Story at a glance:
- This Park City, Utah home elevates energy-efficiency and climate protection with VYCOR enV-S weather barrier.
- The high-performance home faced some tough challenges in the design phase, as it’s located in a high-elevation area.
A restaurateur with a passion for building energy-efficient houses set out to build his forever home in Park City, Utah. He designed his new home with contemporary styling with a focus on energy efficiency and savings.
The Utah home is 4,500 square feet—two stories with four bedrooms and a garage. Instead of traditional wood framing, high-performance panelized building components were selected to provide premium energy efficiency. The panelized building components were used for the floors, walls, and roof. The home was built with geo-foam walls and heavy-duty steel beams to create a durable structure.
The Challenges
Park City rises into the clouds atop the Wasatch Mountains at 7,000 feet above sea level. While the setting is beautiful, it is also vulnerable to extreme weather year-round due to the high elevation. The home needed to withstand punishing winds, snow, and rain while also achieving the goal of premium energy efficiency to keep heating and cooling costs low.
Another key concern was keeping sound out. Mother Nature can be very noisy up in the mountains, so it was important to protect the interior of the home from her loud winds, banging rain, and other disruptions.
Lastly, as Park City is near the Wasatch Fault, the home is also vulnerable to earthquakes.
Using panelized building components provided many benefits for combating the extreme weather, sounds, and earthquakes. The design team found that the panelized system was so strong on its own that in many areas of the home it did not need exterior wood sheathing. However, this was a challenge when it came time to select a weather resistive barrier. The team discovered that many of the weather barriers on the market were designed for application to wood sheathing only. Thus, a new type of weather resistive barrier was needed.
The Solution
Photo courtesy of GCP
After extensive research the building team discovered GCP’s VYCOR® enV-S™ self-adhered weather resistive barrier. The fully adhered weather barrier seals to the substrate, including steel and foam. It seals to itself at overlaps and seals around the thousands of fasteners used to attach siding, trim, and other decorative features, forming a water- and air-tight seal.
GCP sent its local representatives out to the jobsite to provide samples to test. The bond was significant. They then pursued the opportunity to study the application for the final exterior. They met with Summit County building officials and found it exceeded IRC code requirements. The project was ready to go.
Using the latest in building science and technology, VYCOR enV-S creates air-tight yet breathable homes. Oak Ridge National Labs tested and evaluated the annual heating and cooling savings potential of the VYCOR enV-S membrane. Their testing found that VYCOR enV-S boasts an air leakage rate that is seven times lower than a leading conventional housewrap. Lower air leakage results in a more energy-efficient home. The nationally renowned lab also concluded that VYCOR enV-S provides 46.3% more energy savings than a traditional housewrap.
Park City is a hot spot for Net Zero homes. Celebrities flock to the area to build highly energy-efficient homes with big views and big price tags. However, due to the location’s high altitude and harsh weather, durable and high-performing building products are required to meet the Net Zero standards.
GCP’s VYCOR enV-S self-adhered weather resistive barrier is the ultimate energy savings solution for this project and others in the challenging Utah climate. The barrier sealed tightly to the steel and foam construction of the owner’s dream home, protecting it from severe weather and keeping the interior warm, dry, and quiet.
VYCOR enV-S’s enhanced energy efficiency, superior long-term weather protection, and ability to adhere to the home’s innovative building materials checked all the boxes for the builder and homeowner.
