I am starting in earnest to prepare for building our Sullivan Countly, NY country home in the Catskills. It is my intention to document the process for my own reference and to benefit others with similiar ambitions.
There are a number of areas I am focused on:
Design Criteria
Many of these are going to come from Passive House sustainability requirements (see below), but below is some information from the Town of Neversink:
FEMA Flood Community: # 360828
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Region 3 (I doubt this applies)
Agricultural District 4 (It does not look like this applies to our lot)
Climate Zone 6
Wind Speed: 90 MPH
Snow Load: 50 pds
Frost Depth: 48 inches
Insulation (IRC -N1102.1.2) R-49 Ceilings R-30 Base Ceiling R-20 + 5 walls (new wood frame)
For Prefab Metal Buildings movement of structural members is a big concern. The International Residential Code covers these requirements:
Sustainability
Currently, I am targeting a Passive House certified building through PHIUS, one of two US-based Passive House organizations. To be Passive House certified, a house must meet the criteria in the PHIUS+ 2018 Passive Building Standard Certification Guidebook. and also the criteria for New York Sullivan County EPA Energy Star Certified Homes, EPA Indoor AirPLUS Qualified Home, and DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes.
The below are basic principles from the PHIUS website:
Passive building comprises a set of design principles used to attain a quantifiable and rigorous level of energy efficiency within a specific quantifiable comfort level. "Optimize your gains and losses" based on climate summarizes the approach. To that end, a passive building is designed and built in accordance with these five building-science principles:
Employs continuous insulation throughout its entire envelope without any thermal bridging.
The building envelope is extremely airtight, preventing infiltration of outside air and loss of conditioned air.
Employs high-performance windows (double or triple-paned windows depending on climate and building type) and doors - solar gain is managed to exploit the sun's energy for heating purposes in the heating season and to minimize overheating during the cooling season.
Uses some form of balanced heat- and moisture-recovery ventilation.
Uses a minimal space conditioning system.
Building Department Approvals
For the Permit application we need:
2 sets of stamped Construction Plans
Truss Package - Fire Department Placarding (?)
Approved Septic Design NYS Stamped
Foundation Plan NYS Stamped
Electrician - Sullivan County License only - Copy of License
Third-Party Inspections for LP Gas and Electrical
NYS Workman's Compensation Blanket Insurance Policy from all contractors
For Energy Code we need:
Air Exchange System Design, Model Installation Manual
Heat Load Calculations, Heating Unit Model, Installation Manual
Cooling Load Calculations, Cooling Unit Model, Installation Manual
Basement Insulation Code Compliant
House Blower Door Test, 3rd Party Contractor Copy of Certifications
Duct Blasting Test, 3rd Party Contractor Copy of Certifications
Cost Estimates
Cost Estimates will be based on the following building components:
Septic System (+/- $15,000) Shallow Absorption Trench System for a three-bedroom house
Well (+/- $15,000)
Foundation There is bedrock 2 to 3 feet below the surface of the property, so the current plan is to build foundation walls anchored directly to the bedrock, with fill and thick insulation to create a slab on grade. The slab will actually be above grade so there will be minimal excavation - primarily for the foundation walls.
Core and Shell The Core and Shell is planned to be a prefabricated metal building with insulated metal panels. The "Basis of Design" is a Metallic Building Systems Gable Symmetrical Structure. I was originally interested in Centria Versapanels but may go with MetlSpan. A 4" Insulated Metal Panel (IMP) gives an R-Value of 31. Exhaustive MetlSpan details are here.
Windows & Doors Phius has a list of windows & Doors that meet their requirements for Zone 6.
Alpen Tyrol TR-9 PH+ C Tilt Turn windows Balanced 9 PH+ or High Gain 9 PH+ (Unplasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (uPVC))
Zola Thermoclad Tilt/Turn Quad Hi-G Kr C (Aluminum Clad Wood)
Zola Thermoplus Clad Tilt/Turn Quad Hi-G Kr B (Aluminum Clad Wood)
Zola No Compromise T&T Quad Hi-G Kr B (Aluminum Clad Wood)
Westeck Revolution XL Lift Slide Doors OPT450 VL B or OPT480 VL B
European Rolling Shutters
Energy Recovery Ventilators or Heat Recovery Ventilators and Ductwork I am not sure whether to go with an ERV or an HRV. The below diagram makes the choice look simple (ERV for Hot Humid Summer & Cold Dry Winter), but there may be more involved:
This article makes it seem like a simple choice to go with an ERV
This one seems to indicate that in a Passive House that an HRV is a better choice.
This article talks about recommended ERVs and HRVs for Passive House.
Passive House Buildings Magazine has many more options listed
Zender Q350 ERV seems to be a top-of-the-line choice and is a certified Passive House component for medium size houses in colder climates. It is pricey, at $3,400 for the component alone.
Zender ComfoAir350 HRV seems to be also OK for colder climates and is featured in this article. It costs $2,650.00, and, apparently, a full install on a 1,500 SF house runs about $9K.
Getting Started: Summer of 2021
Given the COVID-inspired building boom and the supply chain issues for materials, we are going to delay construction until Spring of 2022. Hopefully, contractors will be more responsive and available then. In the meantime we have a few short-term objectives for this summer:
Temporary Power
A level 2 charging station for our electric car
A 20-foot shipping container for on-site storage
Dwell Magazine recommends http://www.greencubenetwork.org page titled "Eco Green Shipping Container Dealers" for finding legitimate dealers for shipping containers
A topographical survey so we can locate the house and septic system and file with the town
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