EEBA's High Performance Home Blog

Why This Client Chose the X-Bracket System When our client, Brad from Texas, first came to us, he was wrestling with a common conundrum in high-performance homebuilding: his existing wall assemblies weren’t delivering the thermal performance, moisture control, or durability he wanted, and he was facing rising costs and labor headaches with traditional retrofit methods. Brad’s home has been growing with his family over the decades. Initially a single level, brick 1970’s home, they added a garage, then a master bedroom suite, bathroom renovations, additional bedrooms for children as their family grew, finally a bigger kitchen. The renovations were planned and worked well until about a decade ago when a contractor didn’t seal the new second story renovation well and they started experiencing leaks around the roof additions and along the seam of the first and second story. This unfortunately turned the renovations and expansions into repairs and ripping out large sections of their... read more

Project: Custom Geothermal Home on Mount Washington Home Living Space: 2,500 square feet. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms Builder/Developer: Building Alternatives Solution Provider: CertainTeed Solution: ONE PRECISION ASSEMBLIES™ Building Alternatives, a New Hampshire-based construction management and home building company founded in 1986, has distinguished itself as a leader in innovative energy-efficient construction. Co-founders Kathe and Bob Tortorice have decades of combined experience in construction, civil engineering, process design, project management, and more. And they are long-time adopters of offsite building practices, including modular, panelized, timber frame, and structural insulated panel (SIP) methods. In the past, offsite construction has enabled Building Alternatives to build faster and deliver higher quality, more cost-effective homes than stick building. But it also restricted the company at times by limiting their design options. So, when the... read more