Tag Archives: faswall green building blocks

Our last blog post discussed the theory behind designing and building high performance homes. For this post, we’d like to discuss the practice of building high performance homes with Faswall ICF wall forms.

Jack and Carolyn Clark’s 3,200 square foot home in Ft. Collins, Colorado exemplifies many components of high performance building. The home is very energy efficient, thanks in part to Faswall’s extremely high thermal mass. It’s built to last for at least 300 years, so it’s quite durable. High-quality materials such as 3-0 windows and a propane/heat pump HVAC system ensure excellent life-cycle performance. Since both Jack and Carolyn have allergies, they used building materials designed to ensure good indoor air quality and occupant productivity.

The Clark residence sits on an acre of land Jack’s parents bought in 1972. Their 750-square-foot house overlooked Horsetooth Reservoir and was intended to be a summer home. But his parents made it their permanent residence until they passed away.

Jack wanted to stay on the property, but he had a different vision for his forever home. He wanted more space and a house that could be passed down to future generations of his family. Jack had his parents’ old home deconstructed in 2012, then started looking into suitable building materials for a new structure.

“Carolyn and I wanted to incorporate as many progressive products and techniques as possible for the build,” Jack says. “I was looking for a unique, thermally-efficient, cost-effective approach. We met [ShelterWorks co-owner] Paul Wood at a home and garden show in Denver and became very interested in his building method right away because the Faswall system allowed for well-insulated, high internal thermal mass wall construction.” Local Faswall representative Mark Maricle was also a great resource throughout the building process.

Faswall was also a good fit with some of Jack and Carolyn’s architectural requirements. They both grew up in a section of New Jersey with many Dutch Colonial style homes. They liked the deep window wells found on those structures, which is an added bonus of using Faswall’s one foot by two foot blocks. They wanted to finish the interior walls with smooth plaster and the exterior with lap siding, which meant using a building material flexible enough to accept any type of finish.

Once he selected Faswall, Jack went in search of a builder. He wanted someone willing to work with a non-traditional material. He also needed someone with enough attention to detail to build a high-quality home capable of lasting for 300 years.

He found both in Matt Doner of Traditional Roots Joinery & Construction in Ft. Collins. Matt is primarily a timber frame builder, but he was excited to combine his carpentry skills with the easy-to-use Faswall blocks.

The home that evolved incorporated the best of both. Jack says one of his favorite features in his Faswall home is the beams crossing the vaulted ceilings. They’re made with Northwest fir and locally-sourced Ft. Collins walnut. Jack also likes the elevator, which makes moving people and furniture around the space much easier; the highly efficient windows and sliding glass doors, all of which were manufactured by a Colorado company; and those deep window wells. The home has the exact same orientation as his parent’s house, which gives the family views of the reservoir.

Function dictated design for the house, Jack says, and the layout is a great fit with the family’s needs. An open floor plan upstairs makes entertaining more enjoyable. A mud room/laundry room/bathroom accommodates muddy dogs and gardeners, as well as sopping boots on snowy days. The Clarks hope to eventually add a wrap-around porch, much like the ones on the Dutch Colonial homes they remember so fondly.

Jack has tracked the home’s performance since he moved in and is very pleased with what he’s found. Their electricity comes from the rural cooperative, and the home has a propane/heat pump furnace for heating and cooling. “The rural electric bill averages $100 per month, and we use no more than 21 gallons of propane per month,” he says. “Our utilities (other than water) average $125 per month for a 3,200 square foot home with three adults living here full time.”

Thanks to the insulative value of the Faswall blocks, as well as strategically placed insulation, the home stays comfortable no matter how warm or cool it gets outside. “The thermal mass maintains the inside temperature better than convention builds,” he says. “Therefore the HVAC does not have to ‘catch up’ as much to maintain temperature. When we have 50 degree days and 20 degree nights, the house will lose no more than one to two degrees overnight.”

Jack has several pieces of advice for anyone building with Faswall. It’s important to look at the whole home when planning for energy efficiency. “Besides picking very efficient heating/cooling equipment, insulate the ground floor slab from the ground below it and the footers,” he says. “Consider using varied insulation types according to where the insulation is installed and the clearances required.

“Do not be stingy with glazing,” Jack continues. “Look closely at what the window and door frames are made of. Fiberglass is non-conductive and will not warp.  Consider how much sun and what type of sun should pass through the glazing. All heat and light can be controlled to the owner’s benefit. Choose a window and door supplier that understands this and can customize products to control the heat loss and gain.”

Although Jack didn’t build his own home, he has this advice for do it yourself home builders: “It pays to get tricks from Paul or one of his representatives. It will make the job go smoothly.”

Would you like to learn more about how Faswall can help you build a high performance home? Whether you’re a builder or contractor, architect or engineer, or DIY home builder, we can help. We can also offer advice on using Faswall for high-efficient, high performance, eco-friendly office buildings, outbuildings, warehouses and much more. Please contact us today for more information. If you want more information about Faswall right away, check out our free technical manuals.

When people start planning a green home, they often spend a lot of time thinking about things like renewable energy sources, passive solar and net zero energy usage. Faswall green building blocks work great with all these eco-friendly goals, but they can help accomplish other goals as well.

An environmentally friendly home is also a people friendly one, and that’s something many people overlook. One of the most important ways to protect your family – and do a good thing for the environment – is to ensure you build a home with good indoor air quality.

 

This blog post shares some frightening statistics about how poor indoor air quality can affect you and your children’s health:

• Indoor air quality is often two to five times worse than outdoor air quality.
• The average American spends 90 percent of their time indoors. If you have poor indoor air quality, you’re inhaling pollutants 21 hours a day.
• Poor indoor air quality is one of the main reasons for the increase in asthma and allergies among children.

If you’re planning to build a home from scratch, why not start with a building material made from 100% organic inputs that will not release poisons and toxins into your home? Faswall green building blocks are an ideal building material for people interested in creating homes with great indoor air quality. They’re manufactured from a combination of recycled wood and cement. That’s it – no glues, plastics, additives or other potentially harmful materials. A study by J.F. Straube, Ph.D. and J.P. deGraauw confirms that structures built with materials like Faswall do a great job of maintaining good indoor air quality.

Faswall green building blocks resemble giant cinder blocks. You dry stack them to make your walls, then pour pea gravel or concrete through the cores to hold the blocks in place. They take stucco, clay and other natural wall coverings without a lot of prep work.

If you want to use only natural, toxin-free materials to put together your home, Faswall makes it possible. And if you’re interested in building your own home, we’ve got you covered there too. Faswall green building blocks are ideal for DIY home builders because they are so easy to use.

Creating a home with good indoor air quality was extremely important to Kirstin Lynde and Michael Kolowich of Massachusetts. Kirstin was struggling with some health problems, and “I’m pretty convinced that air quality had something to do with it,” she says.

“It’s one thing to change your refrigerator content, but it’s another thing to change your house,” Michael says. Luckily he and Kirstin were already planning to build a new home, and stocking up on natural building materials was at the top of their priority list.

“We were trying to create what we thought was the healthiest house in New England,” Michael says. “I also wanted to prove you could have a home that was beautiful as well as healthy.”

As you can see from the pictures, Kirstin and Michael achieved their goal. Their 5,500 square foot home has 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, plus a guest cottage and a garage with a home office and TV room. Large windows let in plenty of light. A spacious kitchen and open living space provides plenty of space for entertaining. “This is a house that is very high functioning. There really are no compromises,” Michael says.

In addition to using Faswall blocks, Kirstin and Michael used wall boards made from all-natural materials, then applied American clay for a smooth finish. The materials will not off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemicals that can contribute to bad indoor air quality. Porcelain floors that look exactly like wood are another toxin-free material, and have the added benefit of reducing the risk of water damage if the floors get wet.

Cellulose insulation is considered lower in harmful chemicals than fiberglass, but it’s difficult to find one that won’t mold over time, Kirstin says. They compromised with foam insulation, which was applied in a thick layer under the roof and contributes to the home’s high R-value.

“In achieving energy efficiency you can sometimes sacrifice air quality,” Michael says. “There’s such thing as a house that’s too tight.” To ensure air could flow in and out of the house, they installed energy recovery ventilator (ERV) and heat-recovery ventilator (HRV) systems. The devices work together to move stale air out of the house and pull fresh air in – all while not losing any of the energy used to heat the home. The systems cycle air in and out of the house every three hours.

They heat the home with a combination of in-floor radiant heat and a masonry stove, avoiding ductwork that can harbor mold and degrade air quality. Firing up the stove for 3 hours heats the core of the house for up to 24 hours, Kirstin says. “We’ve cut our heating cost in half. I credit that to the superior insulation” provided by the one-foot-wide Faswall blocks. Even during Massachusetts’ extremely cold conditions in December 2014, their heating bill was only $100.

All their efforts paid off. Kirstin’s health problems have improved, and Michael no longer suffers from occasional sneezing fits. “The air inside the house smells really sweet,” he says. “People comment on it when they visit.”

Are you interested in building a home with great indoor air quality? What about an office building, warehouse, wine cellar or other commercial building? Faswall green building blocks work great for all types of structures. Please contact us for more information today.