Moisture control in your home’s construction is necessary to prevent mould and long term damage to your home.

Learn how to do this well with James Cornell from Life Panels.

Knowing this information, and being able to discuss it with your design and build team will help ensure moisture control in your home’s construction.

This is Part 2 of my conversation with James.

Hello! This is Episode 235, and this is Part 2 of my conversation with James Cornell from Life Panels.

If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, be sure to head back to Episode 234, where you’ll hear James discuss thermal performance and understanding the airtightness and breathability of your home. 

In this episode, James will continue sharing his wealth of knowledge on how to improve your home’s building envelope and create an energy efficient and thermally comfortable home through your selection of building materials for the floors, walls and roof of your home.

We’re talking about thermal mass, and things such as relative humidity, and decrement delay. And if that sounds bamboozling – never fear – James will help us understand it much more simply.

Frankly, it’s awesome knowledge to have when discussing your home’s construction with your team, so you can ensure you’re getting the best outcome for your location and climate.

Before I jump into Part 2 of my conversation with James Cornell from Life Panels, let me briefly remind you about him.

James Cornell has been an industry expert on the topic of construction and sustainability for over 20 years. As a licensed builder and master carpenter, and also as a Passive House Certified Consultant, he has become increasingly interested in sustainable construction and the use of materials in creating a better way to build and, ultimately, live. 

James founded Life Panels in 2015, and supplies wood fibre insulation and building systems for walls, roofs and floors, that in particular can assist with Passive House design and construction requirements. However, they’re applicable for any residential project as they enable fast and easy installation, using non-toxic products, to achieve thermal performance, moisture control and overheating control.

I kick off this episode recapping our conversation about moisture control, WUFI analysis and relative humidity. 

James shares some information about building steel frame homes and how to contend with the thermal performance challenges they can present. 

And we start talking about overheating control, and how to manage this through your home’s building envelope.

Over the 3 episodes, we discuss these topics related to building healthier homes:

Thermal Performance

• Low thermal bridging (The ideal solution to create low thermal bridging is to fit insulation in a continuous wrap around the building).
• Air tightness (Crucial for reducing air leakage and aiding thermal performance by limiting the fluctuations between hot and cold).

Moisture Control

• Moisture control (Direct / Indirect / Atmospheric – Understanding how moisture behaves is crucial to a healthy building. The building fabric has to allow moisture to flow in and out. Materials that trap or hold moisture cause many problems).
• Breathability (4 lane highway effect – essential when improving thermal performance)
• Relative humidity (Aiming for a balanced and optimum internal relative humidity is key to good air quality and comfortable living. Correct ventilation is a key consideration).

Overheating Control

• Thermal mass (In order to work properly, materials must have very low thermal conductivity and high heat storage capabilities. Materials like concrete are inferior when compared to wood fibre).
• Decrement delay (Slowing down how long it takes for the sun’s heat to pass through a roof or a wall. Reduce heat gain in summer and keep low level heat in during winter).

All about Life Panels wood fibre products:

• Different product types
• How they perform
• What they’re made from
• Installation
• Thicknesses
• Requirements for installation

RESOURCES:

LIFE PANELS

Website (Home page includes cost comparison with conventional building materials) >>> https://lifepanels.com/

Building Physics PDF Guide >>> https://lifepanels.com/pages/home-insulation-building-physics

Instagram >>> https://www.instagram.com/lifepanels/

60mm Wood Fibre Insulation Rigid Board >>> https://lifepanels.com/pages/combi-panels (and video https://youtu.be/QCj1peae3_w)

Wood Fibre Bulk Insulation >>> https://lifepanels.com/pages/bulk-infill (and video https://youtu.be/8G7yvyx2cuQ)

Life Panels download PDF Factsheets

• Life Panels Case Study (Byron Home 2021) 
• Heat Test (comparison)
• The Multifunctional Roles of Thermal Mass
• Performance Evaluation (Comparison with other insulation products)

Moisture Monitors / Humidity Meters as mentioned by James >>> there’s this model that you can use and this is another one that provides more detailed readings

Access the support and guidance you need to be confident and empowered when renovating and building your family home inside my flagship online program >>> HOME METHOD

Learn more about how to get started with your home design with the Happy Home Design mini-course >>> HAPPY HOME DESIGN
Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> FREE WORKSHOP