A Cooling Effect: Insulation and Venting

In an effort to naturally cool (and heat) the house, insulation and venting have been given much thought. For insulation, we are using Owens Corning Eco Touch.  In some areas it will work best to use batting in mat form, and in other areas, insulation will be blown in behind a retaining fabric.  Depending on location, R-11 and R-19 is used.

Here are pictures of the batting in mat form in the package and installed at the roof line.

And following are pictures of the loose-fill insulation retaining fabric installed on the wall, waiting for insulation to be blown in.

Here is a wall with retaining fabric installed.

 Closeup of wall with fabric installed. 

 And here is a wall portion with the insulation blown in behind the fabric.

And a closeup of the wall with the insulation blown in.

Venting the roof and attic space is also important to keep the shingles and inside of the house from overheating in the summer and to prevent ice dams from forming in the winter.

In a previous post talking about the underside of the clerestory, the exterior soffit roof vents can be seen.

A system of AtticMate air vent channels has been installed above the insulation layer that will channel outside air from the soffit vents up through the ridge vents.