Photovoltaic modules about to be installed on the MCNZH roof

Things are progressing nicely on the Mill Creek NetZero Home. The exterior is almost complete, not including the stucco that will be applied in the spring.

MCNZH – the roof and wire and paper are now finished.

The insulation for the home is almost complete. The insulators put stitching up on the inside face of the walls:

Stapling stitching to the inside face of the walls – the cellulose insulation gets blown in between the exterior plywood and the stitching.

The 16-inch cavities between the interior and exterior walls (the construction is composed of two 2×4 walls, 24″ on center studs) were then ready to be filled with cellulose fiber:

One last look at an empty wall cavity. The exterior 2×4 wall (24″ on center studs) is on the right, and small pieces of OSB plywood connect the walls. The OSB pieces represent tiny thermal bridges, but with 16″ of wood, even the thermal bridges provide R20 insulation.

The insulators then blew the insulation into the wall cavities:

Blowing in cellulose fiber – the filled-in walls have an R56 rating.

Cellulose insulation looks like dryer lint – it’s a bit of a messy job to blow it in

The walls now have their vapour barrier:

Mmmmm….cozy warm house-sweater

The ceiling has been drywalled (so that we can spray in insulation):

MCNZH loft, facing north

The loft, facing south. Notice the drain-back tank for the solar hot water system and the sun tunnel passing through.

Finally, we’ve begun to install PV modules:

Peter Amerongen – a.k.a “The Man” – installing PV modules. There will be 12 190 Watt Sanyo modules and three 4′x8′ solar hot water collectors in fixed position on the roof.

(cross-posted at greenedmonton.ca)