Wall-to-Wall Solutions Residential Project Showcase

CertainTeed

Residential Project ShowcaseWall-to-Wall Solutions

Builder name: Westlake DevelopmentLocation(s): Street of Dreams, OregonProduct mix: Luxury, CustomBuilder’s website: www.westlakedevelopmentllc.comGypsum Products: AirRenew® M2Tech® IAQ* Drywall, SilentFX® Noise-Reducing Drywall

Builder name: LennarLocation(s): NationwideProduct mix: Active Adult, Entry Level, Move UpBuilder’s website: www.lennar.comGypsum Products: AirRenew® Essential IAQ Drywall

2 *Indoor Air Quality

Builder name: Sable HomesLocation(s): MichiganProduct mix: Entry Level, Move Up, LuxuryBuilder’s website: www.sablehomes.comGypsum Products: AirRenew® Essential, AirRenew® M2Tech® IAQ Drywall

Builder name: E3INNOVATELocation(s): TennesseeProduct mix: CustomBuilder’s website: www.e3innovate.comGypsum Products: AirRenew® M2Tech® IAQ Drywall

3*Indoor Air Quality

Builder name: Michael McKelvey Company LLCLocation(s): WashingtonProduct mix: Luxury, CustomBuilder’s website: www.michaelmckelveycompany.comGypsum Products: AirRenew® M2Tech® IAQ Drywall, SilentFX® Noise-Reducing Drywall, DiamondBack® Tile Backer

Residential Project ShowcaseWall-to-Wall Solutions

Builder name: Lancia HomesLocation(s): IndianaProduct mix: Entry Level, Move Up, Custom, LuxuryBuilder’s website: www.lanciahomes.comGypsum Products: AirRenew® Essential IAQ Drywall

4

Builder name: Seabrook Land CompanyLocation(s): Sunset Idea Town, WashingtonProduct mix: Move Up, Custom, LuxuryBuilder’s website: www.seabrookwa.comGypsum Products: AirRenew® M2Tech® IAQ Drywall, CertainTeed Lite Topping, CertainTeed Wall and Ceiling Texture

Builder name: Granite RidgeLocation(s): IndianaProduct mix: Entry Level, Move Up, LuxuryBuilder’s website: www.graniteridgebuilders.comGypsum Products: AirRenew® Essential IAQ Drywall

Cop

yrig

ht S

unse

t Pub

lishi

ng C

orp.

, pho

to b

y Th

omas

J. S

tory

5

The home’s cobalt blue siding sets it apart from older brick houses in its River Forest neighborhood. But the color of the house on Jackson Avenue is the least of its distinguishing factors. As northern Illinois’ first certified passive house, Corinna and Rodrigo Lema’s new house is a celebrity in architectural circles. Originated in Germany, a passive house has maximum indoor air quality and is super energy-efficient.

Mitigating mold is still a hot-button topic.Francis Maasland has seen more mold than a connoisseur of French cheeses. When he worked as a homebuilding insurance repair contractor in Seattle, he routinely came across the health hazard that is the bane of existence for many builders and their clients. “A common sighting was mold, mold infestations in bathrooms commonly due to poor venting, or in general interior walls and ceilings due to poor construction methodology. And windows in older homes, especially the aluminum single pane glass, needed constant monitoring for mold growth.”

American builders and designers are beginning to view Passive House as the new gold standard of energy performance.LEED used to be the buzzword for energy-efficient homes in the United States, but a new standard in town could be a game-changer: Passive House. This construction standard is the toughest one yet, requiring very low levels of air leakage, very high levels of insulation, and windows with a very low U-factor. Passive House has its roots in North America, but it blossomed in Europe where it has been an accepted standard for the last 18 years.

PASSIVE HOUSESusan Bady, Contributing EditorJuly 2013PROFESSIONAL BUILDER

Read the full article at:http://editiondigital.net/publication/?i=164750

BrEAk tHE MOldBen Ikenson October 2010MM8 :: Buildernews®

rIVEr FOrESt HOME rAISES tHE BAr On EnErGY EFFICIEnCYLeslie Mann, Special to the Chicago TribuneFebruary, 15 2013Chicago Tribune

Read the full article on page 41 at:http://digital.turn-page.com/issue/17519

Read the full article at:http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-15/classified/ct-mre-0217-passive-house-20130215_1_passive-house-river-forest-home-efficiency

Residential Project ShowcaseWall-to-Wall Solutions

6

CertainTeed Gypsum offers a wide range of drywall and finishing solutions that will help make

your homes stand out from the competition. From the most sustainable wall and ceilings

systems in the industry to actively improving air quality and reducing noise levels, you can

Be Certain™ our innovative wall-to-wall solutions will add value to every room in your homes.

That’s good for your homebuyers —and good for your business.

Our drywall not only makes homes look better, it makes them sound, breathe and feel better.

7

Residential Project ShowcaseWall-to-Wall Solutions

DURING THE PAST YEAR, a net-zero beachfront house in Southern Cali-fornia recently built for Emmy Award-winning actor Bryan Cranston has garnered much attention from green building and design profes-sionals. Known as “3Palms,” the 2,450-square-foot, three-bedroom beach house provides an excellent model for cost-effective, high-performance green residential building.

From the beginning, the goal of the project was to build a home that epitomized the balance between form and functionality while

meeting the highest standards available for green residential building. To achieve this goal, Cranston assembled a project team headed by three California green building and design thought leaders—the architect of record, Alliance Design Group; the project’s designer, Turturro Design Studio; and builder, Allen Associates Construction. Through the team’s resourceful work, 3Palms is on target to receive both LEED for Homes Platinum and Passive House Institute U.S. (PHIUS) certifications—levels

BREAKINGBad IAQ

A high-profile green build-ing project meets high standards for indoor air quality.

BY AMY LEE

FACING PAGE A view of the Pacific Ocean from the 3Palms home. ABOVE The interior offers a modern aesthetic.

IMAGES COURTESY OF TURTURRO DESIGN STUDIO

E N V I R O N M E N T A L D E S I G N + C O N S T R U C T I O N

T H E O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E L E E D ® P R O F E S S I O N A Ledc 7.13.EDCmag.com

8

Bad IAQ

Published in ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN + CONSTRUCTION

(www.EDCmag.com) July 2013

reached by only a handful of homes across the country.

3Palms’ impressive status as a net-zero home can be traced in no small part to its energy-efficient design. It utilizes Passive House design techniques such as radiant slap heating, an airtight seal and strategic window place-ment that are aided by high-performance materials like photovoltaic solar roofing and spray foam insulation.

For 3Palms’ homeowner, ar-chitect, designer and builder,

creating a healthy interior with high indoor air quality was an equally high priority.

“High indoor air quality was very important to Bryan and his family, so that was one of the goals we were pushing for throughout the project,” says Bryan Henson, LEED AP, president, Allen Associates Construction. “If you’re going to build a home to meet the highest green building stan-dards, you need to make the interior as healthy as possible. For us, this was a matter of

limiting air pollutants by select-ing building materials with low environmental and occupant impact and employing effective ventilation strategies.”

To avoid potential sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the most common pol-lutant of indoor air, the project team opted to use only build-ing materials and furnishings with little or no-VOC content. Off-gassing of VOCs from finishes and glues used with traditional building products are responsible for the strong,

unpleasant smell often associ-ated with new homes.

“That new-house smell is not good for you,” Henson says. “We took every precau-tion on this project to reduce the VOC content of the interior air. There’s no paint or stan-dard finishes on the walls and no carpeting on the floors. All of the adhesives we used are low- or no-VOC, and we applied the finishes offsite. So, you walk into this house, there’s no new-house smell. All you smell is fresh air.”

Both floors of 3Palms are poured concrete, and the home utilizes passive-house design techniques like strategic window placement.

IMAGE COURTESY OF TURTURRO DESIGN STUDIO

edc ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN + CONSTRUCTION July 20139

IAQ STRATEGIESBoth floors of 3Palms are poured concrete in conjunc-tion with the radiant slab heating systems. Another important component of the VOC reduction strat-egy was the installation of CertainTeed AirRenew IAQ Gypsum Board on the walls. AirRenew actively helps clean indoor air by captur-ing VOCs, such as formalde-hyde and other aldehydes, and converting them into inert compounds that safely remain within the board. As new sources of formalde-hyde—such as paint, rugs, new carpeting, furniture and cleaning supplies—are potentially introduced into the interior environment over time, the product will continue to scavenge formal-dehyde, ultimately improving indoor air quality. Outside of its VOC-scavenging abilities, however, the product appears and installs like standard gypsum board, which ap-pealed to the project team.

“AirRenew was a product that I was familiar with, having used it on a few other high-performance green building projects, and it fit well with what we were trying to do,” Henson says. “It’s easy to find, has a positive impact on IAQ and is installed just like regular gypsum board. So, if you’re already planning to install drywall on the project, there’s no added labor cost.”

The Allen Associates crew sealed the gypsum board with latex and finished it with a 1/8- to 1/4-inch layer of American Clay breathable earthen plaster, which ab-sorbs excess moisture from the air and releases it as

needed, regulating humidity. Since AirRenew’s VOC-scav-enging abilities are uncom-promised by any breathable finish or paint, even through multiple coats, the project team saw the gypsum board and earthen plaster as an ap-propriate, functional pairing.

“We believe the AirRe-new gypsum board and the hand-troweled American Clay plaster are working in conjunction,” says John A. Turturro, principal of Turturro Design Studio. “The clay sur-face balances humidity and creates negative ions, which bond with airborne particu-late matter, including VOCs, helping to draw them to the walls, which trap them. So, we’ve got multiple wall layers working together.”

MAINTAINING IAQ WHILE MEETING PHIUS STANDARDSCreating an airtight seal around the home with spray foam insulation was es-sential for meeting PHIUS standards, but it increases the importance of developing an effective ventilation strategy to ensure that interior air is kept fresh and unpolluted. To address this issue, the team used energy recovery ventila-tors’ (ERVs) special exhaust fan units that remove stale interior air and allow new fresh air to enter. The fresh air is also preheated by the exit-ing air on its way out, which maintains a constant tempera-ture in the room.

“Maintaining a balance between a tight seal and ad-equate ventilation is a com-mon and crucial challenge for most energy-efficient homes,” Turturro says. “You don’t want to create a Petri dish

of germs and pollutants with your interior air—you want good circulation. An ERV is a good way to provide that.”

A preservationist of common-sense ancient design trends that are sometimes overlooked by today’s green designers, Turturro used strategic window placement to enhance natural ventilation.

“The fenestration of the house is designed for cross ventilation, so you can crack a small window on the ocean side and a corre-sponding small window on the inland side and create a pretty nice passive airflow,” Turturro says.

One IAQ threat that many homeowners may not notice is the potential for exhaust from standard vacuum cleaners to pollute interior air. 3Palms, however, has a whole-house vacuum, consist-ing of a centralized reservoir in the garage connected to various wall ports throughout the home via hard piping through the walls. To sweep, the homeowner merely plugs a hose into one of the wall ports and switches on the vacuum. All debris is exhausted to the reservoir in the garage.

With all of these materials and design strategies working to-gether, the 3Palms project team has produced an interior with excellent IAQ, through an abundant supply of fresh, unpolluted air, further solidifying its compliance with the high LEED and PHIUS standards. The project has already achieved both

absorbs VOCs and cleans the air

Gypsum Board

AirRenew is the only gypsum board that actively cleans indoor air by absorbing VOCs and turning them into inert compounds. How does it work? Scan the QR code or visit www.AirRenew.com

800-233-8990 • certainteed.com • http://blog.certainteed.com

ROOFING • SIDING • TRIM • DECKING • RAILING • FENCE • FOUNDATIONSGYPSUM • CEILINGS • INSULATION • PIPE

800.233.8990

CTG-1638 ED+C Article Reprint.indd 1 9/3/13 11:21 AM

Residential Project ShowcaseWall-to-Wall Solutions

10

edc ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN + CONSTRUCTION July 2013 CTG-1638/2M/0813

Reprint with permission from Environmental Design + Construction www.EDCmag.com, Copyright 2013.

Maintaining a balance between a tight seal and adequate ventilation is a crucial challenge for most energy-efficient homes.

IMAGE COURTESY OF TURTURRO DESIGN STUDIO

regional and national recognition through a series of tours and workshops for California green building and design profession-als and has been featured on the TV program, Real Green. This attention from the green building and design community fits perfectly with Cranston’s desire for his new home to inspire and educate others in their own green building aspirations.

“Part of the owner’s objective was to use 3Palms as a showcase for innovative green building and design, and he has been very accommodating,” Turturro says. “When we’re done, several hundred people will have walked through this house.

As a team, we are really excited to have been a part of this project. The exposure is important of course, but beyond that, the sharing of ideas for green building and design has been amazing.” edc

AMY LEE IS MANAGER OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS AND SUSTAIN-

ABILITY FOR CERTAINTEED GYPSUM. LEE HAS 15 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN ALL

ASPECTS OF TECHNICAL MARKETING, MOST RECENTLY FOCUSED ON SUSTAIN-

ABILITY AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE CONSTRUCTION MARKET.

SHE CAN BE REACHED AT AMY.LEE@SAINT-GOBAIN.COM.

11

AirRenew® Essential is part of the AirRenew family of indoor air quality (IAQ) gypsum boards featuring industry-first VOC-scavenging technology. AirRenew® Essential offers a cost-effective solution for healthier interior environments in residential construction and remodeling projects.

AirRenew® M2Tech® formaldehyde-absorbing indoor air quality gypsum board with M2Tech® for added moisture- and mold-resistance.

SilentFX® noise-reducing acoustical gypsum board with M2Tech® for added moisture-and mold-resistance.

M2Tech® gypsum board is made with technology specially formulated for enhanced moisture- and mold-resistance.

The GlasRoc® reinforced glass mat family of products include Diamondback® Tile Backer for use in moisture prone spaces.

™® CertainTeed and the tag line “Quality made certain. Satisfaction guaranteed.” are trademarks of CertainTeed Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of CertainTeed’s affiliates and related companies.

CertainTeed Gypsum builds a better environment.

CertainTeed CorporationP.O. Box 860

Valley Forge, PA 19482

Professional: 800-233-8990Consumer: 800-782-8777www.certainteed.com http://blog.certainteed.com

ASK ABOUT ALL OF OUR OTHER CERTAINTEED® PRODUCTS AND SYSTEMS:

ROOFing • Siding • TRiM • deCking • RAiling • FenCe gYPSUM • CeilingS • inSUlATiOn

©01-2014 CertainTeed gypsumPrinted in the USA on recycled paper. CTg-2657/1.5M