High R-value enclosures are an important area of research in the development of ultra low energy buildings. BSC’s ongoing High R-Value Enclosure project, undertaken for the US Department of Energy’s Building America program, aims to identify and evaluate residential assemblies that cost-effectively provide a 50 percent improvement in thermal resistance over current building code minimums. The documents below summarize our research results related to wall assemblies.
The following report is an excerpt from the 2010 Building Science Corporation Industry Team Building America Annual Report. Many concerns, including the rising cost of energy, climate change concerns, and demands for increased comfort, have lead to the desire for increased insulation levels in many new and existing buildings. Building codes and green building codes are being changed to require higher levels of thermal insulation both for residential and commercial construction. This report will review, and summarize the current state of understanding and research into enclosures with higher thermal resistance, so-called “High-R
Enclosures”. Recommendations are provided for further research.
