just a rough sketch, you could rasp a flat spot for the window to sit flat on the angled buck...  don't know if this is the best idea but i am not too sure what the best practice is for deep inset windows.



http://i44.photobucket.com/albu...id.jpg

Geergirl,

Generally we work with people that want to build net-zero, passive house, utility free homes at a lower cost of ownership that are substantially more comfortable and healthier to live in than a to code home.

It is not possible to provide an efficient enough home with current technology at a reasonable cost if the wall and ceiling thicknesses are reduced to less than 12 inches. Thick walls give a home character and the possibility of layering and texturing the home to dramatically increase the architectural ambiance of the home.

Standard ICFs are more efficient than most to code building options for homes. The to code ICF wall typically provides close to zero air infiltration, The internal mass typically provide several days to a week of thermal averaging reducing the peak loads on the home reducing the size of the HVAC systems needed.

They are relatively bullet proof structurally, improve construction schedule, reduce total labor content, reduce cost of ownership, reduce the attention to detail for air sealing standard walls. The material cost is more than standard framing a to code home but is typically off set by the reduced labor, down sizing of the HVAC etc.

Increasing the insulation to 6 inches inside and outside of the wall has many benefits. One you are going to an R-50 to 60 wall depending on the foam used etc.. This reduces the heat loss through the walls by an additional 60ish percent. You also extend the thermal averaging of the walls mass into months in length. Note that this is dependent on many thermodynamic climatic factors. Local diurnal, daily averages, weekly averages, seasonal averages, humidity etc.

The payback on building passive houses occurs when you reduce the total heat load of the home to less than 85% of a standard to code home. This requires air sealing to an ACH 50 rating of less than .6, High insulation values, better quality windows and doors, controlled fresh, dust free and pollen free air supply, home orientation and design. At this point you can typically eliminate the costly super efficient and large HVAC systems.

The biggest benefits to passive houses done right is health, comfort, quality of life, elimination of fuel cost worries, security, etc.

Typical savings on utilities are 90%. on a 3000 square foot home that can be $280 dollars a month plus price inflation for life. Reduced HVAC cost can be $10,000. It is also better for the world creating a solution to long term housing and does not creating a long term problem and dependence on burning fossil fuels. So where does that leave you. It means for a 3000 square foot home, if you spend less than $60,000 on upgrading your home to a passive level your cash flow impact from day one is positive. I have not found a situation where this does not pencil out financially. If you can not qualify for the extra mortgage it is always a better option to downsize the house and make it energy efficient to a passive level. This leads to n improved financial position, is more responsible and better long term life and health. Od that it is not the decision made by the average person.

It does require knowledge, competence, thought, consideration, planning, calculating, weighing, desire, responsibility, and paying attention to details in your design and build team. It is not a build as standard and typically done in a to code home. Remember a to code home is the lowest quality, most energy inefficient product a builder can get away with legally. The sad truth is that most homes built today usually do not even meet that standard when closely inspected.

Brian

Brian (zehboss)

Thank you for your comments - it seems you are very knowledgeable in passivehouse design.

We live in an extreme continental climate - Winter from Mid-November to End of April. Temperatures easily vary by 20C or more in Winter, and in Summer. Humidity is very high in the summer, but extremely dry in the winter. As we stay cold for such a long time, the concrete will eventually tend towards the winter cold temp. We had frost over 8ft deep last year - some house's water lines didn't unthaw until June. I sincerely doubt you can create a 100% passive house in weather that sits at -30C for weeks at a time.

I live in a province where power is CLEAN hydro power and wind powe;, we've turned off our fossil-fuels quite some time ago. I also work for my utility, so I have a bit of a vested interest in grid-based electricity.

Our proposed home will be among one of the more expensive in our province, though somewhat rural.

We are interested in pursuing geothermal and/or solar in the future, just not at this time. Our utility rates are among the lowest in North America - alternate energy is NOT affordable in our area, and the return periods for putting them in are abysmal. I'm also not a fan of wind power or large-scale solar, as they eat up farmland that is key to my area's economy. And wind kills bats, which are already under enough hardship from white-nose syndrome.

We are NOT interested in a standard builder-grade home. If that were the case I doubt we'd be on this forum.

We are interested in building with ICF for its energy efficiency, soundproofness, noise-proofness, moldproofness, and its ability to withstand severe weather events. (Though it may not withstand a tornado if we see another F5 in our province...)

As we wish to live in a 2-story home, there is a limit to how thin the concrete walls can go - the engineer will not stamp them if they are too thin. Too thick of walls also cause issues for windows (my ORIGINAL REASON FOR POSTING) - you either inset the window and hope the exterior flashing doesnt fail, or you hope you dont get too much standing air in the interior window cavity that will cause moisture/mold issues. We tend to keep our curtains closed in most rooms, so that is a significant concern for us.

We oriented our house to take advantage of natural daylight to ensure we minimize our dependence on overhead lighting, and plan to go with LEDs wherever possible. We also oriented the house to take advantage of daylight/heat for a future greenhouse.

Reducing the size of our home to fit someone's idea of 'living off the land' is not our goal or desire - we have many hobbies and possessions that take up space, and will be commuting to work (1 car, we carpool together). We desire an accessible home, that is CLOSED concept (none of this open concept crap), and we aren't willing to give up our favorite spaces or items to shrink a home into something we'd inevitably hate. I know people building an 'earthship' style home, and its not for us - we'd simply hate it. The amount the bank would approve us for is ridiculously large, but we are keeping it to a certain level as we want to pay it off in 15 years max. The economy is dying due to the actions of the baby-boomers, and it's us youngin's who'll be struggling for years to come as a result...so our budget keeps a bit of a cushion in play for us.

The exterior of our home (with its 6-8" of concrete and 5" of foam walls) will be plentry dressed up - I designed it as a simple rectangular shape with french eclectic stylings. The materials used will NOT be 'natural' materials either - but rather long-lasting materials such as closed-cell pvc and hopefully rubber-faux-slate shingles.
So as you can see, we're likely not your customer.

Posted By Geergirl on 25 Apr 2015 09:08 PM
. The materials used will NOT be 'natural' materials either - but rather long-lasting materials such as closed-cell pvc and hopefully rubber-faux-slate shingles.
So as you can see, we're likely not your customer.

Im the same way, i just want it to last with out having to repaint or redo.  Next build is steel shed style roof with this stuff for soffit.  http://longboardsuppliers.com/photo-gallery/

Fox buck come 6" and 8" sizes. It sound like quite a home. I would mount the windows on the out side. You are the type of customer we all would want, SMART. I hope I wasn't too negative about the wider wall, if you choose Fox and need some help let me know. Make sure your installer/builder understands the transition from one block size to another and how to handle it and the attachment of the floor systems. Best of luck with your home. It sounds like a fun project.

here is a product/install for a deep set window that looks like it would work well with fox buck.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U71NX8ox4cI

here is a product/install for a deep set window that looks like it would work well with fox buck.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U71NX8ox4cI