I thought you’d be interested in a window story relayed by a very conscientious and knowledgeable green residential builder / remodeler. Our tale begins with the homeowner choosing high end windows, to the tune of over 35 thousand dollars, from a supplier not familiar to the builder. When the time came for the windows to go in, the builder discovered the installers doing next to nothing in the way of window flashing. (Definitely not what he’d expect from any window provider but particularly from the supplier of expensive windows.) When he told the installers to remove the windows and install the proper moisture mitigation, they said there’s no need. Their reasoning… since the windows come with a 20 year warranty, this is the normal way they install them. The builder shouldn’t worry about it since if they leak, they’ll come back and repair the wall and replace the windows. After the builder picked his jaw off the floor, he forced the installers to do a proper job and definitely won’t be adding that window supplier to his list.

Moral of this story:
1. It’s in your favor to understand best building practices for window installation and the manufacturer’s recommended methods (resources in previous post). Even though the homeowner will never know this story, they are very lucky to have chosen a builder that’s on top of his game and one who makes sure his super is too.
2. Although many window installers are well trained and conscientious, don’t take for granted the ones that show up on your job know what they’re doing or care how they’re doing it.

Once in awhile I discover missing or incorrectly installed window flashing during the rough-in inspection of a green home. Normally it’s easy to provide the proper method by referring to the manufacturer’s instructions. Unfortunately, in one particular case, the manufacturer’s installation instructions were very limited directing the installer to follow the local building code. The window installation / flashing portion of the building code simply stated to follow manufacturer’s instructions. Interesting dilemma. Tyvek was used for the housewrap and luckily Tyvek provides a wonderful resource of window flashing and installation instructions for various types of windows. If you find yourself in a similar situation, the following sites can be very helpful:

• Tyvek’s window installation resource can be accessed at http://ht.ly/2sOmq. 
• There’s a great article entitled A Guide to Recessed Window Flashing on the TLS Laboratories site, plus TLS offers a series of videos accessible through their “Products” tab, http://ht.ly/2sPPu.
• The American Architectural Manufacturers Association offers publications for sale on commercial and residential window installation, http://ht.ly/2sPEv.

Is your window installer up to date with the latest flashing and window installation methods? Has he/she read the manufacturer’s instructions for your selected windows?

More often than not, I expect the answer is yes…. but don’t count on it. I’ve seen some poor installations during very recent green certification rough-in inspections. For example, missing sill flashing, housewrap wrapped around the top of the window, top flap of the house wrap behind instead of overtop of the head flashing, or flashing installed in the wrong order. When brought to the  attention of the installers, the usual response is a strong defense of their methods. They are simply unaware of the current best building practices for window installation. (For two short videos entitled “Installing Air Barriers” and “Flashing” showing best practices for housewrap installation and flashing of a common window, visit http://ht.ly/2slw0.)

All of these improper methods can come back to haunt you in the form of call backs from unhappy homeowners. Unfortunately, the window and housewrap manufacturers won’t be of any help. Their warranties are negated when their installation instructions aren’t followed to the letter.

To keep pace with the increasing advancements in this industry, many window and door manufacturers are fine-tuning the science of installation. But, what if the manufacturer’s instructions simply direct the installer to follow the local building code and the local code defers to the manufacturer’s instructions? Believe me, it happens. Some suggestions in the next post.

Conversion of any commode to dual-flush is possible according to the manufacturer of the HydroRight Dual Flush Converter (and you don’t even need any tools).

So far, the word on this product is very good and the cost is around $25.00 dollars at Ace Hardware.

The video shows how it works and how to install it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-flEtWpFl4&NR=1.

20 Ways to Save Water without Sacrificing Performance. This list includes bath, kitchen, laundry, yard, and infrastructure, http://ht.ly/1OOK4.

I’d add a heat pump water heater under the infrastructure category.

Windows with the insulating capacity of solid wall…is that possible?

It certainly is according to Southwall Technologies Inc. Their Heat Mirror insulating glass picks up where low-e leaves off, offering insulating ranges from R-6 to R-20. Read all about it at http://ht.ly/1IZVQ.

What’s wrong with this picture? The wall next to this fridge is too deep preventing the door from opening all the way.

How would you like to battle to get anything in or out of the freezer side of this refrigerator on a daily basis? Forget about pulling out or removing the shelves or baskets.

Although avoiding this problem seems like a no-brainer, I continue to see this design error in various levels of homes. This picture was taken in a model home. Think about how many times this problem will be duplicated.

If the refrigerator must be up against a side wall, make sure the wall is shallow enough that the refrigerator door can swing open to its full extent, as shown here.

The Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 passes the house. Six billion dollars is authorized for Home Star and this program is expected to allow 3 million families to retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient. To read more, visit http://ht.ly/1IohW.

Grist analyzes the Act : http://bit.ly/cmKpmX

What’s eligible within the program? http://bit.ly/9Vh7pK

The Cash for Clunker appliance program lasts through April 25th.

Get the details and step-by-step procedure on how to get your rebate at http://ow.ly/1vhLh.

Wind power has worked for centuries.

Residential wind power is evolving.

The quiet Honeywell Windronics turbine weights 170 lbs. and begins producing electricity in 2 mph winds – compared to 7.5 mph for most tower-mounted turbines. Read about it here: http://ow.ly/1Bgzu.