ECOhistoric renovation: the merryman house, insulation

the most obvious way to improve our energy performance was to insulate the walls. and because of major paint peeling on the west wall, due to the major temperature differential between the inside and out, we also decided to furr out on this entire wall and the second floor of the north and south walls. We oriented our furring strips to run horizontally to reduce thermal bridging. Since the 171 year old exterior walls had no exterior sheathing, a 'flash coat' of water-based foam insulation was applied to the back side of the siding and around the framing members to provide an air barrier. We then used a formaldehyde-free blown in fiberglass to fill the rest of the cavity. All-in-all we've acheived roughly R-29 – compared to R-2, I'd say that's a major increase in energy efficiency of this old merry man.

flash coat + horizontal furring

formaldehyde-free fiberglass blown-in-batts

carri of brennan discussing energy efficiency with michael of chesapeake passive house