Visit from Holland College Energy Systems Engineering Technology class

Thanks to Blair Arsenault for bringing the Holland College Energy Systems Engineering Technology class for a visit to tour the house and perform the blower door test and check out some of the walls with their infrared camera (was not ideal conditions as it was +1 deg. Celcius outside) .

The blower door test came in at 1.2 ACH50 (1.2 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals) which is very good but not as good as I was hoping (I was hoping to reach the Passive Haus (a European high energy efficient building standard) standard of 0.6 ACH).   There are a few known leaks such as the masonry heater (can be partially remedied by putting a damper on the air intake), the drain for the clothes washer (can be remedied  by stuffing with material) the root cellar vents (will be remedied when I seal off the root cellar from the rest of the house) and the composting toilet (no real practical remedy) so perhaps I can get closer to the .6 ACH standard.

For reference the highest Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and 2005 R2000 (both North American high energy efficient building standards)  standard is 1.5 ACH50,  so I have surpassed those.  With the other known leaks listed it is quite comforting to know that I will not be losing a lot of heat into the walls through air leakage.

Holland College students checking out some of the material I put out. 

Holland College class (Blair at right) checking out the wind turbine.

Blower door test.

Other news....  getting closer???  Am still plugging away at trim.  The little things do seem to take a long time with little visual progress.  Move in day probably still a couple of weeks although we are starting to take boxes up every trip so hopefully move in won't be too overwhelming.