. Handle it correctly however and it could make a big difference in the comfort and efficiency of your home.

A blower door test done after drywall with no certification goals will be a waste of money. Just like your inefficient home. Sorry to be like that but Iam upset at your builder...

WOW.

I would venture to guess that While it is true, some of this money can be taken out of HVAC but there are limits there and cooperative contractors are hard to find.

Springtime - you are fairly new here and have more than just this one harsh post (IMO). I hope you have solar panels that power your plug-in Prius or you might stop throwing stones. My inefficient house uses about 1/4 the energy of an average family's cars.

Ditto what David said.

My builder actually happens to be an excellent builder. Custom home (1M to 10M) only. Super smart guy - highly educated and reads all the Building Science studies and implements them when he believes they are a better practice. Very much an intellectual and appreciates the science of building as much as anyone I have ever heard of - not your typical yahoo builder. Much like my husband - a physician - does, this builder reads these sort of scientific building publications regularly. It has been a very rare thing that I have asked him that he has not answered, off the cuff, with the answers of the experts on this board. If he does not know, off the cuff, he has researched and come back to me with a thoughtful and knowledgeable answer, backed up by science and not emotion.

If there is good science behind the study, he implements it, but he is smart enough to separate good science from bad.

There is a lot of bad science out there when it comes to building an efficient house. Lots of studies without adequate controls, put out there by companies trying to sell a product, etc. You have to be smart enough to weed through the chaff to get to the accurate numbers . . .

As far as my husband, I meant that he reads his trade journals every month, as does my builder (obviously not the same trade journal!). . . . got a little carried away with my typing!

And we did discuss foam sheathing. I can't remember why we didn't do it - it was not just payback though. . . some other issue with it maybe in the South?? Too many decisions!

Oh and david, we are doing foam sheathing in our knee walls (not many - just in over the garage playroom) plus some other steps too. . . this was something my builder brought up from something he read about better insulating of knee walls . . . Since I don't have a science background, some of this makes my head swim! I do, however, have a legal background which leads me to check every source and what he said, yet again, was in compliance with the best practices for knee walls . . .

David- I assume your $150/year for 5k sqft was a typo?....
assuming you meant 1500? Still 1500 isnt too bad.

while I agree with Springtime's process on the path of efficiency, it is easy for people like him, and me, to get carried away with something we believe in. I think it is tough sometimes for people that do the research, know the numbers, to see monstrous, yet very beautiful houses, go up that put their money into fancy finishes instead of practices that actually make a difference in this world. It is very interesting, I have this conversation with clients a lot. When it comes to energy efficient upgrades, the FIRST question is....payback. How many years will this cost me. Ironically, whenever they hear the granite or custom cabinet up charge, payback is never questioned! I think that was his main point. Its not always about dollars and cents in a build. Sometimes its doing whats right for you, your family, your community, world, etc.

We all have our goals. Mine and my wife's is to design a house that fits our current and future needs, without anything more, and be super efficient (more my goal then hers). However I am not a tree hugger, and I drive a Jeep Cherokee with a V8. I simply want to have low monthly energy bills. Our planned house is 3400 conditioned sq, and estimated to cost us about $40/month in electricity to heat it when the outside temp is -10. Some people factor in financing upgrades. This is not a great argument against it as your mortgage will most likely stay the same (fixed rate assuming) but your energy bills will always continue to rise. Why not limit it as much as possible? And the only spray foam you will find is low expanding around the windows and around the rim joists.

However not everyone needs to go to the extremes some of us do to conserve energy. All we can do is do our best to recommend effective upgrades for your home to aid in efficient design. If I were your designer/builder, spray foams would be one of the last upgrade recommendation. I never recommend it to my clients. Its expensive and the effectiveness is not that great given the entire shell of the house. It only seals up your wall surface, nothing more. Does nothing for thermal bridging. This is just a small piece of the puzzle.

At the end of the day, its your family and your money. However I would highly recommend an ERV and the test. For your build, its an insanely small piece of the total build amount.

Not a typo. Despite the inefficient building practices, our walls represent roughly $150 a year in HVAC costs. Infiltration about $100. Windows about $400 (literally 30 windows facing either E or W - subdivision with no options for orientation); Ducts $150; Ceiling $100. Another $100 in internal gains that we can't control. These are rough numbers. $1000 total. It is mostly due to our mild climate but ES cert; dual fuel; seer 16 hp. Overall, about 1/3 the cost of our peers according to our utility. Peers being new homes of similar size.

Average US car. 20 mpg. 12k miles. $4 a gallon = $2400 a year. Jeep with V8 - closer to $3k a year.

Nothing wrong with building a really efficient house but the desire may certainly exceed rational thought.

And just to be clear, I am not opposed to doing a blower door test. In fact, I expected to even though it is not in budget. Like any expense, particularly one not in the original budget, I want to be relatively assured that it will have a benefit to me financially - i.e., am I going to find 1600.00 worth of leaks (not sure if the second one is cheaper though) to fix? That sounds like a lot of leaks to me, but maybe it is not . . .

If it is a valuable tool to save me money, then great. If all it will do is tell me I did an adequate job, then not so much. If it is done after drywall, which my hvac guy suggests, then you get into cutting into the drywall to fix any issues you find, etc. Again, more expense.

Is it worth it is what I am trying to figure out. . .

And FYI houses permitted in GA after July 1 have to have a blower door test. Houses permitted before (like ours) do not.

in extreme cases we have had to remove drywall
mostly in cases of windows improperly flashed
and water entering walls..which is beyond an energy
rating. these were diagnostics that eventually
went to court for substandard building practices.

its not the cost of the build..but the quality.

I'm not trying to talk you into some extreme expense.
and yes if air infiltration is high..you might have to
spend a few bucks to reduce it. hopefully you will hire
a rater who can do more than measure leakage.
you would want it to be pinpointed and suggestions as
to how to remediate. which means that a degree of experience would be needed.
testing the ductwork would cost you at least a couple of
hundred more.
nation wide the average for new construction ductwork
is 25%. most people have a problem with 1/4 of every ton
of air conditioning leaking into the attic after they are
paying to heat and cool this air.

blower door and duct testing are valuable tools.
if your trades people did a good job this independent unbiased testing verifies it. if they did an average job..that shows.
if there are big problems..you'll know.
no one can tell you beforehand.

the thing that folks like me bring to the job is that
we have seen lots of houses.

new, old, sick houses ineffieicnt and efficient houses.
jobs gone wrong, jobs done right.

not just the one job that we are emotionally invested in.

we don't have a dog in the fight.

but are the independent third party verification
of the overall job.

upfront in the planning stages a rater can tell you
how long each upgrade takes to pay for itself.
on the end..you'd have to pay for this extra time
and effort. as it is already done, it isn't an area
I'd invest my time into.

how valuable a tool? it varies. people who just want
a pat on the back..not valuable at all.
people who really want to know..very valuable.

training and certificatin like RESNET and BPI are
training people nationwide. each of us are certified
nationwide, but most stick to their own climate.
this is not brand new stuff, its been around for a while.
I've been certified & working in this field for 11+ years,
and come from a carpentry/hvac background.

didn't mean to stir you up with my observation that you
wouldn't test. its the internet, you asked a question
that lead on to think that you would do a blower door test.
then have found reasons to justify not doing it.
the wonderful thing about the internet is that you can find
whatever answer you want. individual experiences, professional experiences..whatever suits your need of the moment.

best of luck.

To Athens and David I am very sorry for my negative comments. I think I read the post at a bad point in the conversation and in my day. I mainly want to get the word out to people that there is a cost effective strategy to Energy Efficient building and an independent, energy rating and Blower Door Test is at the heart of it.

Perhaps I am underestimating your builder Athens. It sounds like a rather large contradiction however that your builder is a building science educated intellectual that does not do blower door tests. It also sounded like he over promised and under delivered but it looks like I was mistaken.

I want you to get an efficient home not only for you and your family but also because I happen to live downwind of your coal fired power plant. Georgia by the way is the largest consumer of Mountain top removal mined coal in the country. Not saying you should spend all your money to reduce this impact but there seems to be a lot of room for some cost effective upgrades. Upgrades that would have saved you money from the first month of occupancy through lower monthly energy bills. The increased cost in Mortgage versus the reduction in Monthly Energy Bills is a better way of looking at paybacks but its still not accounting for the Hidden Costs of dirty energy use.

David, my comment about your homes test results was probably off base as well. You said 50% better than average which I assumed you achieved an ACH50 of 3.5 or so. It sounds like you did much better than that. I assume the other comment you spoke of was the 80% East windows not being a good start for a building envelope. I dont think this was particularly negative and I thought it was relevant to the discussion. Again though, it was inappropriate because who am I to tell you where to put your windows and I dont even know if youve got good overhangs for them (I hope you do!) Congratulations on being a 1/3 better than similar homes. It seems you achieved these results cost effectively.

Here is a link that might be useful: mountain top removal site

The Blower Door Test is increasingly recognized as the most important diagnostic result of any home. Anyone unfamiliar with it can get a more detailed explanation with pictures and diagrams at this link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blower Door Test Explanation w pictures and diagrams

What I don't understand is that I paid $750 for ES certification that included a blower door test. They gave advice during the build (which my builder didn't need) and they gave a certification which has value. They had some estimated cost savings for certain upgrades which was helpful.

But in the end, the house "passed" the blower door test and a duct leakage test. So I have some bragging rights but in the end, zero value came from the test. It didn't point out leaks that were fixed.

I am building again and am not doing ES certification. I did it primarily for the utility discount and the new utility has no program. I am using zip walls, foaming the windows, all ducts in conditioned area, I'll foam all ceiling penetrations, seer 15 HPs, and might do solar hot water. But in my calculation, $700 for a blower door test and ES certification don't payoff.

I give an energy apprasial addendum that adds
the value of the upgrades & reduced utility costs to the value of the house.
its a standard form that any resnet rater has access to
but is their choice if they include it in their reports.
but thats just what I chose to include.

david-
off topic but I am surprised you are considering solar hw if payoffs are concerned. Unless you have good rebates, any scenario I have ever looked at never gave a decent (10-15years or less, which is still high) return. I am going with the Marathon waterheater, and possibly hot drain water recovery, but most likely not. However I will also have a desuper dumping into my wh.
I personally think ES is a joke (especially with windows in regards to SHGC numbers in heated climates), however with my utility company we get $2000 back for certifying it. My design should more then double their requirements, but may as well go for the rebate. I am using certain Passivehaus standards as my goals.

I agree with lzearc. SHW is tough but NC has some of the best incentives around. The Marathons are sweet. Also looking forward to Heat Pump Water Heaters coming down and some seem to be a good value already. Why are those drain heat recovery devices so much? Great product especially when matched with a compact, efficient plumbing footprint.

Energy Star IS a joke which is why its amazing people wont even use it as a minimum. The window issue is infuriating. They are currently laying out the new version which is a little better..

David, your situation is understandable if the house is very similar. If you went through the extra effort you may be able to increase the efficiency of the house enough to get the $2000 Federal credit. It only has to be 2x as efficient as code. Most "code-built" houses (poorest energy performance allowed by law) dont actually meet the model energy codes because inspectors generally dont enforce the details.

Very curious of the Passive House strategies you will be choosing lzearc. For those who dont know, Passive House is one of the only respected certifications that does not require Energy Star as a starting point. Are you using their modeling software?

One of Passive Houses greatest contributions to our countries Green Building, High Performance, and Energy efficient movements is the amount of importance and attention they have brought to achieving incredibly tight Blower Door Tests. The minimum number to reach Passive House criteria(ACH50=.06) seems to be the new goal for North American designers and builders aiming for high performance.

Its unfortunate what happened recently(the US branch separated from its German parent), especially for those certified designers but as long as they have access to the PHHP modeling software they are very valuable energy consultants to hire for new, cost effective high performance homes.

Building an energy efficient home requires a Blower Door Test to confirm performance. Past results are not good enough. Perhaps in the future when builders can consistently achieve tight results they may not be as important but we are all a very long way from this level of best practice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Passive House US website

I am concerned about the same thing that happened to David happening to me, and it resulting in essentially a pat on the back. David had the extra incentive of an energy rebate. We don't have that (at least not that I could find) in GA.

I know that David did a lot of his caulking and foaming himself. I have foamed a few places but am not walking the rafters in my finished attic to caulk up there. . . That is my main issue - if I were doing this, with my perfectionist nature, it would be done right. Who knows what is happening with the crew that is there though?

David, your blower door test didn't point out leakage that was fixed? I find that interesting because our builder uses the blower door test to point out leakage areas and fix them. While the blower door test is ongoing, they go around with a smoke wand to find out where the leakage is and correct it on the spot. Maybe the difference is because we are also going for Passive House certification.

I thought all blower door tests used the smoke wand? That was something that was mentioned to me that would be a part of our test. Otherwise, how do they know where the leak is?

From my experience the smoke sticks dont work well in tight homes. Iam sure your houses arent to that level so smoke sticks should work better. Its a great question because with all the science surrounding the test the methods for finding leaks are pretty chaotic. Feeling with hands is usually more revealing than anything. Ive read that cold weather testing combined with thermal imaging is a good strategy.

This is one of the reasons it makes sense to use someone with weatherization experience because they know where the usual spots are: sill plate, attic ceiling, between floor levels, and utility penetrations are the areas that offer the most potential. I dont want to sound overly alarmist but these air leaks are important to find not only to save energy and money but also reduce chances of mold.

Athens, if you want to tell me your area(athens?) I could do some quick research into who might be a good fit and get an idea of price. Couldnt promise cost effective results but it could put your mind to ease a bit and help your builder out in the future.

goals I am aiming for are air tightness, thermal bridging, and btu usage. I will do what I can to get efficient appliances and help to limit the kw usage, but I am not going to pursue that goal. Also the window goal just does not seem to be overly feasible either. I am using 12" double stud wall, zip and cellulose, all wood to wood connections caulked, air tight gyp, r-30 Hobbs ICF basement, r-15 below slab, r-70 ceilings w/ boxed out and foamed cans, u-.16 triple pane north windows and high shg .49 double glaze windows. HDD design temp is 7300 days and -20. My current heat load for 3200 sqft is around 19,000, so I am still not hitting the heat load requirement but I am calling it close enough.
I do all of my designing and drawing in Revit, so with that I have several programs that can read from my model including Autodesk green building studio and Revit MEP. I also have various other solar design programs I still have from school that are dated, but I can still input the current data. It at least gives me various programs to compare results. I do not use the PH software.

So after incentives, the solar hot water is about $3k on the new house. Last house there was an additional utility incentive and price was less so it was about $1500. At that price, even with NG availability, payback is 5 year range. New house is all electric so payback is still less than 10 years. My payback goals are 15-20 years. Solar PV is right about there - I just don't have a great roof for it. We may get a group buy where the goal is 10 year payback and even with my east roof, it maybe worth it.

ES certification with blower door test does not have a requirement for smoke test I guess. Maybe if it fails, then it does. For me - I just got the pat on the back.

The only problem with that $2k incentive is proof. My current house uses less than 1/2 the energy of code houses but I bet I couldn't prove that before it was done. I will have to check into it but I'm not sure the new house could ever make the cut because of the huge east windows with minimal overhang in a cooling climate. If they don't take those things into consideration, then 50% should be possible and solar hot water would put me over that.

The overhangs are limited by things outside of my control - but there are wind issues that also limit overhangs. The governing body counts the overhang as footprint and has significant restrictions. Now an awning can come later....

Lzerarc, I love your philosophy and specs. Do you have a blog or pics somewhere else on the web? Curious how you are figuring your Thermal Bridging without the Passive House software.

David, sounds like youve done your homework as well. I cant help but wonder if a good rater would have been worth the investment though. Its an interesting issue with your East windows. Super Low E would be great but you hurt the Visible Transmittance. I can imagine that even the awning design is a bit of a headache.

I do have a blog, but its pretty generic and lacking info right now. I need an update, but have been tweaking the floor plans before I get that done. I will get into other, more technical areas in it when I get a chance...

Here is a link that might be useful: House blog

Impact windows I don't think are available super low-e.

It is a small inexpensive house - perfect rectangle. Limited life expectancy as it is on a barrier island.

SpringtimeHomes - Our builder's experience with smoke sticks is different than yours. I am pretty sure they used them in their first Passive House. I know they used them in their second Passive House. That one is still under construction, but they met Passive House stands for leakage during the first blower door test (pre-drywall).

Thanks dekeobee! If they can meet that standard they know what they are doing. Do you have a link or name for them?

SpringtimeHomes

Here is a link that might be useful: Anchorage Building Corp