Future-Proofing Your Home: The Power of an Airtight, Insulated Build

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The building envelope is a long-term investment in the comfort and efficiency of your home.

When talking about building efficiency, there’s one component that is integral to achieving success that often gets overlooked: an airtight, well-insulated building envelope. You might think efficiency comes from energy-efficient windows or solar panels on the roof, and while those certainly help, the foundation of an energy-smart building begins with one simple principle: keep the outside out and the inside in. This blog post explores why an airtight, well-insulated building envelope is the cornerstone of future-proofing your home (or build)—protecting it from unpredictable weather, rising energy costs, and ensuring lasting comfort.

The Importance of an Airtight, Energy-Efficient Building Envelope

Think of a building envelope as the protective skin of your home. It’s made up of everything that separates the indoors from the outdoors: walls, windows, doors, roof, and foundation. The key to building a resilient, future-proof home is to make this envelope as airtight and well-insulated as possible.

Heating (or cooling) a building with a leaky envelope is like trying to keep a bucket full of water when there are holes all over it. No matter how many times you refill it, water just keeps escaping. In your home or build, it’s not water escaping—it’s valuable heated or cooled air. If your envelope isn’t airtight, your HVAC system ends up working overtime, which means higher energy bills and a bigger carbon footprint.

As energy costs rise, an airtight, well-insulated home is the best way to both protect your wallet and reduce your environmental impact.  Having a well-insulated, airtight envelope will most likely enable you to use a smaller HVAC system because your building requires less energy to heat or cool.

Airtightness: Stopping the Drafts Before They Start

SIGA TAPES AND MEMBRANes work together to create an air-tight envelope for your home or build.

Airtightness is the first line of defense in future-proofing your home. It’s about minimizing the tiny gaps and cracks that let outdoor air sneak inside. It may not seem like a big deal, but those little leaks can add up to the equivalent of leaving a window open all year round. Drafts make rooms uncomfortable and inconsistent.  Working on airtightness during your build, nets comfort that lasts for many years to come.

Products to Achieve Airtightness in your Home or Build

To achieve airtightness, using the best air-sealing materials is essential. This is where SIGA air-sealing products, including tapes and membranes from Small Planet Supply, come in. SIGA products are designed to create durable, airtight seals around windows, doors, and other penetrations in your building envelope. These tapes and membranes are a key part of stopping unwanted air movement and ensuring that your envelope performs at its best. By effectively sealing all those nooks and crannies, SIGA helps eliminate drafts, which translates to lower energy costs, greater comfort, and more protection from the fluctuating climate.

Insulation helps to maintain a stable indoor air temperature.

Thermacork insulation being applied before siding

Once the envelope is airtight, insulation is what maintains the comfort and protects against rising energy costs. The goal of insulation is to resist heat transfer. In the winter, it keeps warmth from escaping; in the summer, it prevents heat from infiltrating your cool sanctuary. The thicker and better-quality your insulation, the more effectively you can maintain a stable indoor temperature—and the less your HVAC system has to work to compensate.

Havelock wool pre-cut batts make it easy for homeowners to do installation for themselves or for builders to quickly get natural insulation between the walls of their build.

One of the best insulation materials you can use is ThermaCork, a sustainable cork insulation, also available through Small Planet Supply. ThermaCork is a natural, renewable cork insulation that not only has outstanding insulating properties but is also a sustainable choice. It’s harvested from the bark of cork oak trees, which means no trees are cut down in the process, and the bark regenerates over time. ThermaCork is incredibly versatile and can be used in walls, roofs, and floors to provide a consistent thermal barrier.

Another excellent option is Havelock Wool batts, which are also available from Small Planet Supply. Havelock Wool is a natural, renewable insulation made from sheep's wool, offering exceptional insulating properties along with inherent moisture management. Wool fibers are naturally hygroscopic, meaning they can absorb, retain, and release moisture without compromising insulating performance. This makes Havelock Wool particularly well-suited to homes in varying climates where humidity control is crucial. The batts are also non-toxic and provide great acoustic insulation, making your living environment quieter and healthier. By using Havelock Wool batts, you are choosing a sustainable and high-performance insulation solution that aligns with eco-friendly building practices.

ThermaCork and Havelock Wool both excel at resisting heat transfer and providing acoustic insulation, reducing noise from outside and between rooms. This adds another layer of comfort to your living environment. By combining ThermaCork or Havelock Wool with an airtight building envelope, you’re creating a well-balanced, resilient home that maintains comfort year-round while being kind to the planet.

ThermaCork and Havelock wool both excel at not only resisting heat transfer but also in providing acoustic insulation, reducing noise from outside and between rooms. This adds another layer of comfort to your living environment. By combining ThermaCork with an airtight building envelope, you’re creating a well-balanced, resilient home that maintains comfort year-round while being kind to the planet. 

Heat Recovery Ventilation and Enthalpy Recovery Ventilation Give You Control Over Indoor Air

Woman breathing in fresh air in her home

Fresh air in your home isn’t something you notice until you have it (or you don’t!)

An airtight home doesn’t mean you’re sealing yourself in a bubble with stale air. In fact, a properly airtight home gives you control over the air exchange. This is where mechanical ventilation—like a Zehnder HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator) or ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator), and Fresh-R HRV—comes in. Since the home is now much tighter, and well-insulated, it's crucial to incorporate systems that manage indoor air quality effectively.  

Fresh-r Decentralized HRV provide fresh air for your home without ducting

Zehnder HRVs and ERVs, along with Fresh-R HRVs, play a vital role here by providing fresh air while recovering energy from outgoing air, which means you don't lose the valuable heat (or coolness) you've worked so hard to maintain. A Zehnder HRV is ideal for cooler climates, as it transfers heat from the outgoing stale air to the incoming fresh air, ensuring that minimal energy is lost. Fresh-R HRVs also provide excellent efficiency in maintaining indoor comfort by ensuring that heat is recovered during ventilation, making them an ideal choice for a range of climates.

Zehnder HRV and ERV systems provide balanced ventilation throughout your home

Meanwhile, a Zehnder ERV is great for managing both heat and moisture, which is particularly beneficial in climates with high humidity. These systems not only maintain air quality but also help manage humidity levels, making your home healthier and more comfortable. When paired with an airtight, well-insulated envelope, Zehnder HRVs and ERVs, along with Fresh-R HRVs, ensure that your home remains energy-efficient while improving indoor air quality and occupant comfort. These systems provide fresh air in a controlled way, so you get the benefits of air circulation without losing efficiency. SIGA membranes also help in optimizing the performance of these ventilation systems, as they maintain the integrity of the airtight envelope.

Efficiency, Comfort, Resilience, and Healthy Air

When you pair airtightness with effective insulation and proper ventilation, the benefits stack up quickly. You’re not just saving energy; you’re also creating a healthier, more comfortable living environment. Proper ventilation with HRVs and ERVs ensures that the air inside your home remains fresh, reducing the buildup of indoor pollutants and excess moisture, which can lead to mold and other issues. No more hot and cold spots. No more noisy drafts. You’ll also be reducing the strain on your heating and cooling systems, which means they last longer. And the bonus? A well-sealed, well-insulated building envelope also provides better soundproofing and resilience against outside pollutants.

Building a Legacy of Resilience and Efficiency

Creating an airtight, well-insulated building envelope isn’t just about saving money on energy bills; it’s about investing in a future-proof home. A future-proof home is one that can stand up to the tests of time—whether that means facing unpredictable weather with weather-resistant home design, avoiding the escalating costs of energy with energy-efficient home protection, or simply providing a comfortable, healthy space for your family. So, if you’re thinking about upgrading your home or building something new, remember this: Start with the envelope. Because the best energy is the energy you never lose. With building products like SIGA tapes, Thermacork and Havelock wool from Small Planet Supply, you’re not just building a house—you’re creating a legacy of resilience, efficiency, comfort, and sustainability. Contact Small Planet Supply for your airtight building materials and take the first step towards a future-proof, energy-efficient home.

Zehnder HRV: The Lungs of Your Home, Breathe New Life into Your Indoor Air Quality

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Zehnder HRV: The Lungs of Your Home, Breathe New Life into Your Indoor Air Quality

Imagine your home as a living, breathing organism. The walls are its bones, the plumbing is its veins, and the electrical system is its nervous system. But what about the air inside? Just like your body needs lungs to draw in fresh air and expel the old, your home needs a system that can breathe. Enter Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) and Enthalpy Recovey Systems (ERV) - essentially the lungs of your home.

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The Importance of Maintaining and Cleaning Your Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilation System (and How to Do It)

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The Importance of Maintaining and Cleaning Your Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilation System (and How to Do It)

Maintaining a clean and efficient Zehnder Heat Recovery Ventilation system is crucial for ensuring its longevity and optimal performance. While Zehnder systems are designed to require minimal maintenance, there are a few essential tasks that homeowners should regularly perform. This blog post outlines the key maintenance steps to keep your Zehnder system running smoothly, including: changing filters, checking for blockages, cleaning the core, and maintaining the housing.

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Clearing the Air: Choosing Between Centralized and De-Centralized HRVs

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Clearing the Air: Choosing Between Centralized and De-Centralized HRVs

Next month, Small Planet Supply is hosting a webinar featuring our own Eric Fenno, discussing the difference between centralized and decentralized heat recovery ventilator systems and what to consider when deciding which type of system is best for your home or build.  This is the first time that we’ve offered this webinar.  We wanted to know more about the webinar and what will be covered, so we sat down with Eric Fenno to learn more about what he has planned.

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Eleven Reasons We Love Zehnder HRV and ERV Systems

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Eleven Reasons We Love Zehnder HRV and ERV Systems

This January marked the eleventh year Small Planet Supply has been selling Zehnder HRV and ERV systems in the western USA and Canada.  Since then, we’ve sold thousands of systems to homeowners and multi-family builders.  In honor of our eleven years of selling these amazing Zehnder systems here’s eleven reasons why we love Zehnder HRV and ERV systems and why they are a good choice for your home or project.

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Your Zehnder System Commissioning

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Your Zehnder System Commissioning

A Zehnder system is an investment in your home and your family's health. Did you know that some homeowners don't get their systems commissioned and (unbelievably) some homeowners haven't turned their systems on?

After all the work that has gone into designing and installing a system that will provide fresh air to your home, commissioning is the final step to make sure that air flow in your home is happening exactly as designed. Our new USA commissioning agent, Sarah Nuamah, has written a brief blog post about what you can expect in the commissioning product and we provide an introduction to Sarah.

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Rancho Cielo: Age is No Barrier to Building a Sustainable Building Future

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Rancho Cielo: Age is No Barrier to Building a Sustainable Building Future

With all the emphasis on the importance of designing energy-efficient buildings, it can sometimes get lost that there also needs to be a qualified workforce to build them.  There can also be the assumption that this can only be done at the post-secondary level.  Rancho Cielo’s building construction academy in Salinas, California demonstrates that solid construction skills can be taught to even younger participants.  Rancho Cielo Construction Academy is one of several vocational programs run by Rancho Cielo. Participants in the program range from ages 16-24 years of age.

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Clearing the Air: Szabi Fekete on IAQ & Balanced Ventilation

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Clearing the Air: Szabi Fekete on IAQ & Balanced Ventilation

Next month, Small Planet Supply will be hosting a webinar with Zehnder America’s Szabi Fekete.  In his role providing quotes and sales support to customers, Szabi has been able increase his already substantial knowledge of Zehnder systems that he had gained in his nine years as a service and commissioning agent.  Small Planet Supply’s past Zehnder webinars have been popular but often focused on the same theme.  Szabi’s presentation next month will be focused on indoor air quality and air quality standards.   We sat down with him to learn more what he has planned. 

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Zehnder: Ventilation Made Easy with Efficiency You'll Love

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Zehnder: Ventilation Made Easy with Efficiency You'll Love

Indoor air quality is a critical aspect of a healthy living environment. In recent years, more attention has been given to the importance of proper ventilation in homes, buildings, and offices. One of the best ways to improve indoor air quality is to install a heat recovery ventilator (HRV). HRVs are designed to bring in fresh air while also conserving energy and reducing moisture buildup. Zehnder, a leading manufacturer of ventilation systems, has made it their mission to make the use of HRVs easy for everyone.

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Don't Get Gaslit: Ways to Meet Washington's Building Code Without Using Natural Gas

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Don't Get Gaslit: Ways to Meet Washington's Building Code Without Using Natural Gas

Since Washington increased its energy efficiency credit requirements in the residential building code, I’ve run across a few blog articles that suggest ways to meet using natural gas heating or water heaters. Since a key reason for changing codes is to build homes or multi-family buildings that are better for the environment, I thought I’d take some time to look at the code and see how hard (or easy) it is to meet the code without using natural gas. WSU’s Energy Program was an excellent resource for learning about the code and all the informative graphics (except for the drain water recovery system) are from their PPT presentations.
A quick caveat: these totals are based on Washington State Building Code requirements there may be additional requirements for local building jurisdictions.

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California's Title 24, The Recovery Ventilator, and You

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California's Title 24, The Recovery Ventilator, and You

In our last blog post about California’s Title 24, we outlined how the new mandatory building code energy credits system works, and how a recovery ventilator can give a massive boost to EDR credits. California’s Title 24 requirements continue to call for improvements to a new building’s energy usage, and we’re back with more data further prove that best-in-class recovery ventilators are the way to go for efficiency, comfort, and meeting regulations. Based on tests done by Build Smart Group and Luke Morton, Mortan Building Group, the following findings display just how beneficial any Recovery Ventilator can be, and especially so for best-in-class, such as the Zehnder systems carried by Small Planet Supply.

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Zehnder: Exterior Maintenance Keeps Clean Air Flowing

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Zehnder: Exterior Maintenance Keeps Clean Air Flowing

Recently our Zehnder Commissioning Agent Steve Lamberg reported an issue at some of his customer maintenance calls: Zehnder units not getting any supply air because the exterior ports were clogged. Dust builds up on the metal grill, then there is some moisture, and the result is a paste that prevents supply air from getting in.

While this may not be an issue for some of our customers, we wanted to ensure that all Zehnder owners are aware of this maintenance step and check their outside ports, especially the supply ports, as part of their usual seasonal maintenance. If you check your exterior ports and they are dirty or clogged, here is what to do.

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Three Types of Filters that Help Your Zehnder Keep Indoor Air Clean

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Three Types of Filters that Help Your Zehnder Keep Indoor Air Clean

From the moment outside air enters the system, a Zehnder system (and its filters) are designed to keep air contaminants from entering your home, while efficiently recovering heat (or cooling) from the air exiting your home.

Do you know every level of filtration available to you for your Zehnder recovery ventilator? If you’ve recently installed one of these units, or purchased a house that included one already, you hopefully know of (and are changing) at least the in-unit filters. These two filters, one for supply and one for return air, do the brunt of the filtration work to keep your unit running efficiently and delivering the cleanest air, but there are a few other filters that complement the system.

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Clearing the Air: Zehnders, Fresh Air & Wildfire Smoke Strategies

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Clearing the Air: Zehnders, Fresh Air & Wildfire Smoke Strategies

Last month, in part one of a two-part series, we discussed how Zehnder owners in smoke impacted areas managed their Zehnder Comfosystems during the summer’s wildfires. In the second part of this series we’ll talk about things to consider when preparing for a wildfire event. First, let’s talk about some basics.

Zehnder HRV and ERV Function Refresher

Zehnder Comfosystems bring fresh air into buildings to provide healthy ventilation for occupants. The typical ventilation design is based on 0.3 ACH, or one complete air change of the living space every three hours. Having an HRV or ERV is crucial to ventilate today’s modern buildings because they are designed to be built tight and reduce the air leakage from building defects like cracks and voids, while moving the fresh air intake to intentional clean filtered supply intakes.

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Wildfire Smoke and Zehnder System Performance

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Wildfire Smoke and Zehnder System Performance

This summer the Western USA was heavily impacted by wildfire smoke. In late September we sent out a survey to our customers in smoke affected states to find out how they felt their system performed during the wildfires and what steps they took to ensure their system was prepared for operating in fire system. In a subsequent article we’ll feature recommendations received from Zehnder regarding best practices in wildfire/extreme smoke situations.

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A Retro Retrofit: Improving Efficiency in an Older Home

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A Retro Retrofit: Improving Efficiency in an Older Home

With all of our focus on innovative, energy-saving equipment at Small Planet Supply, it was a total surprise that the house Albert Rooks (Small Planet Supply) and I recently purchased in Olympia was a 1938 home. While we would love to say it was the structure we fell in love with, it was probably the gardens that made us feel like we had found a new place to land in Washington state.

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Strategies for a Healthy Home Office or School Space

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Strategies for a Healthy Home Office or School Space

With COVID-19 still having an impact across the US and Canada, it is likely that working and schooling at home will continue for many people. As a result, you may be considering an upgrade to your current home office or school set-up to improve your productivity -- like a new ergonomic office chair, more storage, or noise cancelling headphones!

But did you know that one of the most important contributors to productivity is actually your indoor air quality? New studies from Harvard’s public health department, SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University have found that improved indoor environmental quality doubled occupants’ cognitive function test scores. Focusing on the air that you and your children breathe can help transform your home into a great productivity tool!

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