The soffit vents in my example are not affected. If they are in place, then nothing changes. However, if the vents lack baffles, then they will get installed. We are not sealing the vents, just the top plates of the exterior walls.
Kevin
OK, we are not on the same sheet of music. Nowhere in this entire thread have I suggested or said that I have made the recommendation to seal the soffit vents. I have never made that recommendation!
Air sealing top plates has nothing to do with sealing the soffit vents.
Kevin
You are correct, my mistake.
Please, let me re-phrase. How many audits have you recommended air sealing the top plates and have re-inspected, post construction?
Several! I have actually been on-site with the insulation contractor while they were performing the work.
The last one I tested out had a 1,200 CFM50 reduction. That was an attic that was over 1000 sq feet. The clients did the following:
- air sealed and insulated the attic to DOE recommended R-40.
- sealed and insulated the attic hatch
- installed radiant barrier backer board on the skylight enclosure (in attic).
Kevin
This is great information, but you recommended this for your client in which the attic was fully finished.
To spray foam in the rafters in the home you inspected, would require the home owner to remove all of the interior surfaces to gain full access to the roof rafters. That’s not cost effective.
If you are suggesting that they re-insulate the roof rafters, a dense packed cellulose would be a better alternative. It’s less expensive, can be blown-in through a hole in the roof or the underside of the roof (drywall), and has the same R-valve.
I’m a big fan of foam, but there are better solutions for reto-fit applications. There was an ASHRAE white paper that was written back in 2002 (I think) that talks about non-vented cathedral installations. I’ll try and dig it up.
I think it’s great for new construction, but with existing homes, we as energy auditor should be suggesting the most cost effective energy conservation measures.
Kevin
I inspected and found a deficiency.
With my recommended fixes, these people can realize payback (in reduced gas costs) in one year. Remember, their annual gas bill was $14,000!
Just installing a combusion air duct on the basement furnace would pay my inspection fee in one month.
Ok, so the thermal boundary is behind the knee walls. Telling them that they should install foam in the underside of the roof and seal the soffit vents will bring the attic space behind the knee wall into the building envelope. Why tell them to do that?? That is not the really feasible or cost effective in this scenario. I would have recommended air sealing the back of the knee walls and then installing a backer board to make the thermal boundary continuous and contiguous.
AGA Cat 4 furnaces can get there make-up air from the outside or the inside (depending on manufacture and installation requirements). My point is you are making conclusions without conducting the proper testing, which would be a worst case depressurization test.
Really? why didn’t you put some of those pictures in the report or make mention of the fact that you conducted an invasive inspection of the wall cavity?
That is confusing and misleading to the client. That term is typically used as a term that would have a definition that states "I visually inspected the item, system, or component and did not find any deficiencies or adverse conditions (or something like that).
If you find a discrepancy, then label it “Repair or Replace” or “Recommended Upgrade” or “Maintenance Item”…anything but “Inspected.”
Just providing some constructive criticism 
Kevin
Really!!
Payback for what? The recommendations you have given them will cost a lot of money to complete. They are not going to recoup their investment in Energy Conservation Measures (your specific recommendations) in a year. The energy audit does not save the client money - making the ECM’s will save them on their utility bills, which requires an investment that has to be made back over time.
Let me get this straight. Your telling me that if an HVAC contractor went out to this home and installed a vent pipe on the air intake of the furnace, the client will save 1,400.00 a year in their natural gas bill (10% of 14,000, which is your estimation inside the report).
That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day I would make the recommendation that unless you are completing a cost benefit analysis or a savings to investment ratio (SIR), I would refrain from telling your clients the percentage of savings a specific upgrade will make.
IMHO
Kevin
You write your reports your way and I will write them my way.
Your comments make clear that you did not fully read the report (see your previous posts) and that you did not fully understand the inspection conditions or the issues involved.
My mistake was not writing the report so that a thrid party could easily understand what was taking place. I will not make that mistake again.
Will,
I asked your permission to provide feedback, and you replied that “you are looking to improve.”
My comments were made in order to help you out. The tone in the last response suggests that you are now defensive.
Sorry, Man! I just offered my opinion. Best of luck to you in future energy inspections.
Kevin
Not at all, Kevin. Constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome.
As I tried to state, I have to make my reports much more clear, as if I was writing a report to a totally disinterested third party who was not present during the inspection. I have to put in more photos showing what I did during the inspection. I did not take or include photos that clearly showed the way the “attic” space was “finished”. My mistake.
One point. The local codes for this area (where the house was built) to not “require” that the cat 4 furnaces have a combustion air vent. The builder and his (and I use the term loosely) HVAC sub only did the work to the local code reauirements. I met with both of them, later, and they said, “Hey, it’s to code” (meaning the local code reauirements). I then asked them if they had actually read the installation manual. They said, after much hemming and hawing, “no”.
That is one of my points. These guys are not trained (not required by the local AHJ) and have little understanding of wehat they are doing. They just “learned” by watching a couple of furnaces being installed and thought “Hey, this is easy. Why should I work for this guy? I will start my own company and make all the money for myself!”
Common, in this area.
But, and I am sure you would agree, oh, so WRONG.
No hard feelings, Kevin. Please, keep me on my toes.
Iron on Iron, buddy! Always!
Hey Will,
In the spirit of fairness, here is a sample energy report that I created. I built this template myself. This particular energy assessment has similar recommendations to the one you posted.
www.richnspect.com/Sample_Reports/Sample_Energy_eInspections.pdf
Please let me know what you think If you would like to see another one created in the new HG Energy template, just let me know.
Kevin
A note on the interpretation of the statement; “it past code”.
“It passed code” does not mean it’s okay. It means it was not called out by the AHJ.
It means that analytical testing was not conducted by the AHJ.
It does not mean that if a third-party analysis shows that conditions which are not enforced by the AHJ does not comply with energy code, that it passes local building code requirements!
Last week I went through a considerable ordeal with a high-end builder and a client (who is an attorney) concerning this exact circumstance.
It past code.
I conducted testing not performed by the AHJ.
The builder pulled in the AHJ to support that they did not have to fix anything.
The AHJ related that they do not evaluate the energy code performance but that if information from a third-party investigation shows that a deficiency prevents the applications required by the energy code is not meeting the intended performance, they will in fact require compliance.
If the builder fails to comply with third-party requests to correct performance deficiency, they will step in and if necessary take the contractor to the contractors licensing board at the state level.
It doesn’t pass code, because nothing in the AHJ inspection determines a passing grade. The AHJ flags deficiencies. They do not provide a passing grade to a component that requires analysis which they are not capable of performing.
They ensure that the proper insulation size is applied to the building envelope, it does not evaluate its performance to R-Value performance expectations.
However, the situation is not black and white and cut and dry as it seems.
Not only must you prove the deficiency in performance, but you must show that the deficiency is significant enough to overcome the overall building performance standards.
In other words if you have a small area of insulation deficiency and the house has insulation installed at R-40 when only R-38 is required, you must show that the deficiency exceeds the increased efficiency ratio installed throughout the rest of the building.
So as you can see, if you want to get involved in any of this you must do more than turn on a thermal imaging camera and look for “blue spots”!
When you say there is virtually no insulation in the wall, you must perform the required analysis to determine the apparent R-Value deficiency. Unless of course you have access to the back side of the wall!
I was just asking because here in NH when we do weatherization it is almost impossible to vent and correctly air seal soffits and many time the recommendation is to seal the soffits and vent the gable and or ridge.
Nice report by the way
What type of housing stock is mostly in your area?
Kevin
Same as in your area, I assume, but I think what differs is the climate
Kevin, that is good looking report. What did you design it in?
Brad,
I created the template in eInspections. I go back and forth with using it and Home Gauge. I really like the new HG Energy template, but eInspections template looks neater and cleaner.
The only downside to using eInspections is that I don’t have the spreadsheet capabilities that are in the HG template.
Kevin