BobVila.com

TechShield radiant barrier sheathing can help homeowners conserve energy by keeping up to 97 percent of the sun's radiant heat from entering the attic. TechShield, the only radiant barrier sheathing with post-lamination incising, effectively allows moisture to escape from the foil side of the board should it get wet. Studies have shown that using a radiant barrier can effectively reduce the amount of energy required to cool the home by up to 20 percent. And TechShield radiant barrier sheathing adds no additional time or labor costs to the construction, because the foil is already laminated to the board.

Bob meets with Erling Andersen of AIM (Andersen International Marketing) in the basement of the modern Colonial to discuss the heating system. The Boiler Room in a Box has just arrived in its crate, fully assembled and ready to hang on the wall. Although the gas-fired system has a very small footprint, it has a 175,000 btu boiler and can heat a 4,000 sq. ft. New England home. The water heated by the boiler is distributed throughout the house in two ways: through radiant baseboard and in-floor radiant tubing. The slimline baseboard is made of aluminum and copper with the water distributed through PEX tubing. In rooms with no space for baseboard, such as the kitchen, the heated water runs through special PEX tubing with an aluminum core that is suspended between the floor joists using plastic nail clips. Bob points out that the home's structural system comes with pre-drilled holes to facilitate the tubing installation. Once the radiant tubing has been run between all the joists, reflexive insulation is nailed up into each void effectively creating heat ducts between the joists.

Steve Easley previews a few of the energy-efficient building materials planned for the EnergyWise House.