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 Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 12:07 pm Post subject: R-2000 - Why Canada should SCRAP R-2000 - What's wrong? |
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The feds think R-2000 homes are just swell!
So what's the problem with R-2000?
The Globe and Mail
Stale Toronto Trombone
The problem with R-2000:
A home's gotta breathe
Make It Right
Mike Holmes
May 25/07
| Quote: | The R-2000 insulation standard for home building was born in 1982, as a reaction to the oil crisis in the 1970s. ...I remember stories of test homes built so tight, the windows would break if someone slammed the front door. The windows were tiny, and you could literally suffocate in the houses if there was no heat exchanger. They managed to prove that making a house tight and piling on insulation made the house cheaper to heat, and the result was R-2000.
What they didn't realize then was that tight houses were also prone to rot. If homes don't let in some air, they also don't let moisture out, and that moisture gets inside the walls and eats away at the structure. Your nice, tight home becomes a cesspool of mold, mildew and rot. Houses have to breathe.
..Fans of the R-2000 standard will claim that it is "policed" so well - from the initial permit application through to installation - that there is no chance of rot or mold developing. Don't believe it. In reality, houses move over time, especially if they are made of wood. They change shape by settling. It's against the nature of a wood frame house to be super-tight. That's just the way it is. I don't know how you can guarantee an R-2000 house will have no mold problems. The workmanship of an R-2000 home might be better but that's no guarantee you won't have moisture problems. If you wrap a house that tight, you trap moisture. Period.
R-2000 makes the cost of an efficient house much higher than it has to be, so a lot of builders don't like it. ...New innovations provide much better insulation value, breathe better and are less expensive, but can't be given an R-2000 designation because they involve different building methods. ...I was involved in a straw-bale build two years ago that has exceptional R value, with no moisture problems, but it does not follow the R-2000 prescription.
...I'm more excited about what is called insulated concrete form (ICF) construction than any other building method out there. These forms... provide excellent insulation and sound barriers and they don't develop mold.
But, because of R-2000's high profile, other building standards don't get as much attention, and the public isn't aware of them. It's time to look beyond the R-2000 home and focus on the truly innovative, low-cost, high-quality house that can be built today that will breathe properly and last forever. ([i]emphasis added) (-- p. S5[/i]) |
Here's Natural Resources Canada's take on R-2000:
| Quote: | When you choose an R-2000 home, you will enjoy the best of all worlds: Advanced building technology. Energy savings. Protected indoor air quality. A level of quality assurance that no other homes can offer, with extra inspections, third-party testing and certification. A home with less impact on the environment. And with all of this, you can still choose any size, design and features you want.
R-2000 is the better way of building homes. If you are looking for a new home, look into the advantages of an R-2000 Home. Then make your next home an R-2000 Home! (From our search May 30?07) |
Crazy-making, huh?
Link to this entry
http://bccondos.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1002#1002 |
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