Building Energy

An Old Home in Need of a Face-Lift.

Drew Street is a historic single family home in Burlington originally built in 1859.

The house had several of the original windows and much of the original plaster intact.

It was:

• poorly insulated (blower door reading of 5400 cfm)
• It had several poorly constructed additions to make it into a duplex
• It had numerous safety and building code violations 

The Solution: Deep Energy Retrofit

Construction: Building Energy preserved the original 2 x 4s, rafters and the original foundation. 

The decrease in air leakage and energy use was obtained by the use of spray foam, dense pack cellulose and by incorporating insulated concrete forms where the foundation needed replacement. 

Foundation: Insulated on the inside to R-20. 

Basement Floor: Insulated to R-20 as well. 

Walls: The interior 3.5” of spray foam; the exterior- 2” of rigid foam. Now R-35

Roof: A combination of spray foam, dense pack cellulose, and rigid foam were all incorporated to provide a thermal break and increase the R-Value of the roof to R-55. 

Fiberglass doors were used as well as Pella double hung wooden windows, as required by the Burlington Historic Building Regulations. 

Heat:York Affinity Furnace with a 98% AFUE rating.

Hot Water: Rinnai on-demand water heater.

Ventilation: Venmar HRV system. 

Appliances: washing machine, dishwasher, and refrigerator are all Tier 3 Energy Star 

Efficient At Last

Related Images

Insulating the Outside

Before

Final Product

Insulating the Inside

Spray Foam Insulation