Designs That Work
Cold Climate
A Cold climate is
defined as a region with approximately 5,400 heating degree days or
greater and less than 9,000 heating degree days. In North America, cold
climate regions vary in annual precipitation from less than 20 inches to
more than 60 inches. Condensation of warm interior air on cold surfaces
within the building assembly is a concern in design and construction. In
addition, in many areas ground water presents a concern because the
majority of houses are built with basements or crawl spaces. Rain, snow
and ice damming represent threats to the integrity of the building
enclosure. Until relatively recently, the focus in terms of moisture
control in cold climates was moisture drive from the interior during the
heating season. The widespread introduction of centralized cooling in cold
climates, however, can produce cold interior surfaces on which warm moist
air infiltrating from the exterior can condense during the summer. If
interior vapor barriers are installed in conjunction with air conditioning
serious moisture problems can occur. Interior vapor barriers should be
avoided in this climate region. Note that there is a difference between an
interior vapor barrier and interior vapor retarder (see “Insulations,
Sheathings and Vapor Diffusion Retarders”). Controlling moisture and
air flow in the building enclosure in this climate is critical to designing
and building a durable, comfortable home.
For the Cold
climate we have chosen three building profiles that represent the climate
and regional building practices:
- The "Beacon Hill" –
one-and-a-half-story, stick-framed, full basement, brick veneer,
unvented cathedral, slate roof
- The "Boston" – two-story, stick-framed,
conditioned crawlspace, fibercement panel and battens, conditioned
attic, unvented asphalt shingle roof
- The “Chicago”
– two-story, stick-framed, basement, first & second floor vinyl siding,
vented attic, asphalt shingle roof
- The “Denver” – two-story, stick-framed, basement with sub-crawl, first floor brick
and second floor wood siding, vented
attic, asphalt shingle roof
- The “Minneapolis”
– one-and-a-half-story, stick-framed, slab-on-grade, stucco, vented
cathedral ceiling, asphalt shingle roof
- The "Vineyard" – two-story, stick-framed,
full basement, cedar shingle siding, unvented cathedral, cedar shingle
For information
about a production builder from this climate, see
Building America
Case Studies.
This explores the builder's experience with the BA program and discusses
the reasons for the specific design and construction details that were
used at Prairie Crossing. For an additional case study of a green
townhouse infill project in Cleveland, Ohio see
EcoVillage
Cleveland. To see the
detailed drawings check out Advanced Framing and
Air Sealing Techniques. Additional information
on construction methods and alternative designs is available in the
Builder's Guide Cold Climates.
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