Home With a View
A few weeks ago we drove the AeroBarrier trailer up Parley’s Canyon and made our way to the secluded mountain subdivision of The Preserve. After climbing even more elevation, we arrived at the construction site of a striking custom home being built by Big Canyon Homes.
Nestled in a wooded glen, the home opens to an expansive view of the valley and surrounding towns. Even though the house is still under construction, it’s easy to envision sitting in the great room enjoying the view from an easy chair.
Builders Who Care
AeroBarrier grew from our desire to help builders make their homes healthier and more efficient. We want to help improve every single home built in Utah. It’s always refreshing to work with builders like Big Canyon Homes who have their fingers on the pulse of the building industry and care about building homes right.
Most of Big Canyon Homes’ projects are large-scale residences that feature beautiful architecture, large footprints, and stunning views. They are also energy efficient, and the home we worked on will be electrical net-zero, using solar to power all of the electrical needs of the home.
Net-zero homes don’t just benefit the homeowners, they also mean less pollutants for the rest of us, too–they don’t draw electricity from the power plant, so there’s no emissions.
That means my kids breathe cleaner air because of the way that Big Canyon Homes builds.
Making 7,500 Square Feet Air Tight
When we began the install, our blower door test showed that the home had the equivalent of a 1,300 square inch ‘hole.’ That’s the same as opening a door and keeping it open all year.
After the install, the home had a ‘hole’ that was less than one square foot. That means that we reduced the air leakage by over 90%. Combined with AeroBarrier’s 50-year lifespan, that’s a huge ROI on energy savings during the entire life of the home.
Here’s a before and after comparison of the amount of air leakage in the home.
We successfully brought the home down to Passive House standards (0.6 ACH50).
For large custom homes like this one, AeroBarrier offers the only affordable method for making the home airtight. On the drive home we rolled down the windows and let the cool mountain air blow into the truck as we made our way back down the canyon.