Page 8 - CodeWatcher Winter 2017 Issue

News & Trends Building
Codes and
Vented Attics “Disaster
With Buried Ducts Deductibles”

The 2018 IECC laid out a prescriptive path for FEMA points to strengthened building
the use of buried ducts with fibrous insulation codes as one way people can continue
in vented attics, for all climate zones. to live on inhospitable ground
without sticking it to taxpayers.
BY STACY FITZGERALD-REDD
T HIS MUST-READ BLOOMBERGVIEW interview of Craig
WHEN A NEW VERSION OF THE International Energy Fugate, outgoing FEMA director, is a succinct look
Conservation Code (IECC) is completed there can be a good at the impact climate change and disasters are
deal of lag time between publication and market impact. This taking on the built environment and the role the
is because states need to adopt the new code, a process that taxpayer has in funding rebuilding after natural disasters.
is measured in years, not weeks or months.
Fugate offers a second solution to the current one
However, there can be exceptions to this general rule. (hope the government will continue to cough up disaster
The 2018 IECC laid out a prescriptive path for the use of aid regardless of where developers build and how much
buried ducts with fibrous insulation in vented attics, for all insurance they carry): a disaster deductible. FEMA
climate zones. This new path was approved because it will proposes that state governments be on the hook for
allow builders to get much of the energy efficiency benefits of some of the cost of cleaning up after hurricanes, floods,
and other calamities. But they can lower that deductible
an unvented attic with by taking steps to reduce their exposure, for example, by
closed cell spray foam passing tougher building codes.
by instead doing a tra-
ditional vented attic “There is a direct cause and effect between land use
with the ducts buried and building codes and disaster declarations,” Fugate
in fibrous insulation. emphasizes. Should the new Administration pick up
FEMA’s “stop-the-waste” baton, big changes could be
Traditional attics afoot for both building code and insurance industries.
can reach more ex- Read the full interview here.
treme temperatures
than living spaces. One www.codewatcher.us
way to improve per-
formance is to deeply
bury tightly sealed ducts in insulation. The added insulation
shields the ducts from temperature extremes.
Data from DOE’s Building America program shows buried
ducts can save more energy than a home with vented attics
and ccSPF below the roof. In fact, the data from the DOE
report excerpted below shows deeply buried ducts are 20-
30% more efficient than an unvented attic system.
Read the full article here [http://www.codewatcher.us/
product-solutions/vented-attics-with-buried-ducts/],
including information and graphics on how this affects hot/
humid climates, proper HVAC system design, duct vapor
retarders, the importance of tight duct systems, proper attic
insulation levels.
In the coming months, Insulation Institute will be offering
more material on this practice, including a Tech Spec from
Home Innovation Research Labs, which will provide clear
guidance on how to design, install and get code approval for
this approach. We think this practice has the potential to
offer builders a high-performance alternative to more costly
unvented attic designs. CW

Stacy Fitzgerald-Redd is the director of communications for North

American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA).

8 CodeWatcher / January 2017