PHRC Webinars

Ductwork in Attics, One of the Last Holdouts of Inefficient Home Design [Archive]

1/14/2020 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Instructor: PHRC Staff with Andrew Poerschke (IBACOS)

Handouts

Link to Webinar: http://bit.ly/PHRCWebinar_DuctworkinAttics

Description

While energy codes have continued to improve the thermal performance of homes, ductwork located in attics have remained a large source of inefficiency. Bringing conventional ductwork entirely into conditioned space has a visual and financial impact on the home. As an alternative, recent code changes have identified a strategy to bury ductwork within the insulation of an unvented attic to reduce HVAC energy consumption. This session will build off a discussion on the fundamentals of good duct design and consider recent code changes with regards to burying ductwork in attic insulation as an alternative to bringing ductwork into conditioned space. Burying ductwork introduces several performance and durability concerns including the risk of condensation. Several strategies will be discussed along with challenges and solutions.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the interdependence of correct load calculation, system selection, and duct design.
2. Understand recent code changes with regards to ductwork buried in an unvented attic insulation and identify strategies to meet the updated code requirements.
3. Understand energy and comfort impacts from burying ductwork or bringing ductwork into conditioned space.
4. Identify health and durability risks associated with burying ductwork in attic insulation.

Cost

Free to attend; $20 for continuing education credit in live webinar

Credit Hours

Live Webinar: 1.0 L&I Contact Hour, 1.0 PDH, 1.0 AIA LU|HSW, 1.0 ICC Contact Hour (0.1 CEU), 1.0 NARI hour/CEU

Tags: Energy Efficiency, Energy Codes, and Green Building