HUD–Head up Rectum when it comes to HVAC Common Sense!
July 25, 2010
During the past week I had the opportunity to test a multi-family renovation for seniors. The property was a HUD project being renovated in order to keep it in the HUD fold of an affordable designation. I don’t understand the financing or how it was being handled, but HUD money is certainly involved. The project is trying to obtain a recognized third party Sustainable Renovation certification, which is how I get involved.
The apartments are paying close attention to sealing the thermal envelope of each unit. The Blower Door tests showed substantial reduction in Air Changes per Hour Natural. They were coming in below .2 ACH natural. That is pretty impressive in a renovation. I haven’t previously had any renovations test that low.
Here is my problem. HUD specs stated, so I am told, that the renovation of the HVAC system, all new, just be replaced matching what was there. Are you kidding me? We have 1.5 ton Heat Pump air handlers in apartment units that should have 1/2 of that. We are talking about the humid southeast. We are going to have an Air Conditioning unit come on, super cool the air and turn off. Where is any concern about dehumidification? Where is there any concern about the energy efficiency of the unit, whether it be in the cooling or heating mode?
A well designed space, to a recognized third party standard(ie. Energy Star), should have a ton of coolant to approximately 800-1200 Square Foot of living space. Here we have 1.5 tons to a unit less than 500 SF. That doesn’t make sense to me.
Everything coming out of Washington these days is about energy efficiency, alternative energy and sustainable(Green) building practices. We are in the process of throwing billions of dollars at energy efficiency and energy alternatives. If HUD or any other government unit just specifies “replace what is there with the equivalent,” what kind of standard is that? It isn’t a standard. It isn’t adhering to what HUD, Department of Energy, the GSA are vocalizing.
Another question is what about Indoor Air Quality? If affordable housing renovations are going to result in less than .25 ACH natural, the point at which most sustainable programs, including Energy Star, say you need outside air delivered, aren’t these senior citizens, in this particular project going to be breathing some funky air? Put another way aren’t we putting them at risk? Last I looked infants, children and seniors are the most susceptible to breathing problems and resultant illnesses. What kind of standard is “Just replace what’s there?”
To me this is the ultimate in “Don’t do as I do, but do as I say.” This is “Green Washing” at its best. All buildings, multi-family, houses, offices, commercial space, schools must be looked at as a system, not a collection of individual items. I mean do we design cars just based on how the tires hold up.
If this is the prescribed path of energy efficiency adhered to by a government entity, entrusted with helping to provide affordable housing for our most at risk citizens, we are in some serious trouble. Can’t we do projects that provide solutions and jobs for the long haul, not just quick fixes that provide jobs?
In the defense of contractors doing this kind of work, their hands are tied. They want the work, people want and need the jobs, and I don’t blame them–its tough out there in the construction business. When they even try to voice an opinion they jeopardize their ability to get the job, so its just “Shut-up and do it.” There is nothing sustainable about doing something 1/2 assed other than we will be doing it again and again in the future to the same buildings.
“There is never time to do it right, but there is always time to do it over.”
Too Much Heat and Moisture in an Energy Efficient New House.
February 15, 2010
In my last posting I was dealing with a real life building issue of condensation on the rim band of an insulated, pressurized crawl space. So who cares, it is in the crawl space. Well that is what causes mold, rot and unhealthy living conditions.
Many people would say, “See we been telling you are making houses too tight causing other issues and problems.” You Green, tree hugging builders are causing us more problems. In a perfect world that could be argued as true. There is one difference today, “energy ain’t cheap,” and it is destined to get less real cheap quickly. But I will deal with that thought in another post.
The crawl space was insulated with an R-10 Thermax Insulation Board. The Rim Board is insulated with R-19 fiberglass insulation. There is a vapor barrier covering the entire floor, no gaps. There is a HVAC supply duct providing heat to the crawl space and keeping it under a slightly positive pressure. This keeps a crawl space from sucking in exterior moisture from the ground. If we have all of this stuff place how do we end with a moisture problem?
Here’s the actual conditions on site: The contributing pieces of the puzzle:
In the main body of the house the thermostat is set on 77 degrees. The outside temperature is about 28 degrees and the wind is howling. The interior temperature is 72 degrees. The relative humidity is 92%.
Using a sling hydrometer it was determined that the dew point is roughly 82 degrees. It should be raining in the house. The house feels like we should be drinking Margaritas and sitting on the beach in the Yucatan Peninsula.
When the front door is open and the storm door exposed, it immediately fogs up like a mirror after a hot shower. The windows have moisture condensing on them, even though they are insulating glass. In the crawl space the same conditions exist, as we have the referenced pressurized, conditioned crawl meaning a supply duct delivers the same air to the crawl.
When we pull the R19 fiberglass insulation off the rim boards, Walla, they are soaked with water, and the temperature on the rim is 44 degrees. Way below dew point of 82 degrees. We have a problem, what is causing it and do we have any solutions? We better have.
I had a similar problem about a month ago in a newly renovated affordable housing project. The project was completed to EarthCraft Green Building renovation standards, which basically requires the improvements get the Air Changes per hour below .6 and a 30% improvement over the original, pre-renovation energy conditions. I had inspected the work as it was being completed. Yet a couple months after occupancy I was being called by developer wondering why they had an entire wall with moisture running down it. This was meant to be an energy efficient renovation.
What do I find, again a wall temperature in one corner of about 40 degrees, as an outside water spicket, unique to this one unit, hasn’t been sealed and all that cold air is condensing the hot moist air from the heating unit on the inside. The outside wall, which is about 16 feet long and 8 feet high has water rivulets dripping down and the Sheetrock is saturated from the floor to about 3 feet above it. As I move the temperature gun away from the spicket area and the floor, moving up the wall the Sheetrock starts to heat up rapidly from below 40 to above 60 degrees about 3 feet up the wall, where the condensation stops. I know this outside wall, it is an end unit, is brick, but it had been re-insulated, what is causing this problem?
When I went back to check in late April, the wall, due to the Western Sun finally hitting the wall, had heated up and signs of condensation had disappeared on outside of wall.