This document discusses Living Green Homes, a green consulting company that specializes in building science education, energy efficient retrofits, and new green home construction. It provides information on the owners and their certifications. It then discusses common air infiltration, HVAC, insulation, and indoor air quality problems found in existing homes and provides solutions to make homes more energy efficient and healthy. Diagnostic testing methods like blower door and duct blaster tests are also summarized.

1. Living Green Homes
PRESENTS
LivingGreenOn319.com
www.
A Safe, Healthy and
Energy Efficient Home
Presented by:
Jason Scheurer
Environmental Building Scientist

2. Living Green Homes
A Green Consulting Company
Building Performance Institute (BPI) Certified
GreenPoint Rater for New Homes
& Existing Homes
Home Performance with Energy Star Contractor
(Home Star)
LGH Specializes in:
Building Science Education and Energy Efficient Retro-fits
Whole House Approach to Remodeling of Existing Homes
New Construction and Development of SFR

3. Living Green Homes
Jason Scheurer
Licensed General Contractor Since 1995
Green Consultant for Indoor Air Quality,
Energy Efficiency, Building Envelope and
Green Products
GreenPoint Rater (GPR) with Build It Green

4. Living Green Homes
Penny Scheurer
Licensed General Contractor Since 1995
Green Consultant for Indoor Air Quality,
Energy Efficiency, Interior Design and
Green Products

5. Existing Homes
Energy Efficient Retro-fits
Air Infiltration
HVAC Systems
Insulation Levels
Indoor Air Quality Products
(Finish Materials)

6. AIR INFILTRATION PROBLEMS
Electrical holes in
wood framing
members.
Ceiling fan with trim
cover plate falling off.

7. AIR INFILTRATION PROBLEMS
Pipe penetration from
Garage to inside of
house.
Laundry wall with
drywall damage from
a water leak.

8. HVAC SYSTEMS THAT FAIL
Ducts disconnected at
main air handler.
4 out of 5 duct systems
leak an average of 35%-
50% of conditioned air.
Disconnected duct
bringing in hot/cold air
from attic.

9. HVAC SYSTEMS THAT FAIL
Disconnected duct
coupling that has
Asbestos wrap around it.
Indoor Air Quality is
terrible in our existing
homes.
Looks like rats are eating
their Asbestos Dinner.

10. INSULATION DEFECTS
Sloppy and missing
attic insulation.
Completely missing
insulation and rat
traps.

11. INSULATION DEFECTS
Insulation that has
been just thrown into
the attic, stepped on
and misplaced.
Interstitial wall cavity
connecting the floors
and attic together.

12. INDOOR AIR QUALITY
PROBLEMS
Rat droppings at the
leaky HVAC handler to
duct work. This must be a
warm/cold spot.
Whole house fan blowing
air into the attic.
What’s wrong with this ?

13. INDOOR AIR QUALITY
PROBLEMS
Waste drain vent
disconnected with
Methane gases
seeping into the attic.
How clean is your
HVAC return filter ?

14. Effects of Air Leakage
These are typical pictures of
what we see when we test the
average home.
Cold air infiltrates from below.
Hot air escapes from up
above.
This creates a stack effect,
which makes homes drafty,
hot/cold, which in turn, costs
more money to operate
efficiently.
Not to mention the Asthma and
Allergy problems we see on a
daily basis.

15. AIR INFILTRATION SOLUTIONS
Seal and caulk all blocks, brackets, and
nail penetrations coming into the home.
Also install moisture barrier at all
openings.

16. AIR INFILTRATION SOLUTIONS
Rim joists from first story to second story and
electrical penetrations all need to be sealed
and/or insulated properly. This will help prevent
air from traveling inside the walls and to other
floors.

17. AIR INFILTRATION SOLUTIONS
Stairways have major air infiltration problems to
each floor. Sealing them off helps stop any dirt,
dust, and possible mold spores from traveling
from basement to floors and walls.

18. AIR INFILTRATION SOLUTIONS
All electrical boxes (especially exterior) should
be sealed tightly, this stops conditioned air from
moving around between basement, floors and
walls.

19. HVAC SYSTEMS THAT WORK
Properly installed
Liquid Mastic, Metal
Tape, Zip Ties, and
Insulation Wrap.
these are great ways
to seal duct vents
from leaking
conditioned air into
the basements, walls
and attic areas.

20. HVAC SYSTEMS THAT WORK
Properly sealed ducts
at the Plenum, will
help stop air leakage
and make your HVAC
System perform at it’s
highest levels.
Insulation at Plenum
will distribute the air
where it needs to go.

21. PROPERLY INSTALLED
INSULATION
Blown-in Cellulose
(Recycled Newspaper)
covering the attic ceiling
joists a minimum 12”.
Fiberglass Insulation
properly installed.

22. PROPERLY INSTALLED
INSULATION
Quality of Insulation
installation (QII) and
touching all sides of
wall cavity.
8”+ of Spray-in foam
at roof rafters.
This is what we call a
tightly sealed Building
Envelope.

23. INDOOR AIR QUALITY
SOLUTIONS
Zero-VOC paints
throughout the interior
of the home.
Fireplace that is 94%
efficient and vented to
the outside.

24. INDOOR AIR QUALITY
SOLUTIONS
Tankless Water
Heater to the outside
of house.
Sealing off the return
chase Plenum of the
HVAC System.

25. HOME PERFORMANCE with
ENERGY STAR
One “HOT” computer.
One “HOT” Jason !!!

26. HOME PERFORMANCE with
ENERGY STAR
Infrared Camera tells
us a lot about hot and
cold spots throughout
the houses.
Temperature changes
are easy to see and
to define with
diagnostic testing
equipment.

27. HOME PERFORMANCE with
ENERGY STAR
Missing Insulation as
seen from inside the
attic area.
Infrared picture as
seen from in the
bedroom side of
missing attic
insulation.

28. BLOWER DOOR TEST
Blower door tests will tell us how leaky
someone’s home really is. Then we can use
Building Science Techniques to correct the
issues within the home.

29. DUCT BLASTER TEST
Duct Blasters show us how leaky the duct
systems are. Then we take the necessary
measures to correct those issues as well.

30. INFRARED CAMERA
Entry front door not
performing properly.
Walls have multiple
air infiltration issues
that need to be
resolved.

31. Home Performance
Once we implement
Home Performance with
Energy Star-
We DO NOT need all this
solar to be green.
Take care of the “Building
Envelope” first-
Then we need as little
solar as possible.

32. Living Green Homes
Jason Scheurer
Office (714) 841-3080
Cell (714) 330-3944
Jason@Living-GreenHomes.com
Penny@Living-GreenHomes.com
www.LivingGreenOn319.com