kalabuilt

A Live Look at Leawood Living with KCTV5

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 20:58:42 GMT

A Live Look into Leawood Living with KCTV5

We recently joined MyKC Live on KCTV5 to take a closer look inside the spring issue of designKC Magazine —spotlighting the Leawood Living home.

While the issue includes a range of projects from across the region, the Leawood Living home was selected for the live segment. It gave our team the opportunity to walk through the design, the build, and the decisions that shape how the home performs day to day.

Alongside collaborators and partners, we shared a closer look at what it takes to create a home that’s not only well-designed, but built to last.

Watch the full segment below and step inside the Leawood Living home with us.

Framing Begins a the State Line Performance Home

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 19:04:52 GMT

New Custom Home in Westwood Takes Shape

Meticulously designed, modeled, and constructed, the Kala home at 4800 State Line is unlike any other in the area, and this week it began to take shape above ground.

Foundation Build for Performance

Our framing team kicked off work on the home’s structure, marking a big milestone in the build process. Before the first wall went up, the foundation was carefully detailed for long-term performance and durability, including a continuous layer of insulation and a Stego Wrap system that acts as both a vapor and air control layers beneath the slab. You can also see a dimple board installed over a spray on waterproofing layer to the outside of the foundation wall, then gravel backfilled to help water move down and out efficiently. These layers, combined with others, create the long-term durability, comfort, health, and sustainability that define a Kala home.

Precision in Every Detail

Now, as the walls rise, you can start to see how the precision in planning translates into craftsmanship on site. Every stud, plate, and connection is a piece of the performance puzzle, coming together to create a home that is as comfortable as it is resilient.

Designed to Impress

When complete, the 4,000-square-foot home will feature four bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths. From the foundation details to the framing above, every step is a deliberate move toward a home that redefines what luxury and performance can mean in a home.

A West Plaza Home Built Around Natural Light

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 21:38:23 GMT

Natural Light + Work Life Balance: The Story of a West Plaza Family Living in a High Performance Home

Though they enjoyed living in a house in the historic Brookside neighborhood, Kyle and Elizabeth decided they wanted to build a new home that used high-performance features to deliver better durability, health, sustainability, and comfort. After choosing a site at West Plaza, they selected Kala – Kansas City’s only Passive House-certified design and build firm – to construct their family’s new home.

The family enlisted the team at Dake Wells to collaborate on design, and Kala as the high-performance builder, to create a space full of natural light their family could enjoy year long. The team ensured that the home was situated correctly on the site to take advantage of south-facing glass that provides a passive solar effect during the winter months and helps heat the home using the energy of the sun. This is combined with adequate shading that keeps the house cool in the summer. In addition to providing subtle illumination inside, sun exposure also allows the Footes to fully enjoy their outdoor areas.

“We move through the house with the light,” Elizabeth said. “Oftentimes, we will be out on our front balcony early in the morning. In the summer it starts getting warm and so we'll move through. We will go from the balcony to the courtyard, and we also have a smaller balcony off the back. And so just depending on the sun and the temperature, we use all parts of it. We joke that we go with the sunup and sundown. It allows for us to still be outside and come in and out easily at any time of the year.”

“We don't have to turn on lights,” Kyle added. “We could function without any, except for maybe in the ping pong room. Anywhere in the house, you're going to get adequate light. It's fantastic and brightens your mood.”

Creating a Welcoming, Well-Lit Space

When asked about which elements guests and visitors notice first about her home, Elizabeth didn’t hesitate. “The lightness and the openness of the space,” she said. “Then at night, the lighting that we have lets you see through the house from any vantage point and into different rooms across the courtyard.”

“You never know what light shows you're going to get through a day or a year,” Kyle expanded. “It's always changing. The light itself is kind of architectural throughout.”

The family enjoys traveling, but there’s something magical about returning to their Kala house afterward.

“I always love coming home,” Elizabeth said. “I miss the light. If we’re in an enclosed hotel and we don't have enough light, I feel like I suffer because we're used to it.”

Creating an Indoor-Outdoor Lifestyle

In addition to carefully planning out the interior floor space of their home so every square inch was usable and well lit, the family was also deliberate in including decks and a courtyard so they could enjoy the best of the West Plaza, even in winter.

“When it's middle of winter, if we have the sun out, our courtyard will warm up, so I love that space,” Kyle said.

“I equate it to being on a ski mountain and going down to mid-level,” Kyle said. “It's sunny and you're taking a break for lunch and the sun is intense and you don't have any wind, so you can just sit out there and feel really comfortable . And that's what we do out there when it's 30 or 40 degrees – it's remarkably warm.”

While in winter they keep the door to this courtyard area closed, it can be opened up when the temperature rises so they are able to make the most of warmer conditions.

“When we have great weather in the fall time, we will open it up,” Elizabeth said. “It's an indoor-outdoor space that I think is my favorite. We spend a lot of time there.”

Offering Work-Life Comfort During COVID-19 and Extreme Weather

Their new home also provided a welcome sanctuary at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were so fortunate to have been able to live here during the lockdown,” Elizabeth said. “Our daughter graduated from college and moved back in. It was really enjoyable to have the kids here all the time in a great place. We had all the glass and sun. So while there were lots of negatives happening, it was still a very pleasant place to be.”

“During COVID, a lot of people wanted to get out of their houses and back into the office as soon as possible,” Elizabeth added. “But we thought, ‘We love it here, so we want to use it and enjoy it.’ It's nice to have indoor-outdoor spaces where we can take a break and then get back to work.”

With heat and humidity in the summer and ice and snow in winter, nobody could ever accuse the Kansas City climate of being boring. But the solid build quality of their Kala house offers peace of mind to the Footes, even during extreme weather.

“It's like we're tucked into the land here,” Kyle said. “I don't have any concerns about damage. The house retains warmth, and we feel totally comfortable.”

Keeping Energy Use and Utility Bills Low

Until a few years ago, a lot of so-called green home builders minimized the amount and size of the windows, as this is often an element that bleeds energy. Low-grade glass, cheap flashing and fixtures, and improper installation can all lead to thermal energy escaping, drafty cold spots in winter and hot spots in summer, and air and moisture leaking in and causing mold. But more recently, thoughtful high-performance firms have harnessed premium glazing , building science, and expert installation to make it possible for families like this to have plenty of large windows without compromising on sustainability or incurring high utility costs.

“If we didn't have this level of detail in the walls and the glass and had as much glass as this in another house, we’d probably pay double the electricity bill,” Kyle said. “The glass is pretty impressive, with its high R-values. These windows are a European design. The pressure inside is pushing out and they open inward, so it’s creating a seal the whole time. I like the functionality a lot.”

Building Code: A minimum standard, not a good one

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 14:35:18 GMT

Building Code isn't a Standard for Home Durability

If you’re buying a move-in ready new house or constructing a spec, semi-custom, or custom one, whoever builds it must meet local code requirements. Many people think that this provides some level of assurance that their home will last a long time, but sadly, it doesn’t. Let’s look at why residential building to code in Kansas City is just a minimum standard and why a high-performance builder like Kala exceeds it.

When a county inspector tours a jobsite, they have a checklist of requirements relating to elements of the home’s structure, including the foundation, walls, and roof. They’ll also be on the lookout for any red flags in sub-codes, which cover fire, gas, plumbing, electrical, and the mechanical systems.

The main purpose of such codes is to ensure resident safety. In simple terms, basic code standards exist so that a home is unlikely to fall down, burn down, or suffer catastrophic failure to its main systems. Unfortunately, that’s often as far as the code goes. Areas such as Johnson County and Jackson County abide by the 2018 IRC (International Residential Code) established by the ICC (International Code Council). In other words, they’re relying on standards that are six years old.

These codes ensure that a foundation will support everything above it but don’t mean that it will not crack or subside. They indicate that the frame will hold up the structure of the home but have nothing to do with whether it rots over time. Windows and doors will open and close but might well allow frost to form, drafts to blow, and hot and cold spots to make some rooms less usable.

“If you rated most homes that meet the standard residential building code, they would receive a passing grade when they get through the inspection,” said David Schleicher, Kala founder and managing director. “But it would be a D-minus, as the builder is just doing the bare minimum with the cheapest possible materials, labor, and systems to not fail. Low code standards encourage builders to get by but not do anything extra to make their houses more durable.”

Exceeding Code Requirements with Waterproofing

There are some aspects of a home – such as interior and exterior paint, countertops, and cabinets – that can be swapped out later. These are typical home improvement projects, as are any others that involve updating finishes based on evolving taste preferences, cosmetic issues, or trends. But true durability is different. It’s about protecting your present and future with well-constructed elements that must be done right the first time.

This is why at Kala, we take durability very seriously and exceed code requirements in every area. This starts from the ground up . To keep moisture at bay, we orient a home so that water doesn’t flow down toward the structure. We take extra steps to seal the slab so that moisture and vapor don’t come up through the foundation footings and avoid backfilling for 28 days after the first pour to ensure that the concrete has fully cured to prevent cracks and settling. Many builders take shortcuts that save a few days in the build process, but at what costs?

Backfilling with gravel is more effective at channeling water to the sump pump or drain tile system that takes more moisture away. Waterproofing footings, adding a capillary break, and burying downspouts are three other effective measures that go beyond code requirements and prevent water damage that can cost thousands or even be irreparable. Our moisture control layer also extends to the wall assembly with features like a ventilated rainscreen and water-resistant barrier that prevent water damage. Building codes don’t require such measures, but they’re necessary to preserve durability.

Aiming for Airtightness

While some states are targeting ambitious energy standards – such as California aiming to make every residence net zero by 2030 – many others allow cities, towns, and counties to choose their own or none at all. Last year, Kansas City, Missouri’s city council adopted the 2021 IECC. They were the first – and so far, the only – KC metro area to do so, with many others still using the 2018 or even 2015 IECC.

One of the most notable features of the 2021 IECC is that it sets a minimum standard for airtightness. This is a key component of durability, as excessive air movement in and out of a home not only wastes energy but also brings water with it. When this condensates, it can damage the wall assembly, compromise insulation and other materials, and lead to mildew, rot, and mold.

The 2021 IECC sets a maximum airflow of 3.0 ACH50. This is like a golf score for airtightness – the lower, the better. At Kala, we always perform a blower door test to evaluate this essential indicator of durability and aim for 1.0 ACH50 or below. Projects like our Beacon Hill home meet or exceed Phius’s standard of 0.6 ACH50 that far surpasses any other energy code. No other part of the metro area follows an energy code that has any provision for airtightness.

As Kala Co-Founder and Managing Director Cary DeCamp wrote in a previous post , “The residential housing industry in our region has struggled to apply the innovations building science presents. That is why we support the move to the IECC 2021 energy code, a clear and important step in the right direction that will benefit all residents…” For us, the 2021 IECC is a great starting point that we go beyond in every home project.

Ensuring Continuous Insulation

Continuous insulation is a key element of every high-performing home, as it retains warmth in winter and cool in summer, while preventing extreme high or low temperatures from affecting the indoor environment. From a durability standpoint, insulating the wall assembly also keeps surfaces above the dew point, which reduces the risk of vapor pooling.

At Kala, we begin our insulation strategy for all six sides of the building envelope at grade level, covering the slab with four inches of EPS foam insulation. The R-values for basement walls, the main wall assembly, and the attic also exceed 2021 IECC baselines and include continuous insulation. Utilizing this minimizes thermal bridges, which are breaks in the thermal layer that encourage condensation to form. No building code has any requirements for this, but it’s a key part of our approach to improving durability.

“When you know how to make homes more durable, comfortable, healthy, and sustainable, how could you build them in any other way?” Schleicher said. “By prioritizing durability in ways that far exceed every code and following Passive House design and build principles, Kala homes deliver these other three benefits.”

A moisture control layer, airtightness, and continuous insulation are just three examples of how Kala exceeds code requirements. While these encourage a minimum level of durability, we maximize it by combining building science and craftsmanship. Your home should offer peace of mind, low maintenance, and last for decades. The build quality of our Beacon Hill project – which was the first certified Passive House in Missouri – gave the homeowner the confidence to say, “100 years from now, our house will probably still be standing and be in reasonable shape because it’s strong.”

Why Understanding Dew Point is Key to Building Durable Homes

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 20:50:21 GMT

How does the dew point impact durability?

Of all the things that can damage a home, water is by far the most pervasive and destructive. And when we say water, we don’t just mean the water that falls from the sky as rain.

Water has different forms, including solid (ice and snow), liquid (rain and groundwater), and gas (vapor). When the air contains a certain amount of moisture, it can turn back into water droplets when the right conditions are met. A blog post by insulation manufacturer Halo has a great, simple definition of how dew point relates to this: “The dew point is the temperature at which air surpasses 100% saturation and the additional moisture beyond 100% is shed in the form of condensation.”

Understanding Dew Point and Durability Concerns

So how does dew point relate to home durability ? When the surface of a building material reaches a certain temperature compared to the relative humidity and air temperature, condensation can form on it. When there’s enough of this or it’s left for too long, it pools into moisture and can start to saturate what’s around it. It’s a particular problem in the wall assembly, where water can compromise the effectiveness and integrity of insulation, cause siding to rot, and warp sheathing and cladding.

It’s helpful if a builder grasps the properties of each building material they could use for the wall assembly to inform their choices and see which components need to be protected or have minimal exposure to moisture. For example, a Phius presentation on durability stated that at peak moisture loads of 20 to 28 percent, mold growth on plywood sheathing is more likely and above this, long-term durability can be compromised. To avoid hitting these levels, the presentation advised comparing the projected temperature of the sheathing against the dew point and trying to ensure the former stays above the latter as often as possible.

There are two main ways of achieving this. Leading building scientists have stated that when a high-performance building gets insulation and airtightness right, the dew point will have less of an impact on durability. A post by AE Building Systems stated that “A thicker insulation layer will move the dew point—the point where moisture in the air condenses into water—outside of the wall assembly. All things equal, the higher the R-value, the less condensation will occur within the wall assembly itself.”

This is why Kala achieves R-values that are higher than building code requirements, including the 2021 IECC adopted by Kansas City, Missouri . Creating continuous insulation in our wall assembly improves comfort by preserving warmth in winter, cool in summer, and enhances sustainability by reducing heating and cooling requirements. It also provides a major durability boost by helping reduce the risk of cold surface temperatures reaching or exceeding their dew point. In older homes, ice can even form on the sheetrock due to inferior insulation and when it melts, it can cause rot, mildew, and mold. Modern houses are less susceptible, but many have gaps in their insulation and thermal bridges that come through the insulating layer and allow heat to move to cold too rapidly, causing condensation buildup.

Crafting Airtight, Vapor-Open Walls

When the building envelope is not airtight, then more vapor and water come in through air leaks, causing building materials to saturate and eventually leading to structural damage, mold buildup, and other costly issues. That’s why at Kala, we prioritize creating an airtight wall assembly. This isn’t something we just hope is achieved, as we conduct a blower door test to ensure that gaps, holes, and other openings have been closed and there isn’t excessive air coming in and out .

Despite creating a super insulated and airtight building envelope , water can often find a way in. That’s why another consideration related to dew point is making the walls vapor open. Airtightness limits the volume of vapor in the walls, but some is going to get in. Taking into account the Kansas City climate, we allow vapor to move both ways, as warm air wants to come in during summer and out in winter.

If condensation occurs or other forms of moisture get into the walls because of the dew point being reached, it has to dry out. Which is where creating a vapor-open wall system comes into play. Bulk water can run down and out in the cavity between the rainscreen and water-resistant barrier, while vapor can move freely to prevent it pooling as moisture. We’re also mindful of avoiding materials that can trap vapor, such as plastic sheeting. Another key is ensuring that OSB and similar components don’t wet out, as they can absorb a lot of water and transfer it inside the home.

Dealing with Attic and Foundation Dew Points

When trying to make the building envelope more durable, you don’t only need a high-performing wall assembly, but also need to consider the top and bottom of a home. At Kala, we place a vapor barrier below the concrete fou nd ation so that if the ground gets saturated, water doesn’t seep upward into the slab. We also put waterproofing spray on the footings and moisture seal where they meet the bottom of the frame. In addition, we encase the slab in insulation to keep it closer to the interior temperature of the home than the ground temperature, which is more likely to hit the dew point.

Considering the dew point on the opposite side of the house is also key to keeping it durable. If warm, moist air comes into the attic and can’t escape, it will condensate and cause damage. In the walls, we use insulation that far exceeds code and reaches an R-value of up to 80. An air barrier below this helps separate the attic from the living space. A vented attic creates enough air movement for any moisture that does intrude to dry out.

We recently had a client who had to move out of their home because of the health issues that mold was causing for his family. This also led to costly remediation. When our co-founder David Schleicher visited the home, he asked if icicles formed on the gutters during winter. “Yes,” the owner replied, “and we can’t figure out why they’re getting longer each year.” David figured out that the insufficient attic insulation was allowing inside materials to reach the dew point, and a lack of ventilation didn’t allow them to dry out.

Moisture formed on the sheathing, seeped through, and formed icicles on the outside of the home. Whereas on the inside, it ran down into the walls and caused mold to build up. Icicles were also created when there was ice and snow on the roof and warm air in the attic melted it. This created a chilly river that overwhelmed the gutters, forming icicles when it refroze. When they melted, more water got into the wall assembly.

This is another example of why understanding the dew point helps Kala anticipate durability problems. We then design and craft homes that take into account the latest building science techniques – such as continuous insulation and an airtight, vapor-open building envelope – to minimize them. This leads to more durable construction and happier homeowners .

Bringing Building Science to the Whole Team

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 17:33:00 GMT

Kala Style: Knowin' BS Since 2012

A few months back, we started something new at Kala. A company-wide building science session every other month. We gather the full team, field and office alike, to dig into the how and why behind what we build. These meetings have quickly become one of our favorite recurring events. They're a rare chance to get everyone, from invoicing and marketing to architecture, leadership, and field crews, in the same room to talk shop, share insights, and learn from each other.

The idea was inspired by BS & Beer, a national event series that brings tradespeople together over brews to talk building science. We loved the spirit of those gatherings but wanted to tailor it to our own company culture and team. Our goal was to create an internal space where everyone, not just the builders, could understand the principles that drive our work, and how those principles show up in each finished home.

We’ve been meeting at Stockyards Brewing Co. in the West Bottoms, an ideal backdrop with its old-school western feel and laid-back atmosphere. We rent out the back room and settle in for a few hours of learning, discussion, camaraderie, and a few pints of local beer. This session included about 200 wings from Wing Stop as well. No complaints all around.

The Kala Foundation

Our most recent session focused on a core element of every Kala home: the foundation. Griffin Katzenmeier, Technical Designer, and Levi Caraway, Certified Passive House Builder, led the conversation. They walked us through Passive House principles and explained how those concepts shape everything we do - from big-picture design decisions to everyday job site details.

Griffin and Levi also broke down what makes a “typical” basement and how our approach to foundations sets us apart. Every control layer, every detail in our process is intentional; designed to deliver comfort, durability, sustainability, and health. It was a great reminder that what we build is only as good as how we build it.

Understanding why we do things a certain way helps everyone on the team contribute to that standard.

Want to Learn More About Kala Foundations?

We've documented the early stages of our projects, highlighting many of the intricacies that go into the Kala foundation on our blog. Take a look at some of our past blog content to learn more about the early details and what set the Kala foundation and basement apart from a traditionally built home in the Kansas City area.

Building Science Fact or Fiction: Does Your Home Need to Breathe?

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 30 May 2025 18:49:17 GMT

Balancing Airtight and Vapor-Open Design in Passive House Construction.

True or false: My home needs to breathe

The notion that a house must be able to “breathe” likely stems from the reality that the people living in it do. We all take in oxygen and expel carbon dioxide from our lungs to respirate, which is one of the most fundamentally human functions there is. You can go weeks with food and days with no water, but even a free diver or magician like David Blaine can only survive for a few minutes without breathing. So as most of us live in houses, they need to be able to breathe too, right?

Not exactly. Nobody could survive inside a hermetically sealed box because the oxygen would soon run out and you’d perish. So there definitely needs to be air inside a home. But a house itself doesn’t have to exchange gases in the same way as your lungs do because it’s not a living organism. The short answer to “does my house need to breathe?” is “no.” Now let’s get a little more nuanced with the longer response.

Why Do People Think Houses Need to Breathe?

In his book on building science A House Needs to Breathe...Or Does It?, physicist and high-performance construction expert Allison Bailes III answers the rhetorical question in his title on page 23, stating that “A house does NOT have to breathe. But people do.” We’ll get to the sentiment behind that second sentence later, but first, where does the myth that a house has to breathe come from?

A blog post Bailes wrote for his HVAC company Energy Vanguard in 2020 goes someway to explaining the origin of this mistaken idea. “This statement is usually shorthand for, “I don’t believe the cost of air-sealing a home is justified by the benefits,” he stated. “It’s wrong, though. Random air leaks through the building enclosure don’t work.” He went on to explain that a leaky building envelope negatively impacts “energy bills, comfort, moisture, and indoor air quality.”

A regular home can exchange air between three and 10 times an hour. There are typically gaps, cracks, and holes – particularly in the walls but also around windows and doors and at the top and bottom of the building enclosure – that allow warm air to escape during winter and cool air to do likewise in the summer. This sends utility bills soaring, as the air conditioner and furnace have to replace the lost energy in an effort to get the home back to the temperature set on the thermostat.

Conversely, air also comes in from outside the home at a rate that is too great to be managed efficiently. This lets outdoor conditions impact the indoor environment, putting further strain on mechanical systems. This excessive airflow can also bring in allergens, irritants, and pollutants that compromise homeowner health and wellbeing.

In addition, anytime air leaks in, so can moisture. If allowed to accumulate, this could cause mildew, mold, and rot, compromise the integrity of insulation, and degrade drywall, siding, and other elements that might eventually require costly repair or replacement. In summary, a leaky house is not durable, comfortable, healthy, or sustainable. So a home “breathing” in the way most people refer to it is a non-starter.

How Can You Limit Airflow in a House?

To help solve the issues caused by excessive air infiltration, builders like Kala who adhere to the principles of Passive House – the most rigorous green building standard – anchor their commitment to constructing longer-lasting houses with airtightness. Many areas of the KC metro don’t follow building codes with provisions for air permeability. Kansas City, Missouri, implemented the 2021 IECC, which sets a maximum of 3.0 ACH50 (the lower the number, the more airtight the dwelling is).

Kala’s thoughtful design and build process targets an ACH of 1.0 or below that goes beyond the 2021 IECC requirement, and projects that are Passive House-certified – like our award-winning Beacon Hill home – have a rating of just 0.6 air exchanges per hour. This isn’t just guesswork, as we conduct a defined, repeatable blower door test that accurately assesses airflow and then seal any leaks that it identifies. This includes taking aim at the wall assembly, the attic and foundation, and windows and doors. An airtight building enclosure ensures that too much air isn’t coming in and out and bringing potentially damaging water and vapor with it.

Why Do High-Performance Homes Have Vapor-Open Walls?

That being said, the goal of achieving a low ACH50 score is to limit airflow, not eliminate it completely. In an episode of Fine Homebuilding’s BS* and Beer Show , building science expert Steven Baczek said, “I believe all houses should breathe. I just want to control how and where the air goes. I don't want it to be an uncontrolled breathing.” What he means is that a home should be tightly sealed but adequately ventilated.

One reason for this is to manage vapor and moisture. In addition to prioritizing airtightness, each Kala home also incorporates a water control layer, which includes a water-resistive barrier (WRB) and a ventilated rainscreen. Even with these features and an airtight wall assembly that includes super insulation and minimizes thermal bridges to reduce condensation buildup, some moisture will inevitably get into the wall.

But if a house was just tightly sealed and had a totally closed enclosure, vapor would condense into water droplets when air reached the dew point. This could eventually wet out the OSB, drywall, wood framing, and other elements, causing costly damage. So air and vapor need to be managed in unison. “To create a durable building envelope, you need to limit the volume of vapor by minimizing airflow,” explained David Schleicher, Kala co-founder and managing director. “But you don’t want to trap vapor in the wall and so need to allow it to move freely.”

With this sentiment in mind during the BS* and Beer Show, Baczek said he always asks himself, “What is it that I can do to this wall system to actually enhance the drying capability?” At Kala, we answer this by combining four control layers – air, vapor, water, and thermal – in a systematic way that includes a vapor-open (aka diffusion-open) assembly.

“A durable home needs to be airtight but allow just enough air to flow so that vapor that’s moving in and out of the wall assembly can dry out,” Schleicher said. This involves several measures, including using a vapor-open air barrier and selecting materials that don’t trap vapor. There are also channels that water can flow out of in the rare event that it accumulates.

Why Do Passive Houses Need Mechanical Ventilation?

In another blog post, Bailes revealed that during the 1970s, companies who built the first generation of high-performance houses were right to make them airtight. But they were wrong to ventilate them inadequately, leading to low indoor air quality, backdrafting from appliances, and high humidity and mold growth. “Random leaks don’t bring in fresh air, so we seal up the house as tight as possible and then intentionally bring in air from a location where we know it will be as fresh as possible,” he wrote.

What Bailes is referring to here is mechanical ventilation. Kala accomplishes this by using an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) system. The ERV continuously expels stale indoor air – including cooking fumes, vapor from humid areas like bathrooms and the laundry room, pet dander, and more – to the exterior of the home. At the same time, the ERV brings in clean, filtered air that’s free of allergens and pollutants. It also helps keep the indoor temperature and humidity level steady, limiting mold buildup.

This is what Baczek was referring to as controlled breathing on the BS* and Beer Show. When a home is built airtight but enables enough airflow inside the wall assembly for vapor to disperse and moisture to dry out, it will be much more durable with lower maintenance. Combining this dual air and vapor control approach with mechanical ventilation also improves homeowner health and comfort, while improving sustainability by eliminating the need to compensate for unwanted air leakage. This is how a Kala home helps you breathe easy, without the structure “breathing” in and out big gulps of air and moisture like a regular house.

The High Performance Window Explained

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 20 May 2025 18:02:51 GMT

What Makes a High-Performance Window?

When you're buying your first home, windows probably aren’t something you think much about. But after owning a house—or a few—you start to realize how big of a difference they make. Bad windows mean drafts, noise, and expensive replacements. But in a Passive House, windows aren’t just an afterthought—they are one of five principles involved from the beginning that set them apart. Let’s break down why all windows are not created equal.

Why Do We Even Have Windows?

Windows serve three key purposes in a home. First, they connect you to the outdoors. This isn’t just about having a nice view—natural light and visibility can actually improve your mood, boost mental health, and enhance your overall well-being. Plus, they help you keep an eye on things—whether it’s kids in the backyard or the garden you’ve been working so hard on.

Second, windows let fresh air in. On a breezy day or if the house starts feeling stuffy, there’s nothing better than opening up a window.

Third, they harness the sun’s warmth. On a cold day, the right window placement can make a space feel cozy just from the natural heat coming in. That means less reliance on your heating system—and lower energy bills.

The Usual Window Problems

While every window does these three things, a lot of them come with unwanted issues, too. Poorly sealed windows don’t just let in light and air—they also invite in allergens, dust, and even pests. They might look fine at first, but over time, some windows can start to feel like looking through scratched-up glasses.

Another big issue? Temperature control. In winter, windows create cold spots and drafts. In summer, they let in too much heat, making rooms uncomfortably warm. They also leak energy, forcing your heating and cooling system to work harder, which leads to higher utility bills. And let’s not forget moisture—once it starts seeping in, it can damage the frames, the sills, and even your walls, sometimes leading to mold and mildew.

It’s no surprise that windows are one of the most common things homeowners have to repair or replace, often at a hefty cost.

What Do R-, U-, and STC Values Mean?

Passive House windows flip all those negatives into positives. They have high R-values and low U-values, which means they’re great at keeping heat where it belongs—inside in the winter and outside in the summer.

But here’s something manufacturers don’t always tell you: some companies measure these values from the center of the glass, where heat loss is the lowest, while ignoring the edges, where it’s worse (hello, condensation and frost). Premium windows don’t cut corners like that.

Then there’s STC—Sound Transmission Class. If you live on a quiet street, this might not matter as much. But if you’re near traffic, construction, or a noisy neighbor with a drum set, high-performance windows make a huge difference. More panes, better seals, and insulated frames mean a quieter home.

Speaking of frames, they matter too. Cheap windows usually come with aluminum frames, which are terrible at keeping heat in. High-performance windows use insulated materials that actually do the job right.

It’s easy to get hung up on all the performance data associated with super insulating windows, but at the end of the day it really comes down to occupant comfort. You want to be able to sit in your favorite chair, next to your favorite window, in the middle of winter, and not feel an uncomfortable cold draft while you read your book or tablet. Performance equals comfort!

- Craig Maierhofer , VP of Business Development at Alpen High Performance Products

Understanding Heat and Light Transmittance

Unless you geek out over window science, "solar heat gain coefficient" (SHGC) probably isn’t a term you think about often. But it’s worth knowing!

SHGC measures how much heat from the sun a window lets in, on a scale from 0.0 to 1.0. The right number depends on where the window is and which way it’s facing. For example, south-facing windows usually perform best with a rating between 0.5 and 0.6.

Another number to check is "visual transmittance"—how much light passes through the glass. Like SHGC, it’s on a 0.0 to 1.0 scale. A window rated 0.41, for example, lets 41% of the light through. Windows with low SHGC ratings tend to have lower visual transmittance, too, because of special coatings that help control heat.

When we design a home, we optimize these values based on where each window is placed. For example, in this custom home in Kansas City, we used two varieties of Alpen windows in different areas to maximize efficiency:

Why Installation Matters

Even the best windows won’t perform well if they’re installed poorly. The NFRC (National Fenestration Rating Council) doesn’t factor installation into their ratings, but a bad install can change a window’s U-value by up to 20%.

Some high-end homes have top-tier windows but lose all the benefits because they were put in by a subpar contractor. That’s not how we do things. At Kala, every window is installed by our own expert team, ensuring they’re sealed and placed for maximum performance.

Most new homebuyers just get a spec sheet and a builder’s promise that their windows will hold up. But given how often we hear from Kansas City homeowners dealing with failing windows in relatively new houses, we know that’s rarely the case. When you build a high-performance home with Kala, you get the peace of mind that every detail—including the windows—is built to last.

The Bottom Line

High-performance windows help keep your home comfortable year-round, lower energy costs, and protect against UV damage. Plus, they last way longer than standard options with minimal maintenance.

If you want to learn more about what makes a Passive House the most comfortable, durable, and sustainable home you’ll ever own, reach out to us!

A Final Open House in Leawood

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 06 May 2025 15:56:23 GMT

A Final Toast at Wickey's Home

A few months after settling into their custom high-performance home in Leawood, the Wickeys opened their doors once more. Not to the public, but to the team who helped bring their vision to life. This final open house was a celebration for the Kala crew, our spouses and partners, the design team at SixTwentyOne, and the skilled tradespeople who had a hand in building the home.

It’s not often we get to see a finished home in use, especially one filled with the people who built it. The Wickeys designed their home with hosting in mind, and this happy hour was a clear example of that intention in action. Every space was working exactly as it should: welcoming a crowd, supporting conversation, and showing what a high-performance home looks and feels like when it’s lived in.

4 Ways Passive House Construction Keeps You Cozy in Unpredictable Spring Weather

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 18:06:04 GMT

Passive House Keeps You Comfortable During Unpredictable Spring Weather

Spring has officially sprung in Kansas City! But while winter may be behind us, unpredictable conditions aren’t. The temperature can soar into the 80s one day and tumble the next. Sunshine, sleet, and sudden storms can all appear in the same week.

Here’s a few ways Passive House design and build principles help keep your home consistently comfortable - no matter what spring throws your way.

CONTINUOUS INSULATION

Insulation plays a year-round role in creating a comfortable home, not just during cold spells. We wrap all six sides of a home with continuous insulation, eliminating breaks in the thermal layer that often cause drafts or uneven temperatures.

This approach helps the home resist heat gain on warm days and retain warmth when it cools off again. It also reduces thermal bridges, which are areas where heat can easily transfer in or out through thermally conductive materials. The result is a more stable indoor environment, with fewer hot or cold spots and lower energy demand overall.

AIR BARRIER

Homes leak air, even if they appear airtight. The 2021 IECC sets a maximum of 3.0 air changes per hour (ACH50), but Kala homes aim for less than 1.0.

That means less conditioned air slipping out and fewer drafts sneaking in, even when spring winds pick up or a sudden chill sets in. A well-executed air barrier keeps every room equally comfortable and helps maintain ideal humidity and temperature, no matter the weather swings outside.

MECHANICAL VENTILATION + HEAT PUMP

When the thermostat climbs into the 70s, many homes kick their A/C into overdrive. In a Passive House, fresh air is delivered year-round through a quiet, efficient energy recovery ventilator (ERV) that filters and circulates air while using minimal energy.

Should temperatures take a dip, there’s no need to fire up a roaring furnace. A Passive House uses an efficient air or ground-source heat pump that can both heat and cool the home, all while drawing far less power than traditional systems. It’s clean, quiet, appropriately sized, and designed to handle the ups and downs of a Midwest spring.

PREMIUM WINDOWS & DOORS

Kansas City’s spring winds can be wild, and seasonal allergies only make things worse. In most homes, air sneaks in through poorly sealed windows and doors - something you notice the moment you feel a draft or spot condensation on the glass.

In contrast, Passive House windows and doors are part of the thermal control strategy. With multi-point locking hardware, insulated frames, and high-performance glazing, they’re designed to close tightly and block unwanted air movement. That means no more avoiding your favorite chair by the window, no matter what’s happening outside.

David Schleicher Featured in the Wall Street Journal

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 15:58:11 GMT

High-performance windows make David’s home more comfortable

For traditionally built homes with standard windows, a large south facing window filled wall would lead to discomfort, with freezing temperatures in the winter and excessive heat in the summer. But for David Schleicher, Managing Director of Kala, that is not the case. Since 2015, he has lived with a 16-by-7-foot expanse of triple-pane glass on the south side of his home.

Instead of battling the elements, his windows (as part of the overall wall assembly) help regulate the indoor climate. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Schleicher shared how high-performance glass allows him to stay warm in the winter without running his heat. He can even relax in shorts and a t-shirt while his neighbors crank up their furnaces.

The article, written by Christopher Mims, explores how companies like Alpen High Performance Products are making energy-efficient windows more accessible with new manufacturing processes. These innovations could change how builders and homeowners think about glass in their designs.

Instead of being a common weak spot in home performance, windows can become a key component of comfort and efficiency.

Read the full piece here

Project Update: Lunawood Siding at the Modern Woodland Retreat

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:26:26 GMT

Expert Craftsmanship at Every Detail

Progress is moving fast on the Modern Woodland Retreat project in Liberty, Missouri. Today we’re taking a closer look at the siding that’s bringing both durability and natural beauty to this home. We’re using Lunawood Official thermally modified wood siding, a sustainably sourced material that undergoes a heat and steam process to enhance its strength, stability, and resistance to moisture—without the need for chemicals.

This means greater durability, lower maintenance, and a stunning natural finish that weathers beautifully over time.

Vertical Siding + Rain Screen

To install vertical Lunawood siding over our ventilated rain screen, we opted for diagonal furring strips instead of the traditional vertical layout. This method creates a drainage path for water behind the siding without requiring an additional layer of horizontal strips on top of the rain screen.

The Kala Finish Team has done an excellent job so far installing the siding. Continue following along for more project updates - this is a fun one!

How Passive House Building Improves Durability During Winter

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 20:53:56 GMT

Passive House Design & Build Improves Winter Durability

In the variable Kansas City climate, every season can pose a threat to the durability of a home. But winter conditions present particular challenges, from wintry precipitation forming and melting to temperature and humidity levels changing dramatically to air, moisture, and cold intruding. Let’s look at how Kala uses a Passive House design and build strategy to help homeowners preemptively tackle these issues and make a home more durable.

Managing Ice and Snowmelt

Water damage is arguably the biggest reason that many modern homes don’t last long. For the majority of the year, rain is the most significant weather-based water source that tests the durability of a home. But in winter, ice, snow, and sleet present unique challenges to the quality of the construction.

“When icicles hanging off the gutters melt, the water can leak inside the wall assembly,” said Kala co-founder and managing director David Schleicher . “This can cause rot to form and compromise the effectiveness of the insulation.”

To prevent this, Kala ensures that gutters and downspouts are sufficient to retain water and then channel it down, out, and away from the home if it turns to ice and then unfreezes. This prevents water from accumulating and seeping into the building enclosure. Thoughtful roof design delivers appropriate shading in a Passive House during summer, while allowing adequate sunlight to come through and help heat the home via passive solar in winter . Schleicher said that this feature is also key to managing moisture during colder months.

“You have to think about the angles of the roof as it relates to getting water off and away from the home,” he said. “Large overhangs will help ensure that any snow and ice melt that the gutters don’t catch won’t run down the walls and soak into them.”

Keeping Cold Air and Moisture Out

Another way that water can invade a traditional home is through air movement in the wall assembly. Typically, there is excessive airflow through cracks and gaps. This allows wintry conditions to intrude on the inside, creating cold spots and causing the furnace to run constantly in a futile effort to keep up. Some of the warm air it is circulating leaks out, creating a vicious cycle.

Cold air leaking in and warm air escaping out doesn’t merely reduce comfort during winter. Anytime air can flow one way or another, moisture comes with it. When this moisture gets into the building envelope, it can undermine the integrity of the framing, cause mildew and mold buildup, and greatly reduce the benefits of insulation. As a result, the home doesn’t last as long. Eventually, long-term maintenance like costly siding repair or mold removal might be necessary.

To prevent this, Kala includes control layers that manage moisture and air simultaneously . Tightly sealing the building envelope keeps cold air out and warm air in. Features such as a ventilated rainscreen and weather-resistant barrier prevent moisture buildup and allow any water that does find its way into the wall assembly to dry out.

“Snow and ice on top of a roof can leak into an attic,” Schleicher said. “Using high-grade roofing materials, tightly sealing this space, and creating an air and moisture barrier in the bottom of the attic that separates it from the living space prevents moisture from forming.”

Windows are another durability weak point that is often exposed during winter. If you’ve ever noticed condensation or frost on the inside or felt a chilly draft, then you’ve seen how easily cold air and moisture can intrude. To prevent this, Kala ensures windows are carefully installed within the thermal control layer . Features like triple panes, gasket sealing, and flashing eliminate drafts, improving the living experience and ensuring the inside of every window and the wall below it stays dry. But even the best, most efficient, windows have to be installed with care and precision.

“It can be the dead of winter and I’ll walk around in shorts and a t-shirt and be totally fine and comfortable,” said Pooja Bhadbhade, whose Kala home is the first certified Passive House in Missouri .

Tackling Thermal Bridges

The durability of a regular home’s building envelope is also compromised during winter by thermal bridges . These occur when the thermal layer is penetrated by a highly conductive material, which lets heat flow through it. Examples include exterior balconies anchored on the interior, wall studs, and rim joists. Windows and doors are also prime culprits for thermal bridges.

So why is it an issue? They cause the kind of cold interior surfaces that you’re probably all too familiar with. When surface temperature falls below the dew point of the interior air, this creates condensation, which in turn leads to mildew, rot, and mold formation. Over time, these seriously reduce the durability of the home, as well as compromise the comfort and health of its occupants.

These effects also occur in other areas of the home. Examples include uninsulated foundation slabs and walls and structural elements that come through the roof and upstairs ceiling, such as chimneys, vents, and skylights. The more thermal bridges that occur, the greater the negative impact on durability.

Passive House construction principles used by builders like Kala tackle this durability issue on all six sides of a home. Using thermally broken window and door frames helps prevent moisture from forming around them. Eliminating penetrations of the thermal layer by highly conductive materials and replacing them (when possible) with those that transfer less heat energy also helps prevent cold interior surfaces and resulting moisture buildup. Kala’s expert in-house framing team works with our architecture team to ensure that the wall assembly itself is as thermal bridge-free as possible.

By utilizing an efficient building envelope that minimizes framing in the walls, Kala is able to integrate an unbroken thermal control layer. Continuous insulation throughout the walls and above and below the main living areas wrap the home in the equivalent of a down jacket, which, thanks to the vapor-open airtight barrier mentioned earlier, also offers protection similar to Gore-Tex. As a result, the house lasts longer and homeowners are protected from the elements so they can stay cozy even during extreme winter weather.

“You can feel better durability because there are no cold spots or drafts during winter,” Schleicher said. “You should be able to occupy and enjoy every inch of the house 24/7, 365 days a year and each room and floor should be comfortable.”

“There’s very little variability when you walk up or downstairs,” said Kala homeowner Morgen Govindan . “It’s just consistent throughout.”

Protecting Pipes

An additional benefit of including plentiful and well-integrated insulation in a Passive House is that it can prevent pipes from bursting. According to an article by This Old House , this happens in winter when pipes are exposed to temperatures below 55 degrees. As it expands when frozen, the trapped water puts pressure on the pipe, and this leads to a crack.

The thermal control layer in a Passive House goes a long way to preventing this from occurring, as the water in the pipes isn’t exposed to outdoor cold. With the kind of thoughtful building approach Kala uses, placement is also key. Unlike in a traditional build, pipes are placed inside insulated spaces, which ensures water keeps flowing without freezing. And there’s no need to winterize if a homeowner is gone for a long time. The combination of all these high-performance features leads to a Passive House providing greater durability and peace of mind during even the coldest conditions.

Why Home Durability & Sustainability Are So Closely Linked

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 22:47:40 GMT

The Link Between Durability & Sustainability

“When I think of sustainability, I think of strength,” says Kala homeowner Pooja Bhadbhade. “100 years from now, our house will probably still be standing and in reasonable shape because it’s strong.”

This simple yet profound statement captures an often-overlooked truth: sustainability and durability are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. Building a home that stands the test of time is not just about longevity; it’s about reducing waste, conserving resources, and protecting the planet.

The Hidden Costs of Short-Lived Homes

The housing industry in the U.S. contributes significantly to landfill waste. Construction and demolition debris accounts for nearly 40% of landfill content, much of it from homes that fail prematurely due to poor design, cheap materials, and careless construction. Every time a wall rots, a window fails, or a roof leaks, materials must be torn out, discarded, and replaced. The environmental cost of these repeated cycles is staggering, from the embodied carbon of new materials to the energy required for manufacturing and transport.

Building for the Long Haul

Kala homeowner Nic Zweifel puts it succinctly: “It’s not just about saving energy, but also building something that will last. There are simple things you can do every step of the way to make things last longer, like adding rainscreens, using certain paint, and adding a metal roof that will allow us to install solar. We had this intentionality of making sure that this home is going to be here for the long term.”

At Kala, we believe every home should be built with that same intention. Our homes are designed to avoid the common fail points—drafty walls, leaky windows, and moisture-laden envelopes—that plague conventional builds. A durable home minimizes the need for repairs and replacements, keeping materials out of landfills and reducing environmental impact.

The Link Between Airtightness, Durability, and Sustainability

One of the biggest culprits of durability and sustainability failures is air movement. When air flows unchecked through a home’s exterior, it brings moisture with it, causing mold, rot, and decay. These problems don’t just harm the structure—they lead to costly repairs and replacements that generate waste and emissions.

Kala homes start with airtight building envelopes that eliminate the cracks, gaps, and holes that allow air and moisture to intrude. We add continuous insulation and vapor-open designs to keep homes dry and comfortable. Our premium windows feature triple panes, insulated spacers, and thermally broken frames, reducing condensation and the risk of damage. The way you install a window is just as important, if not more, than the windows themselves.

Precision Craftsmanship Reduces Waste

Building with durability in mind also means building with precision. Our in-house framing and field teams work with our production team to carefully plan and execute every step, ensuring that materials are ordered and used efficiently. By reducing waste at the source, we ensure that fewer resources end up in landfills.

Going Beyond Materials

While green building materials like metal siding and hemp insulation are important, they’re not enough on their own. The unfortunate reality is that generally “green” materials are more expensive. Figuring out a way to build the most durable and sustainable homes possible while keeping costs down is both art and science - that often feels like maneuvering through a trapeze. The end result is often a home that is slightly smaller, but designed thoughtfully to maximize space, sustainability, and durability. Our design teams work hand in hand with our field teams to optimize practices in real time, making for a better process each time we build a new home.

Durability Delivers Peace of Mind

A typical homeowner commonly spends at least 1% of their home’s value on maintenance every year. From step one in the process, durability is a driving factor in bringing a Kala home to life, meaning the annual maintenance costs are significantly lower. That money stays in your pocket, or goes into your daughter’s college fund, or toward that new boat you’ve been thinking about for years.. the choice is yours. Beyond the financial savings, durability provides peace of mind. You can feel confident that your home won’t demand constant repairs or replacements, and you’ll sleep better knowing it’s not consuming unnecessary resources or contributing to landfill waste. A Kala home is more than a shelter—it’s a commitment to a sustainable future.

A House Built to Last is a House Built for the Future

The true cost of a home isn’t just its price tag—it’s the resources it consumes and the waste it creates over its lifetime. By designing and building homes that are both durable and sustainable, Kala ensures that every home we craft is a legacy for future generations.

Why Kala Self-Performs the Things that Matter Most to Home Durability

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 17:47:48 GMT

The Best Path to Long-Term Durability: Self-Performing Where it Matters Most

There are many elements that contribute to how long a home lasts and what level of maintenance it requires. Some of these make a small difference, while others have an enduring impact. In this latest installment of our durability series, we’ll focus on why we self-perform the things that matter most when crafting long-lasting, high-performance homes.

To construct durable houses that far exceed code, satisfy the demanding requirements of green standards such as Net Zero and Passive House, and stand the test of time, nothing can be left to chance. There are certain crucial tasks that we entrust to proven partners, such as plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. But we believe it’s best to have complete oversight of other factors that are most critical to durability.

It All Starts with Design

Creating century-lasting homes begins with the architecture team. As Kansas City’s only Passive House certified design and build firm, Kala has demonstrated that ending up with a durable home begins in the discovery and planning phases of the project. We guide clients toward selecting land that is conducive to high-performance construction, and then take a careful approach to site orientation. This involves placing the structure so that it works with the features of the site, rather than against them, and is less susceptible to the biggest enemy of durability: bulk water.

“You cannot build your house on a flood plain, in a hole, or at the bottom of a hill or water will run toward it,” said David Schleicher, Kala co-founder and managing director. “Orienting it correctly will ensure that you can take water down, out, and away from the home.”

Sounds so simple and you’d think a concept like this would fall under “common sense” but unfortunately, all too often, homes are built on less than ideal locations, leading to water damage.

Despite our best efforts, water can still find a way into a home, which is why we implement a robust, multi-layered approach to manage it, starting from below the ground . We backfill with gravel that allows water to pass through it. A dimple board (aka drainage mat) on the outside of foundation walls channels any water that approaches the foundation downward. This is captured by interior and exterior drain tile – a system of pipes that funnels moisture out and away from the home.

To further combat the water that can cause mold to build up and the foundation walls to crack – leading to leaks and major structural issues – we also treat the footings with a moisture barrier and air seal them. An air barrier below the slab has the dual purpose of also keeping moisture out. Speaking of the slab, we allow it to rest for 28 days after the concrete is poured so that it cures completely.

Crafting an Airtight Wall Assembly

While water is the most destructive force for any home, controlling it starts with managing airflow. This is because whenever excess air can get in and out through gaps, cracks, and other openings, it also allows water to sneak in unnoticed. This is why just like our water management strategy, our plans for airtightness and continuous insulation throughout the six sides of the building envelope and connection points of the building begin in the design phase. This ensures that each home is as durable as it is comfortable, sustainable, healthy, and aesthetically pleasing.

The wall assembly is crucial to managing air and water. As important as thoughtful, performance-oriented architecture is in planning for this, successful execution comes down to the expertise and craftmanship of our field team. We invest in training them to understand why high-performance building is better, how to achieve it, and different ways to do it.

In the walls, this involves combining a water-resistant barrier (WRB), ventilated rainscreen, continuous insulation, vapor barriers and other elements. These features help ensure that cool air is retained in the summer and warm air in winter, and that the elements don’t intrude through excessive air or moisture leaking in. The wall cavity is also designed to let any moisture that accumulates dry out. We minimize thermal bridges that can cause condensation to build and form mildew, rot, or mold. There's a ton of moving pieces that all impact durability so it's key that members of the Kala team are knowledgeable every step of the way.

In most homes, a third-party framing crew’s primary goal is to get the sticks up as quickly as possible. Once the walls are installed, trusses are in place, and the structure looks ready for subcontractors to start installing roofing, wiring, and mechanical systems, the framing is considered finished. Whereas at Kala, we want a more objective measure.

The Durability Test

That’s why we conduct a blower door test . It assesses how airtight the building envelope truly is. We aim to achieve an ACH50 rating of 1.0 or below for all projects (lower is better), which far exceeds the 3.0 ACH50 guideline in the 2021 IECC code adopted by Kansas City, Missouri. For projects like the first certified Passive House in Missouri that we built in Beacon Hill , the ACH50 score must meet Phius’s level of 0.6 ACH50. We incentivize our build team to reach these standards, so they’re all invested in durability, and equip them with the necessary skills to achieve success. While we obviously want to build homes quickly, we don’t sacrifice quality for unrealistic deadlines.

Windows Should Be “See Through Walls”

The installation of high-performance windows is just as important as the actual windows. That's where the Kala field team comes in.

To avoid breaks in the home’s control layers , the Kala team and customer select high-performing windows and doors and install them within the thermal envelope. This also helps eliminate condensation, frames falling apart, and other common issues requiring repairs. In addition, our framers utilize continuous, wraparound insulation to further manage air and moisture. There are so many little details that go into building a durable home-especially when it comes to installing windows. Our sills are always slanted slightly so that any water accumulation will run out and away from the frame. Little details go a long way, and using the same team over and over again allows us to build out a process that is predictable.

Nailing Durability Details

Another benefit of having an in-house field team always present on the building site is that they are available to help subcontractors do things the right way. We’re responsible for making sure that the areas they’re working in stay airtight. From the design process onward, there are strategies for each trade as they move through the house. These include placing pipes and ductwork within insulated spaces and not introducing new thermal bridges . Teaching our own team members the right way to do little things well – such as creating continuous beading on the mudsill and ensuring no bubbles are left in the flashing tape between sheathing panels – encourages them to go the extra mile.

Self-performing the things that matter most for durability starts with a philosophy that prioritizes it, continues into the design phase, and then culminates in an unwavering commitment to craftmanship throughout the building process . This leads to more accountability, better quality control, and superior outcomes. Having a team of like-minded people all pulling together for one common goal also creates a better experience for homeowners .

In addition to our architects giving guidance to the build team, we empower our framers and other folks in the field to send feedback the other way, make decisions, and evolve best practices. There are some eventualities that even the best design cannot account for, and this requires people to think on their feet and come up with on-the-spot solutions.

Pursuing a collaborative approach is the best way to develop high-performance systems, and keeping our team together delivers more consistent long-term results. This all leads to the owners of our uniquely long-lasting homes saying things like, “We have no doubt that everything is well built and solid, and we’re very thankful for that.”

Making a Home More Durable from the Ground Up Part 3: Windows & Doors

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:30:20 GMT

Durability From The Ground Up

In the first post in this series, we explored how a high-performance home includes a more durable slab and foundation. Now let’s keep moving upward in Kala’s design and build process to see how features in the walls, attic, and roof lead to a longer lasting house that requires less maintenance.

Like at the base of a house, the most impactful durability elements in a Kala home are often those you cannot see. Issues with the longevity of the wall assembly typically begin in ways that go unnoticed initially, but soon start to cause damage. That’s why it’s essential that a builder understands the dangers of a non-durable design and then utilizes building science to implement a systematic approach that combats them.

Minimizing Moisture and Airflow

Water poses the biggest threat to your home’s durability. Perhaps surprisingly, this is linked closely with airtightness, or the lack of it. In most homes, gaps, cracks, and openings allow excessive air to flow into the home. This enables cool air to leak out in summer and warm air to do likewise in winter, compromising comfort and placing more strain on mechanical systems. It also lets air flow in from outside, letting the elements affect indoor conditions.

With air inevitably comes moisture. Warm, humid air can easily condensate in the walls, and when excessive airflow hits cold surfaces in the winter, it can form water droplets. Most walls aren’t designed to dry out, so this leads to the formation of mildew, mold, and rot. At Kala, we combine multiple elements to create air, water, vapor, and thermal control layers.

Weatherproof sheathing offered by the ZIP System and similar products provide a continuous air and water barrier, as well as another insulating element. Seam taping allows us to connect sheathing panels and continue the air and water control layers around the entire building envelope, including around windows and doors. Each seam is meticulously taped and rolled, while nails and fasteners are finished with a liquid sealant.

The water-resistant barrier (WRB) keeps water and moisture at bay and diverts it away from parts of the wall assembly that it could damage. On top of the WRB, a ventilated rainscreen provides another layer of protection for the wall assembly. Depending on the type of cladding, furring strips or a roll-on mat material is installed over the WRB to create a cavity for water to drain down and out.

Creating Continuous Insulation

Gaps and rudimentary framing both create breaks in the insulation of many homes, as do unmitigated thermal bridges where a conductive material comes through, transfers heat energy quickly, and facilitates moisture buildup as heat moves to cold. At Kala, we eliminate gaps and thermal bridges and use thoughtful framing that allows us to create continuous insulation around all six sides of the buildings’ envelope. California corners keep studs separate so that the interior insulation runs from wall to wall. This allows the R-values in our walls to far exceed local building codes, including the more stringent IECC 2021 residential energy code adopted in Kansas City, Missouri.

Roof joists leave enough space at the top of the walls before the roof begins to insulate the attic cavity sufficiently. This allows us to go far above code and energy standard requirements. Just like in the walls, such insulation prevents cold surfaces that can encourage condensation to form and undermine the thermal control layer, damage the wall assembly, or even let moisture seep into the living space.

Doing the Attic and Roof Right

How the top section of a home is constructed is just as important to its durability as everything that is done before it. Thoughtful roof design avoids complicated angles that cause water to accumulate or funnel down the walls and into the basement. The same large overhangs that provide shade in summer can help take moisture away from the home.

Below this, it’s vital to create a full seal between the roof and attic so air and water don’t intrude and then leak down into the home. We also separate the conditioned space from the attic with sealant and taping. This stops warm air from rising upward and creating moisture buildup when it meets cold sheathing, and air and moisture from heading down into the upper floor. Overhead lighting in the upper floor is installed in a substructure so it doesn’t go into the attic and create gaps in the four control layers.

It’s essential that rain runoff and melting ice and snow are channeled into gutters large and robust enough to handle them, or water could start coming down the walls. These gutters must then be tightly fitted to downspouts with the proper dimensions to take sufficient water all the way to ground level. We bury every downspout so all liquid is captured and situate them in such a way that water runs away from the foundation walls.

Making a Home More Durable from the Ground Up Part 2: Walls, Attic, and Roof

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 16:18:35 GMT

The Walls, Attic, and Roof's Impact on Durability

Minimizing Moisture and Airflow

Creating Continuous Insulation

Doing the Attic and Roof Right

Making a Home More Durable from the Ground Up: Foundation & Slab

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 15:09:38 GMT

Durability Starts With the Foundation

There are plenty of features that are crucial to reducing maintenance costs and making a home last longer, but true durability needs to be built into the whole house. In this series, we will look at how a high-performance design and build firm like Kala creates homes that require very little maintenance and last two to three times longer than code minimum homes. We begin with the first part of the house that’s completed and, arguably, one of the most crucial: the foundation and slab.

What happens on a construction site at ground level, below it, and just above is essential to the durability of a home. While walls, windows, and other elements can be repaired (although they shouldn’t need to be), you only have one chance to get the foundation right. If not, it can lead to major issues, such as subsiding and settling, cracks, leaks, and other severe structural problems. Concrete is a remarkable substance, but its life as your home’s foundation can easily be doubled or tripled by keeping the foundation components as dry and temperature stable as possible.

Here are some of the ways Kala improves durability from the ground up.

Site Orientation

A thoughtful approach to durable, high-performance home design begins with site orientation. It’s essential that you don’t build in a depression in the ground or at the bottom of a hill, and it’s often good to situate it on the high point of the property to avoid water running toward the home. Site orientation also encompasses optimizing solar heat in the winter and minimizing that heat in the summer months, while allowing as much daylight into the home as possible. We also take into consideration the way wind and direct sunlight can impact building materials.

Capillary Break

Footings support the structure of the home and reduce the risk of settling. They are the lowest point of the entire foundation structure and will be in contact with groundwater. Concrete is porous and it will naturally wick water inward and upward. That’s why we create a capillary break , a barrier between the footings and stem or foundation walls. A capillary break applied after we pour the trench footings and before the foundation walls are poured prevents moisture from rising into the concrete structure and negatively impacting the durability of a home.

Interior + Exterior Drain Tile

Every new home today has some form of exterior drain tile. However, Kala always adds interior drain tile as well. These perforated pipes are installed alongside the footings to collect groundwater and direct it away from the foundation, keeping the footings dry and durable. The perforations in the pipes allow water to enter and flow through the system, while a filter fabric prevents dirt and debris from clogging the holes. Surrounding the drain tile with gravel further improves efficiency, allowing water to move more quickly to the pipes than it would through soil. Once collected, the water is directed away from the structure—either through gravity, if the site has a slope, or to a sump pump, where it is gathered and pumped to a safe location.

Sump Pump with Battery Backup

Any water that enters the area behind the foundation walls and inside the footers needs to be dealt with before it pools, causing cracks and other issues. This water can be drained into a sump basin, where a pump pushes it outside the home to drain. A battery backup ensures the sump pump runs continuously, despite power outages that can arise during heavy rains.

Fully Curing the Foundation Walls

Foundation walls are critical to the long term performance of any home, but they can be easily compromised in the most mundane ways. Concrete is very strong but it is fractious and building science tells us that it takes roughly a month for foundation walls to fully cure. This period, typically ignored by builders who will begin backfilling within days of the pour, ensures that the foundation walls have reached maximum strength before any backfill pressure is exerted on them, greatly extending the time helps prevent cracks from forming in the foundation that will compromise durability.

Waterproofing the Foundation Walls

Dimple board (aka drainage mat) manages the flow of below-grade water down the foundation wall helping to keep it dry and relieves hydrostatic pressure on the foundation. It also protects the waterproofing layer that we put on the outside of the foundation walls from clay, dirt, rocks, and other materials that could damage it. Instead of settling around the foundation walls, any water that gets in runs down the dimple board, down and out away from the home’s foundation. Concrete is porous. Dimple board creates a strong, additional layer of water protection ensuring the foundation wall is exceptionally durable over time.

Insulated Slab with Air, Vapor, and Water Proofing

After pouring the foundation walls and ground rough-in is complete, up to 4 inches of rigid insulation is carefully laid on top of the compacted gravel area. On top of this insulation we add an exceptionally strong air, water, and vapor barrier that is carefully taped around every penetration and extends about 18 inches up the foundation wall where it is again carefully taped. This step isolates the slab thermally from the earth should keep the slab above the dew point ensuring the slab will not get sweaty and damp.

Insulated Foundation Walls

Foundation walls are insulated with up to 4 inches of solid foam insulation which extends down to the air and vapor barrier waiting for a slab to be poured. This helps keep the concrete foundation walls temperature stable and, in conjunction with the external waterproofing, ensures decades of crack free foundation durability.

Thermally Protected Slab

The concrete slab, the supporting floor you walk on at the lowest point in your house, is poured into a space thermally protected from below with insulation, and water protected by the durable barrier covering the insulation. It is also fully separated from the foundation walls by up to 4 inches of solid foam insulation. This allows the slab to float free of the outside environment around it, protected fully on all sides and underneath, keeping it permanently dry and temperature stable ensuring decades of durability.

Sealed Mudsill

A mudsill separates the foundation walls from the bottom of the framed wall. Kala uses two layers of sealant to, again, arrest any moisture that may have intruded into the foundation wall from creeping upward into the wall assembly ensuring a durable wall structure.

Foundation in Place: Next Steps for the Kala + The Way Home Passive House

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 19:29:37 GMT

Getting Started on the Right Foot(ings)

We’re making great progress at the Kala + The Way Home Passive House site in Ivanhoe. The footings have been formed and poured, followed by the foundation itself—a key milestone in creating a long-lasting, energy-efficient home that requires minimal maintenance.

With each phase, we’re ensuring this home’s durability from the ground up, prioritizing materials and techniques that will keep it solid and resilient over time. Check out the latest photos showing the footings and foundation work as this project moves forward. Each step is bringing us closer to a sustainable, high-performance home for the Ivanhoe neighborhood. Stay tuned for the next phase!

(Click images to view full size)

The High Maintenance Costs of Living in a Non-Durable Home

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 22:19:53 GMT

Maintenance Costs of a Non-Durable Home

When searching for a resale property or building a new home, many first-time buyers are only thinking about the upfront cost and the most common way to filter listings is by price. However, as anyone who has owned a house knows, your spending doesn’t stop when you close. There are bound to be ongoing expenses that increase the total cost of ownership and take a toll on your budget. Unfortunately, with the housing stock we face today, new does not always equal durable.

Siding Struggles

The two biggest enemies for home durability are moisture and air. A high-performance home is protected on all sides by an airtight and watertight barrier (like a new Gore-Tex jacket) and leaves a cavity between the water-resistant barrier and cladding for water to escape. But many new and resale houses lack these solutions to prevent air seeping in and out and moisture building up. This starts to decay the siding, deteriorate the structural elements it covers, and undermine the integrity of wall insulation.

Couple this water buildup with low-grade building materials and hasty installation and you end up with a booming industry dedicated to replacing siding and repairing the damage done to the walls behind it and the basement and foundation below. A Homeadvisor.com article put the average cost of whole-home siding replacement at $11,235, although premium options can be much more expensive and associated repairs – such as replacing drywall, mold mitigation, and wood rot caused by water infiltration – can further increase the total.

Window Woes

Even if a home is well-insulated in the walls, attic, foundation, and between floors, if its windows are low quality and/or improperly installed, the entire building envelope will be compromised, excess air, heat, and moisture will flow both ways, and the need for repair or replacement will be accelerated. In the short term, window issues contribute to energy loss, which causes the mechanical systems to work overtime to cool or heat your home. This combination can lead to a significant increase in monthly bills, which is hardly ideal when utility prices are already up by around 28 percent .

Over time, this continual cost, the annoyances of outside sounds getting in, and compromises in comfort caused by hot spots and cold draughts are compounded by deterioration of the windows, framing, seals, and other components. Some people choose to try and repair their aging windows, but truly eliminating the underlying issues is often only possible with complete replacement. This isn’t going to come cheap. According to Modernize , “the average cost to replace windows in your home as of 2023 is $450 to $960 per window.” So if your home only had 10 windows, you could be looking at $4,500 to $9,600, with bay, bow, egress, and other types driving this price even higher. And that’s just the cost of the actual windows.

Made to Mold

As the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors noted in a report on how long building components should last , “Life expectancy varies with usage, weather, installation, maintenance, and quality of materials.” Such factors don’t merely impact windows alone. When they’re poor quality, have inadequate hardware, or aren’t put in correctly, the air and moisture exchange will start to negatively impact other parts of the structure. If you’ve got condensation or frost forming during the winter months, water will not only degrade frames, but also seep down into the walls, compromising the effectiveness of the insulation and allowing moisture to build up.

This can be compounded by thermal bridging, which occurs when warm, moist air hits cold surfaces and can contribute to the buildup of mildew and mold. This can also be caused by inadequate gutters, downspouts, and drainage, walls that retain water rather than removing it, and the lack of a rain screen that leaves the exterior structure vulnerable to wet weather. Homeguide.com reported that the average cost of mold remediation is $2,325 but noted that “The damage that needs to be addressed alongside the mold can increase costs by $5,000 and beyond.”

Minor to Major Maintenance

A 2021 National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) survey found that the typical house requires $950 a year in maintenance, but as this was limited to minor repairs, the total cost is likely to be much higher if you factor in more significant issues. In summarizing their findings, the NAHB suggested that “the annual operating costs per dollar value are higher for older homes” and rise significantly for properties built before 1960. While their assertion that new homes initially require less upkeep, variable construction standards and the widespread use of low-grade materials mean that even if you build a typical house from scratch, you might be faced with repair and replacement costs much sooner than expected.

We are seeing homes across the Kansas City metropolitan area that are under 20 years old with extensive wood rot, moldy and decaying siding. Issues like this are directly related to improperly installed windows, shotty craftsmanship, and the lack of water and air control in the envelope. Costly repairs are not exclusive to older homes.

The total cost of repairing or replacing certain parts of your home might also be higher than you anticipate. According to responses submitted by 1,019 homeowners to the home services company Cinch, 44.9 percent of people said they underestimated the costs of home maintenance and 30 percent wished they’d waited to buy their current home based on the expense of upkeep. American Family Insurance recommends budgeting a dollar in annual home maintenance for every square foot of livable space.

No home is ever going to be truly maintenance-free. However, when it’s built to the high standards of Passive House construction , the impact of excess air and moisture will be mitigated, windows and siding will last far beyond their typical fail points, and overall upkeep costs will be lower. This will enable you to keep more of your hard-earned money, enjoy the comfortable lifestyle that your well-built home supports, and achieve the peace of mind that comes with durable construction.

Breaking Ground on a Greener, More Durable Future

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 18:48:30 GMT

Digging into the Kala + The Way Home Passive House

We’re thrilled to announce that the Kala + The Way Home Passive House project has officially broken ground in Kansas City’s Ivanhoe neighborhood! While the digging and construction just began, our collaboration actually started months ago, moving through planning, design, and permitting—all the critical steps that make today’s progress possible.

This home is designed to be much more than just eco-friendly; it’s being built to last. Every aspect of the home is designed to withstand the tests of time and reduce maintenance costs over the years. Sustainability isn’t only about reducing energy use but also about creating homes that stay strong and reliable with minimal upkeep. This Passive House will be a durable foundation for future generations, designed to offer a comfortable, healthy, and sustainable lifestyle for its residents.

While it looks like nothing more than a big hole in the ground here, it’s the start of exciting progress on a project we are excited to bring to life. Read more about the Kala + The Way Home Passive House on our active projects page.

Let the build begin!

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 23:14:54 GMT

Breaking Ground in The West Plaza

We’re thrilled to announce the start of our newest custom home in West Plaza—just two blocks from our office! This project marks a major milestone for Kala, as it’s the first fully custom home our in-house architecture team has designed.

With art deco inspiration and high-performance features throughout, this home will reflect the Kala standard in every detail.

Consistency is Key

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 20:02:12 GMT

How a Passive House Stays Cool in Summer and Warm in Winter (with Lower Utility Bills)

Most homes in a climate that’s hot from June to September and cold from November to March can only maintain temperature levels when the HVAC system is running in high gear. This is noisy, inefficient, and costly, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Let’s look at how high-performance homes deliver a comfortable temperature all year in completely different ways.

Keeping Cool in Summer

If you go into a typical home when the outdoor temperature is up in the 90s or has even reached triple digits, you’re likely to hear the incessant whirring of the air conditioner as you feel the blast of cold air that it pushes through the ducts. During a recent interview, Nic Zweifel, owner of a Kala high-performance home, recalled his exasperating experience in a brand-new Kansas City loft that he’d assumed would be much more efficient than it actually was.

“It just wasn’t comfortable,” he said. “The air conditioner was on full blast all the time because no matter what temperature we wanted it, it had to work hard to keep it there, so there was always background noise.”

When you step inside a Passive House in July or August, you might be surprised not to hear much of anything. That’s because it doesn’t require a regular air conditioner constantly gulping energy and running on full blast to bring the indoor temperature down. Thick insulation keeps cool air within the walls , as there aren’t the usual gaps in the building envelope for it to leak out of.

An ERV unit runs quietly in the background, constantly bringing fresh air in through an advanced filtration process and circulating it throughout every area of the home. Intentional shading of well-placed windows helps ensure that while windows provide a connection to the natural environment outside – and contrary to a common misconception about Passive House construction, can be opened to welcome a breeze on cooler days – they don’t let too much heat energy in during the summer months.

In an interview, Morgen Govindan, another Kala homeowner, described how a tight building envelope with an air barrier, the ERV system, and high-performance windows and doors help eliminate the temperature swings she was used to in previous houses and provides increased comfort. “There’s very little variability when you walk up or downstairs,” she said. “In the summer, it makes a big difference that it’s not significantly hotter upstairs. It’s just consistent throughout.”

Staying Warm in Winter

In a recent interview, one of the owners of the first Phius-certified Passive House in Missouri described how a combination of continuous, plentiful insulation, thick walls, and an efficient heat pump keeps warmth in and cold out during even the coldest Kansas City weather.

“ It can be the dead of winter and I’ll walk around in shorts and a t-shirt and be totally fine and comfortable,” Pooja said.

She can vividly recall the temperature regulation issues that many houses she has been in have experienced: “If it's a cold winter day and I'm sitting next to a window, I can feel the draft and the frigid temperature from the window and I’m not even in contact with it.” There are several reasons for this. First, the glass itself in many traditionally built homes is low quality and allows too much heat energy to escape during cold weather. Second, such windows are often framed with materials that conduct further warmth out and away from the inside of a house. And third, poor installation can allow drafts to breeze in unbidden.

In contrast, the glass in a high-performance home does not allow heat loss from around its edges. Gas between two or more panes also has an insulating effect. Thoughtful framing utilizing materials with low heat conductivity helps retain even more warmth in winter. And an expert team of installers ensures that windows are put into walls tightly and sealed and flashed adequately.

Another way that windows in a Passive House help to keep heat inside the home is that the structure itself is oriented properly on the best part of the building site and facing the right direction. This typically involves having plenty of south-facing windows to capture passive solar energy from the sun in winter, considering its path across the sky from sunrise to sunset. Welcoming nature’s warmth in this way further reduces the burden on the mechanical system to compensate for seasonal temperature fluctuations.

To provide added heat when needed, a Passive House uses a heat pump. Instead of relying on the burning of natural gas like most homes, this sources warmth from the air and/or ground to make subtle adjustments to the interior environment without running on overdrive to keep up. Heat from the air that’s continually being exhausted flows through a heat exchanger in an ERV system, providing up to 90 percent heat recovery. As a result of this efficient process, homeowners are insulated from the rapidly rising utility costs that have hit people hard in the past few years.

Such advanced heating and cooling technology helps Passive House owners save several hundred dollars per month and reduce energy usage by 80 to 90 percent, particularly in peak seasons when HVAC systems are usually working overtime. They do so without the need for the constant manual adjustments that become routine in a regular house.

“The feedback that we get from guests is that it’s very quiet and comfortable,” Sush Govindan added. “We’ve hardly had to adjust the thermostat at all – I’ve only touched it three times.”

The Importance of Having a Good Relationship with Your Home Builder

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 21:05:29 GMT

Choosing the Right Builder for your Kansas City Home

The success of your home-building experience depends as much on the people you work with as it does on the design and materials. Building a home isn’t just about following blueprints; it’s a collaborative journey that requires open communication, trust, and a shared vision. That’s why having a strong relationship with your builder is essential. When your builder takes the time to understand your needs, values, and goals, the process becomes smoother and the results more meaningful. Here’s how working with the right people can make all the difference.

Partnering with Good People

When asked why he and his wife, Morgen, decided to choose Kala instead of the other builders they considered, Kansas City homeowner Sush Govindan revealed that the people involved made all the difference.

“In our first meeting, David told us that this was a relationship, so let’s go through the next steps and make sure it’s a good fit for everyone,” he said. “We could tell that the whole team really cared about that. They were great throughout the process. That was especially important during COVID because things came up that we couldn’t plan for. You can go with a builder that is just about the project and then moves from one thing to the next. But there is a way to build lasting relationships with people and help them achieve what they want to through their home. That’s what David and his team did.”

Building Trust

While getting a house that meets your expectations and sticks to the specs you agreed on is key, building a home requires you to forge a relationship over a year or more. So you shouldn’t enter it lightly, as the people part of the equation is just as important, if not more so.

“We have friends who just finished building a home, and they won’t even speak to their contractor,” Morgen Govindan said. “Whereas we trusted Kala throughout the entire process and still trust them now. They’re a great group who care about people and what they do. The team really listened to us the whole way through and saw how we live our lives, so the house reflects what we care about and our values.”

Making a House a Home

During the planning stage, it’s essential that the homeowner, builder, and architect quickly come together around a singular vision.

The Govindans worked hand-in-glove with their architect and Kala to design a home that would enable them, their children, and their family and friends to live in a certain way. This would ensure that their house would be more than just a dwelling, but a reflection of the things they feel are most valuable in life.

“We wanted to build community and hospitality, so we talked to David and Keith about different hosting areas outdoors and inside where people can feel like they're part of something but also have their own spaces,” Sush said. “We had to do this with the environment in mind , like natural light coming in through higher efficiency windows so we’re not having energy leak in and out. These concepts came together well in this house.”

Doing the Details Right

In any home, getting the big things right matters – whether that’s expertly installed windows, continuously insulated walls, or long-lasting framing. But when partnering with a builder that prioritizes quality and craftmanship, the little stuff should also be just so. This involves careful planning and taking the time to do everything right on the building site.

“What we've really appreciated is the level of attention to detail,” Morgen said. “In the Passive House process, things have to be planned out and done really methodically. I don't think that was something we would’ve valued at the time when we were wanting to get in, but it's something we really value now.”

A Quiet Place [VIDEO]

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 19:11:26 GMT

How Passive House Creates Calm and Minimizes Noise

Whether it’s incessant road noise, loud neighbors, or the furnace and air conditioner running non-stop, sound can be one of the most annoying intrusions for any homeowner. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? In this article, we’ll explore how Passive House design principles can create a calm, quiet refuge from the outside world.

Keeping Unwanted Sounds Out

In a traditional home, the walls are so thin and poorly insulated that the aforementioned noises can sneak in unbidden at all hours. Not to mention the noisy intrusion of seasonal storms, loud holiday celebrations, and all too constant roadwork. All this is an inconvenience during the day and can interfere with your sleep at night, which is particularly disruptive if you have sleep problems or young children who are easily woken.

A Passive House includes seals that prevent air and moisture from leaking in, and has thick walls filled with continuous insulation. This not only reduces heating and cooling costs, but also keeps barking dogs, car alarms, and other annoying noises from disturbing you while you’re trying to relax indoors. In most homes, doors and windows allow both drafts and outdoor sounds to seep in, but because these feature more premium materials and are carefully installed by expert craftspeople in a Passive House, one of the first things new homeowners notice is how quiet their new residence is. Then they start to see how much better their family sleeps now that noise is a non-issue.

“Our son was born while we were in our old rental house and we couldn’t sleep train him,” said Morgen Govindan , a Kansas City homeowner who built a high-performance home with Kala. “It might have been that the house was really loud, but he sleeps through the night now and during storms, our kids don’t wake up. There was a band playing in the park across the street when we were bathing them, and we kept hearing a faint sound. We opened the windows, and all the noise came in.”

“You can't hear anything – it’s amazing,” added Morgen’s husband, Sush. “When we were anywhere else, Fourth of July was a nightmare with our kids because they would hear the fireworks and wake up. This house is so quiet. We didn’t think there were dogs in the neighborhood because we never hear them, but it turns out there are two across the street that bark all the time. You walk into the house and it’s like there’s nothing going on. That’s really nice.”

No More Noisy HVAC

Another way that Passive House design creates a calmer, quieter atmosphere is by reducing the noise usually involved in seasonal heating and cooling. Using the principles of passive solar , heat energy from the sun is captured by a combination of thoughtful site orientation and large premium glazing. Airtight construction and ample, continuous insulation retain this sun-derived heat when it’s needed in the winter, reducing the amount of energy required to keep the home warm and cozy.

A Passive House relies on thick walls, continuous insulation, and a tightly sealed building envelope, which significantly reduces the need for a loud powerful HVAC system. These features help the home maintain a steady indoor temperature, so the properly sized system only needs to make small adjustments rather than running at full capacity. This keeps the temperature stable without the system coming on at full blast to heat or cool the space. So you don’t hear your HVAC system raging to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature.

“The feedback that we get from guests is that it’s very quiet and comfortable,” Sush said.

We often think of comfort in a home as being all about nice furniture or fancy fixtures. But one way a Passive House redefines this term by minimizing indoor noise and keeping outdoor sounds where they belong. As a result, you can look forward to relaxing in a calm, quiet oasis every time you step through the front door, sleeping soundly every night, and living in peace.

The Durability Test

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 20:30:59 GMT

The Blower Door Test: A Key to Durability in High-Performance Homes

While a blower door test is most commonly associated with measuring air leakage in a home’s envelope, at Kala, we also see it as crucial for ensuring durability. The connection between air leakage and water intrusion is significant—if your home leaks air, it will leak water. This can occur either through bulk water entering gaps in the envelope or through water vapor becoming trapped within the wall assembly. Both scenarios can lead to serious durability issues, such as moisture buildup, mold growth, wood rot, and structural damage.

What is a Blower Door Test?

A blower door test is a method used to measure the airtightness of a building. It involves placing a powerful fan in a door opening, which either pressurizes or depressurizes the house. This process allows professionals to identify the rate at which air leaks in and out of the home, typically measured by ACH50—Air Changes per Hour at 50 Pascals. This metric indicates how many times the air inside a building is replaced within an hour when the building is pressurized to 50 Pascals. Higher values indicate a leakier house.

Setting the Air Leakage Standard

Before Kansas City, Missouri adopted the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), there was no code requirement for a maximum number of air changes per hour (ACH) in new construction. The 2021 IECC now sets a maximum of 3 ACH50 for all new homes though Kansas City, Missouri is the only jurisdiction that has adopted 2021 IECC. The rest of the metro area does not have any sort of blower door test or air changes per hour requirement to meet code.

At Kala, we strive to build homes that achieve 1 ACH50 or below. To attain certification from the Passive House Institute of the US (Phius), a home must meet an even stricter standard of 0.6 ACH50 or lower.

We compiled data from our five most recent custom home builds, and our air tightness levels range from well below the Phius standard to just about 1 ACH50. These homes vary in size and finishes, but each one is verified airtight:

South Olathe New Custom Home: 0.85 ACH50
Beacon Hill Passive House: 0.36 ACH50
Rural Farmhouse: 0.42 ACH50
Prairie Village Custom Home: 0.63 ACH50
Westwood Performance Home: 1.03 ACH50

Why is Air Tightness a Concern?

So, these houses are all built to be super airtight, but why does that matter? How does air cause damage? All great questions.

To understand why air intrusion matters when building a home, it helps to quantify the amount of water vapor present in the air. In Kansas City, relative humidity averages around 60-66% throughout the year, and you can expect an average day in July to reach about 81°F. At this temperature and humidity level, the air can hold a significant amount of moisture—approximately 0.4 to 0.6 grams of water per cubic foot. As this humid air infiltrates a poorly sealed home, it carries that moisture into the wall assembly. For example, air leakage through a small, 1-square-inch hole in a building’s envelope during the heating season can result in approximately 28.4 liters (30 quarts) of water being transmitted to the interior. This moisture can condense, particularly when it comes into contact with cooler surfaces inside the wall, leading to water accumulation. Over time, this trapped moisture can cause rot, mold growth, and structural damage, significantly reducing the durability of the building.

Air Sealing the Building Envelope

In an article for Green Building Advisor, inspector Randy Williams suggested, “The best approach to passing a blower-door test is to understand where houses leak air and design an air-sealing strategy with that in mind.” At Kala, we take this mandate very seriously.

Windows and doors are common sites of excess air leakage. To prevent this, we use high performance windows that meet air tightness requirements. It's equally important that the windows are installed by trained professionals to keep the space around the frame of the window air and water tight.

It's important to minimize outside air coming in and inside air leaking out. Outside air is significant because pollutants, allergens, and toxins often creep into your home through small cracks and holes throughout.

In a home built with typical construction methods, air can pass in and out through the building envelope. This doesn’t happen in a high-performance home because air and vapor layers are thoughtfully placed in the wall assembly, preventing excessive airflow and leakage. Once air is contained, it can be controlled, allowing you to maintain a consistent temperature and humidity level in all seasons.

Another area that we pay particular attention to during the building process is the roof/attic cavity. This area is often a significant source of air leakage in many houses, as air passes both ways through the ceiling and into or out of the living space below. To prevent this, Passive House builders pay special attention to this area, ensuring the structure is airtight with continuous insulation around all living spaces.

In addition to using a top-down approach to air management, we also take a close look from the ground up. Another common fail point for air and moisture intrusion in a home is at the mudsill, where the foundation meets the exterior walls. We apply two extra beads of caulking above the foundation wall before the sill sealer to prevent any airflow at this connection. This is such a simple task that will pay dividends in the long run.

Fresh, Filtered Air In, Stale Air Out

Combined with an airtight envelope, the use of an ERV system ensures that only clean, fresh, filtered air is brought into a Passive House, while stale air is constantly removed. In older homes you are getting “fresh” air through those cracks and holes in the envelope, but when you build a Passive House you have to manually bring fresh air. This is accomplished through the ERV system.

Mid-Construction Testing and Verification

Whether we are certifying a home or not, we pay careful attention to ensure every home with our name on it is effectively sealed. A blower door test is conducted on every home we build post rough-in to find the source of any leaks. We also test the ERV system and even monitor airflow at each vent and return. All of this provides peace of mind that the indoor environment will be healthy and safe, and that the air and moisture buildup often leading to costly durability issues in regular houses won’t be a problem.

High-performance homes are often associated with energy efficiency, and for good reason. But the benefits of building better homes go far beyond using energy wisely. Yes, you’ll pay less to heat and cool your home, but you’ll also pay much less in maintenance costs due to the care taken in air sealing throughout the construction process.

A High-Performance Home Kept This Family Comfortable During Power Outages

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 21:12:13 GMT

How Passive House Building Kept a Kansas City Homeowner Comfortable During a Power Outage

It’s not news to state that the electrical grid is becoming more unstable by the month. From outdated infrastructure to a fast-growing population to inclement weather, people who live in Kansas City and the US in general are having to get used to more frequent and longer power outages. This usually makes for uncomfortable living conditions, as most homes leak air and moisture. They get too hot in the summer and cold in the winter when the electricity is off. But in a Passive House or a high-performance home, the experience is a lot more pleasant.

“We probably lose power every three months due to power outages in the local electrical grid,” said Sush, who built a Kala home with his wife Morgen and two children in Overland Park, Kansas.

“We were out of power for four days during the big storms that hit Kansas City this summer and were able to stay comfortable in the house,” Sush said. “It was pretty stable. With outdoor temperatures in the low-to-mid-90s all week, the highest the temperature got on the top floor was 79. Our middle level was in the mid-70s, and the lower floor was even more comfortable.”

Sush realized that he could probably get away with not running their air conditioning and just open the windows in the morning and again at night. He never previously thought that they could do that in the high heat and humidity of a Kansas City summer.

“I think we could have stayed on the middle and bottom floors of the house for a long time or even indefinitely as long as the temperature was low enough during the evenings,” Sush said. “The natural environment of the house is really nice and separates us from extreme weather outdoors.”

Enjoying Better Air Quality

By day three or four, the Govindans were opening the windows of their home in the morning and evening and living comfortably despite the persistent power outage. However, while the fresh air was appreciated and welcome, they realized that they were longing for the continuous filtered and clean air usually supplied by the ERV system.

“You don’t realize quite how important the ERV is until you don’t have it for a few days,” Sush said. “There was a definite difference between the quality of air with and without the ERV running.”

Kala suggests that during an extended power outage, lasting more than 3 or 4 days, the windows in the house be opened during the coolest part of the night and then closed again before temperatures rise during the day. The converse would apply in the winter. This will keep the air in the house fresh.

Feeling Comfortable with a Consistent Temperature & Humidity Level

Once the utility company fixed the damaged power lines and other infrastructure impacted by the storms, Sush and his family’s electricity supply was restored, and they were back to enjoying the comfort of a stable indoor environment. Unlike with a traditional AC system, the combination of an ERV and a heat pump provides consistent temperature and humidity level all year round, despite the extreme seasonal swings in the Kansas City climate. Sush has only had to touch his thermostat two or three times total.

“Our experience in the house is controlled,” Sush said. “It’s just a very different experience than the homes we’ve owned in the past. We keep our house around 75 degrees and it is the same temperature and climate everywhere. I’ve never had that before. We are coming up on three years of living in our Kala home and no matter the weather, the experience in the house doesn’t change.”

Building Codes are Critical for Consumer Protection

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 18:15:10 GMT

Building Codes + Consumer Protection

The study of building science helps us understand the health and welfare threats and benefits of living indoors. This understanding is translated into recommended building codes every three years by the International Code Council via the International Energy Conservation Code. Building code plays a critical role in establishing a baseline performance expectation of any building.

Prior to January 1, 2024 Kansas City, MO was enforcing what was effectively the IECC 2006 residential energy code, now more than 18 years old. In 2023 the Kansas City, MO City Council voted to enforce the IECC 2021 energy code as the minimum standard for residential buildings in Kansas City. As of 29 July 2024 the City Council is being lobbied hard to take a step back from the 2021 building code even as IECC 2024 has introduced yet more improvements.

Kala feels that the current building code is not good enough. Every Kala home exceeds the 2021 IECC code in addition to every government or private industry ranking for thermal efficiency, indoor air quality, and energy consumption. And Kala homes are not subsidized by any government program but instead are completed and financed at market valuations that can be successfully financed through any lending agency.

Supporters of higher performance energy codes have focused their arguments around lower energy consumption which would benefit the environment and create energy savings for owners and residents. Opponents maintain that the cost and complexity of meeting the energy code would create more up front cost than the long-term savings would provide and would make new homes in Kansas City prohibitively expensive.

It's a Balancing Act

While sustainability is important, the singular focus on energy savings vs cost of construction is one-dimensional and doesn’t account for the deeper benefits of better buildings - namely better health and comfort for occupants and dramatically lower maintenance costs over time that, while harder to quantify in the short term, can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in only a few years.

Every house is a complex system of materials and labor that requires myriad decisions regarding function, size, style, and finish level. But generally left out of consideration is how the structure of the house will perform. This is determined primarily by things you cannot see - the construction between the paint on your interior walls and the visible siding on the outside.

A better approach to building a home is to balance total construction cost more evenly between size and interior finish level, and the elements that affect durability, sustainability, and the comfort and health of the occupants. Home buyers are generally unaware of the positive impact a higher building standard would have on their health and comfort, and perhaps most importantly, the durability of the home they are investing in. If they did, they would place the same emphasis on the quality of construction of their walls as they do on which cabinets and which countertops to use.

This is where code comes into play. Higher performance building standards enforced through code help consumers by specifying a higher performance wall assembly that may sound boring and arcane but is actually the most critical component of any house. It is also the only component that the buyer has no visibility to, meaning they only find out about sub par installation when the builder is long gone.

Our commitment to build better homes actually originated from a quest for durability. We had to ask ourselves hard questions. Why do so many new homes have significant amounts of wood rot within 5 - 15 years of their construction? Why is the replacement window market so large? Why do homes cool down in the winter and warm up in the summer so quickly causing the HVAC system to cycle constantly? Why do houses have hot and cold spots? Why is my house so dusty? Why do I have an insect problem? Why is my basement so cold and damp? Why is the room above my garage so hot? Why is my furniture fading? Why do I have sinus issues? Why do I have allergies? Why does my dog freak out during thunderstorms? Why do I have frost on the inside of my windows in the winter? Why is it so cold when I get out of the shower? Why is there excess moisture in the bathroom? Why do I have icicles hanging off my roof in the winter?

The answers are all provided by building science and the solutions involve applying the same level of craftsmanship and attention to detail you give interior finishes to the things you can’t see in your walls, basement, and roof.

The Future

Kansas City, MO needs a vibrant and profitable residential and multi-family building market. But the industry is here to serve the residents of Kansas City who deserve to live in homes and buildings that are healthy, comfortable, and durable. Industries don’t stand still. Innovation never stops for critical industries-computers, cars, cameras, drones, rockets that land themselves. But the residential housing industry in our region has struggled to apply the innovations building science presents. That is why we support the move to the IECC 2021 energy code, a clear and important step in the right direction that will benefit all residents regardless of their personal investment.

Curiosity, innovation, creativity, and a relentless pursuit of a better building drives Kala in every project. If you want to understand the benefits of building your home to an energy code that will likely be here in 2035 instead of one that is already out of date give us a call.

All About Ventilated Rainscreens in High-Performance Homes

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 15:47:18 GMT

Whether it’s mold and mildew building up or cracks and peeling, water damage can wreak havoc on your house. At Kala, we know that water will always find a way, but it doesn’t have to get trapped and cause issues that can compromise your health and necessitate costly repairs.

A ventilated rainscreen is one of the features of a Kala home that make it more durable and keep excess water at bay.

What is a ventilated rainscreen?

The idea behind the ventilated rainscreen is pretty straightforward: create a cavity between the sheathing and the siding of the house. This cavity allows bulk water to drain down and out, while also letting air circulate past the sheathing, keeping it dry . The siding floating free of the sheathing ensures that any ice or snow that accumulates on the outermost surface cannot find its way through to the sheathing. Finally, the bug screen at the top and bottom of the rain screen system keeps insects from entering the cavity and getting stuck inside.

How does a builder install a ventilated rainscreen?

When building the first Phius-certified Passive House in Missouri in Kansas City’s historic Beacon Hill neighborhood, we first placed a layer of Kimberly-Clark BLOCK-IT House Wrap over the SIP wall assembly. This created an effective water resistant barrier (WRB ). The framers then placed furring strips along the whole length of the wrap, using mounting brackets to connect these to the substrate.

This created a cavity between cladding and the WRB. Deliberately positioned openings at both the top and bottom enables water to flow downward between the siding and WRB so that water doesn’t linger. It also acts as a venting cavity for air to move through. A screen at the bottom allows water to run out while preventing insects and small animals from getting in.

While using furring strips works great to create the cavity between WRB and siding, it's not a one size fits all. For example, on a recent retrofit in Lake Quivira, the existing home featured stucco on the front and we wanted to continue that look throughout the sides/back. Since stucco is a heavier material that gets applied much differently than siding, a different strategy for the rainscreen was necessary. We used a product from Keene called the DRIWALL™ Rainscreen, a product that comes in wide rolls for relatively easy installation. This type of product works great with stucco and thin stone/brick.

How Does a Ventilated Rainscreen Impact House Durability and Reduce Repair Costs?

When paired with an adequate WRB, a ventilated rainscreen significantly increases the durability of a home and is a relatively inexpensive way to do so. This potent combination also reduces the total cost of ownership by keeping repairs caused by water damage to a minimum throughout the lifespan of the house, which is already far longer in a Passive House than with a traditional home built to code.

Water and air infiltration are the enemy of durability. Taking steps to manage how water moves throughout the wall assembly is a vital piece when putting together a home.

Why Can a Ventilated Rainscreen Improve Homeowner Health?

Preventing excess water buildup also safeguards your family’s health, as mold and other allergens won’t have the opportunity to thrive in the walls. With a ventilated rainscreen and WRB, the building envelope is more tightly sealed to prevent air and moisture from leaking in or out. This also makes it easier to maintain a consistent and comfortable indoor environment throughout the year, no matter how severe seasonal shifts in temperature and humidity may be in the volatile Midwest climate.

Kala Homes Exceed the 2021 IECC Building Standards for Kansas City

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 17:08:41 GMT

2021 IECC: It can be done

We recently announced the completion and pending sale of another net-zero, high performance home in Kansas City, MO that exceeds the IECC 2021 building code endorsed by the Kansas City, Missouri City Council in October 2022. The home in West Plaza combines a high-performance building assembly with rooftop solar resulting in a home that generates more energy than it consumes–energy that can be used to power electric mobility or sent to the grid.

Kala is currently working with the Kansas City planning office for permit approval of homes exceeding the new building standards at build prices ranging from $250,000 to $1.5 million. Kala delivered the first certified Passive House in Missouri in 2022 proving that building to a high-standard can be accomplished at market rate.

“With over a decade of experience in high-performance construction, Kala is open for business and comfortable with 2021 IECC requirements,” said Kala co-founder Cary DeCamp. “We’ve been building sustainable homes with high energy ratings since the beginning, continue to start new projects for our clients that meet or surpass 2021 IECC standards, and we support Kansas City’s effort to build better buildings for homeowners.”

Rigorous certifications like Phius CORE, LEED Platinum, and DOE ZERH are based on extensive testing and verification of the built condition by trained professionals. This ensures a Kala home offers quantifiably more utility savings, sustainability benefits, and resale value over a conventional new build.

Kala’s thoughtful and comprehensive design process unites architecture, craftsmanship, materials, and proven building science yielding homes that go beyond the simplistic and one-dimensional thinking that better buildings only provide a financial payback in terms of reduced energy cost. Better buildings most importantly provide profound improvements in comfort, health, and durability.

In October 2022, the Kansas City, Missouri City Council approved the adoption of the 2021 IECC . The council initially chose an unamended version but has since added an amendment allowing builders to use the 2018 IECC if they can demonstrate increased energy efficiency. Both took effect on July 1st, 2023, with a 90-day grace period.

“A more stringent energy code doesn’t just encourage sustainable construction, but also ensures homes are better to live in ,” said David Schleicher, Kala co-founder. “The 2021 IECC standards raise the quality bar for housing in Kansas City, and with our experienced in-house architecture and build teams, we deliver a hassle-free experience for homeowners, from design to permitting to moving in.”

Why Partner with a Design + Build Firm

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Sat, 11 May 2024 00:32:35 GMT

Why Partner with a Builder that Offers In-House Architecture?

At Kala, our mission is to build high-performance homes that deliver unparalleled comfort, health, durability, and sustainability. As such, we’re constantly striving to improve our processes and find ways to better serve our customers, who are the lifeblood of our business.

With this in mind, in 2023 we made a significant shift by bringing on a team of in-house architects and designers.

For years, we’ve worked closely with some of the most talented architects in the Midwest to bring Kansas City-area homebuyers designs that balance beauty and practicality, and we still do. Despite all parties doing their due diligence, the more groups involved in a building project, the more opportunities for communication challenges and complexities throughout the process. There can also be a disconnect in the early stages due to a client’s expectations, an architect’s intentions, and the builder’s realities on the job site becoming misaligned. While the traditional design-bid-build model does work, we’ve found that bringing architecture in-house, we are able to better serve our customers and our mission.

A One-Stop Shop for Design and Build

By creating a seamless, end-to-end design and build process, we’ve finally overcome these obstacles. Adding in-house architecture means that from the moment a new customer calls with an inquiry about a new build or remodel project, our team can guide them every step of the way on the building journey. From the early discovery meetings where we find out what you most want in your next home to what the indoor and outdoor living spaces will look like to each construction phase, you will have a single point of contact.

This ensures that communication is clearer, faster, and more responsive than if you were using multiple companies. There is also more continuity and consistency, as our team of experts are all onsite and under one roof. While certain external factors like materials availability and subcontractors’ schedules can always change, the design-build approach also reduces the duration of the project so that you can move into the best home you will ever own sooner.

Creating a Better Home Building Experience

And along the way, you will have a great experience during which you frequently have meetings with our architect, estimating team, project manager, and other experienced team members. Bringing design and build together accomplishes our goal of giving you the high-performance home you’ve always wanted in a way that’s as smooth and efficient as possible.

How Passive House Building Tackles Seasonal Allergies

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 16:52:32 GMT

How Passive House Building Tackles Seasonal Allergies

Runny nose. Headache. Sinus congestion. Tickly throat. If any of these symptoms sound all too familiar, you’re probably one of the many people that struggle with exposure to grass, pollen, and other seasonal allergens. And while the warmer weather is encouraging you to get outside, peak allergy season might be deterring you. Let’s look at how a Passive House can help homeowners come off their allergy medicines and improve their health.

A 2024 poll conducted by YouGov and Yahoo found that 46 percent of respondents struggle with seasonal allergies, and for 22 percent of these, it was serious enough to miss some school or work. So it’s no wonder that 72 percent of those surveyed say they take prescription or over the counter medication. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America estimates that this amounts to annual spending of three to four billion dollars.

If you’re already hoping for the end of peak allergy season, you might be waiting awhile. A study that reviewed pollen data from 60 sites across the US found that it’s starting sooner and lasting up to 20 days longer with increasing temperatures leading to an extended growing and blooming season for certain crops, trees, and grass. The Kansas City Beacon noted that the Midwest is one of the regions impacted most, with Wichita rated as the seasonal allergy capital of the entire country.

Heading home should provide some kind of respite from allergens, air pollution, and wildfire smoke. Yet the EPA states that while such outdoor irritants might make us think we’re better off inside, “the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher” in our houses and workplaces. This is an issue because according to data from the American Time Use Survey , we spend 62 percent of our waking time at home, up from 50 percent in 2019, and the number of remote work days has increased by 142 percent.

Achieving an Airtight Building Envelope

While most homes appear to be fully enclosed, the use of low-grade building materials and the shortcuts taken on many job sites actually mean that they are far from airtight. Gaps and cracks in the wall assembly, foundation, flooring, and other areas can allow even more air to get in than if you left a window or door open. Air transfer also occurs between openings in the cooler lower and warmer upper floors of the home, increasing the intrusion of outdoor air. This is bad news if you’re trying to recover from allergy symptoms, as the very irritants causing the issue are leaking into your home.

Fortunately, Passive House principles – the most rigorous green building standard – offer hope. High-performance builders like Kala – the only design and build firm dedicated to building to Passive House standards in Kansas City - understand that for air to be effectively managed inside a home, it must be regulated with an air control layer. This minimizes excess air flow and reduces the number and size of gaps, creating an airtight building envelope that encompasses all six sides of the home.

To earn Passive House certification from Phius, a builder must schedule a blower door test . This assesses the pressure differential between the inside and outside and the rate of airflow. When combined with the interior volume, these metrics indicate how airtight the home is. In a regular new construction home, there are three to 10 changes per hour, whereas a Passive House must have 0.6 or less. In other words, a Kala home is much more airtight , ensuring that outdoor allergens don’t intrude on your living space.

Coming Off Allergy Meds

Morgen Govindan, a physician whose family built a high-performing home with Kala in Overland Park, Kansas, noted the contrast between the air quality in it and a previous residence. “I can definitely tell a difference – when I come inside, I breathe easier,” she said. “When we were moving, every time we went back to our previous house, I would sneeze uncontrollably and feel terrible. And then we'd come back here, and I’d be fine. Our kids are off their allergy meds too.”

Elizabeth Foote, for whom Kala built a home to Passive House standards in Kansas City’s West Plaza neighborhood , noted that the air control layer doesn’t just improve allergy symptoms, but also increases comfort and sustainability .

“That goes back to the level of construction and all the thought that went into the envelope of the house,” she said. “Kala put in all kinds of insulation, and we had an air barrier installed to eliminate any potential gaps or leaks. We’ve probably reduced our electric bill by half.”

Creating an Allergy-Free Sanctuary

When you’re seeking refuge from grass and pollen, you’d expect to be able to close the windows and doors and keep them out. However, in a typical home, low-grade glass, budget hardware, improper sealing, and poor insulation undermine this premise. Even when they’re shut, windows and doors can still allow allergens to seep in.

In contrast, a high-performance builder like Kala uses triple-pane, gas-filled glazing , premium hardware, tight sealing, and expert installation. This ensures that all windows and doors provide the kind of barrier that you’d hope for, keeping outdoor allergens away when they’re shut so you can breathe easier.

Elizabeth Foote’s husband, Kyle, has noticed a significant difference from previous houses when he’s inside with windows and doors closed. “I have seasonal allergies and when the house is closed up, it's fine,” he said.

Breathing Fresh, Filtered, Allergy-Free Air

Another reason that the Footes are finding their indoor air quality to be better is that the home is ventilated differently. In a regular home, air conditioning combined with the cracks in the envelope allow for allergens to infiltrate the home, and are spread through the entire house.

Since a Passive House is essentially airtight, an ERV system is utilized to bring in fresh, filtered, allergy-free air and gently circulate it throughout the home. It also takes stale air out, removing allergens, pollutants, pet hair and dander, and other irritants that could cause or worsen health issues.

“As far as air quality, it's superior,” Elizabeth Foote said. “We have the ERV system that runs constantly and then we have the HVAC that works very efficiently for this house.”

Morgen Govindan’s husband Sush, who is a pulmonary physician, agrees that the superior air control, continuous ventilation, and high-performance windows and doors in their Kala home have significantly improved the family’s allergy issues.

“I have a prescription medication that I take for asthma and allergies,” he said. “It was probably something to do with the rental house we were living in, where the air quality was substantially worse. Now, I can go a period of time without the medications and still be okay. I think that's somewhat related to the way the house is built and the air filtration that's in it. Our kids have stopped using their nasal sprays. It has definitely made a difference.”

To discover more about how Kala can build you a healthy home, contact us today .

How Passive House Building Redefines Sustainability

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 17:44:34 GMT

Energy Star. LEED. SMaRT. These are just three of the ever-increasing number of green home certifications. Then there are those that cover certain building components, like WaterSense for low-flow sinks, showers, and bathtubs. It’s clear that more than ever before, discerning buyers are looking for a builder who shares their values and commitment to reducing environmental impact. In this article, we’ll explore how Passive House standards go above and beyond on sustainability.

Many green builders focus on only one element of sustainability, such as using responsibly-sourced wood or non-toxic paint, high-efficiency appliances, or active solar panels. A Passive House-certified company like Kala combines all of these and then some, also adding passive solar, continuous insulation, and an airtight wall assembly into the mix. By controlling bulk water, vapor, air, and thermal conductivity, a Passive House reduces the amount of energy it takes to keep every inch of the interior at a consistent temperature and humidity level year-round.

Staying Comfortable, Efficiently

In a world with rising energy prices and temperatures fluctuating rapidly, it’s beneficial to your wallet and the planet to heat and cool your home in the most efficient way possible. A Passive House is designed to do just that. We design our houses to use as little energy as possible - the cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use. But it goes far beyond cost savings. When designing a Passive House, things like solar orientation, continuous insulation, and an airtight envelope are all planned out to ensure the building sips energy, rather than chugging it like a traditionally built home. All of this is done so that the HVAC system has to work as little as possible to maintain a comfortable temperature year round.

Passive House requires the plans for the project to be evaluated by a certified third-party inspector, who continues their assessment throughout the entire construction process to ensure that the claimed ratings jive with reality. This means that the homeowner can be confident they’re moving into the most sustainable home anywhere in the world.

Supporting Family Values

When Sush and Morgen Govindan decided to team up with Kala to build a high-performance home in Overland Park, Kansas , they were determined that their new house would reflect their family’s strong values and priorities instead of choosing superficial aims. “We wanted to be able to tell our kids that we didn’t build this house because we needed things to look a certain way, have a bathroom over here, or have a certain square footage,” Morgen said. “We built this house because we care about the environment, and we want a home that's healthy for our family and their future. We feel good about what we ended up investing in.”

As they went through Kala’s unique, end-to-end design-and-build process, the Govindans realized that there was a better way to build a home that was a better fit for their family’s principles than conventional construction. They also wanted to inspire family and friends. “Learning about Passive House building helped us understand what the value of sustainability is,” Sush said. “We wanted to show the people in our life what sustainable living can look like and also demonstrate to our kids that it’s not just a word – it’s important that we try to live this way.”

Combining Sustainability and Durability

When they were evaluating high-performance home builders in the greater Kansas City area, Nic Zweifel and Pooja Bhadbhade sought a partner with the proven expertise to not only design a sustainable dwelling, but also turn their dream into a reality. The rigorous Phius evaluation process – which exceeds all other sustainability protocols in residential construction – provided them with the first certified Passive House in Missouri . It has a HERS rating of just 32 – 68 percent more efficient than the average green home using 80 to 90 percent less energy than a typical Kansas City house.

“At a local TED Talk, an entrepreneur said, ‘The best way to sustain something is to create and maintain it in a way that people love it,’” Nic said. “This house was an opportunity for us to make our own kind of impact. If we could do it in a way where this home is here in 100 years and build something worth caring about, then that's going to be way better than purchasing perhaps a product that will maybe not exist in 50 years. We put our best foot forward, and hopefully, it will be around for a long time and use a lot less operational energy.”

To learn more about how Kala can build you the most sustainable home imaginable, contact us today.

How Passive House Building Redefines Comfort

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:54:08 GMT

During the first post in this series , we looked at how Passive House building standards are redefining what a luxury home looks and feels like. Now in this new installment, let’s explore how partnering with an experienced, caring, and committed builder can also give you the kind of comfort you’ve always dreamed of having in a home.

Creating Calm

When looking for a better family home, Sush and Morgen Govindan prioritized creating a relaxed and quiet environment for them, their two children, and guests. They came to Kala to build a high-performance house in Overland Park, Kansas that could deliver these results.

“Our son was born while we were in our old rental house, and we couldn’t sleep train him,” Morgen said. “It might have been that the house was really loud, but he sleeps through the night now, and during storms, our kids don’t wake up. There was a band playing in the park across the street when we were bathing them, and we kept hearing a faint sound. We opened the windows, and all the noise came in.”

“You can't hear anything – it’s amazing,” Sush added. “When we were anywhere else, Fourth of July was a nightmare with our kids because they would hear the fireworks and wake up. This house is so quiet. We didn’t think there were dogs in the neighborhood because we never hear them, but it turns out there are two across the street that bark all the time. You walk into the house and it’s like there’s nothing going on. That’s really nice.”

Heating & Cooling Quietly

Previously, Nic Zweifel and Pooja Bhadbhade lived in a condo in Kansas City’s Power & Light District. While it’s a desirable, vibrant area that put them just steps away from live music, excellent dining, and other attractions, that home also had drawbacks. “You couldn’t beat the location, we had enough space, and we loved the views, but it just wasn’t comfortable,” Nic said. “The air conditioner was on full blast all the time because no matter what temperature we wanted it, it had to work hard to keep it there, so there was always background noise.”

Unlike a traditional home that relies heavily on an HVAC system noisily going into high gear to provide heat in the winter and cooling in the hot and humid Midwest summer, a Passive House uses a heat pump and whisper-quiet ERV system to maintain a pleasant temperature year round. “The one thing I find most valuable is the comfort of the home,” Pooja said . “Ever since we've built this house, we'll go stay somewhere and I’ll tell Nic, ‘Gosh, I can appreciate the comfort of our home, the steadiness of the temperature, and how it doesn’t fluctuate.’ It can be the dead of winter and I’ll walk around in shorts and a t-shirt and be totally fine and comfortable.”

Keeping Cool in Summer and Warm in Winter

The efficient heating and cooling systems in a high-performance home not only operate quietly, but also maintain a comfortable temperature and humidity level that doesn’t vary during extreme weather or as seasons change. “There’s very little variability when you walk up or downstairs,” Morgen said . “In the summer, it makes a big difference that it’s not significantly hotter upstairs. It’s just consistent throughout.”

“The feedback that we get from guests is that it’s very quiet and comfortable,” Sush added. “We’ve hardly had to adjust the thermostat at all – I’ve only touched it three times.”

Sometimes comfort is an overall feeling of contentment and a reflection of how well your living space matches your lifestyle. “This is the home that fits us and so much of our life happens here,” Sush said. “You have houses that you manage, and some you just live in. Others add to you and help you carry out your values. This home does that, and it has become a part of us.”

To enjoy the comfort, sustainability, durability, and health that only a high-performance build can deliver, contact us today and a real human will get back to you about your home project.

How Passive House Building Redefines Durability

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:23:51 GMT

Passive House Redefines Durability

Hands up if you love expensive house repairs! Oh look, no takers. Only a fool would welcome the kind of costly, disruptive projects that regular home ownership often necessitates, and the problems keep coming the more the dwelling ages. No wonder the average American homeowner moves every seven years. By that point, their patience is exhausted and bank balance drained enough to indicate that starting over is the best way forward, only for the pattern to perpetuate. Let’s look at how Passive House construction breaks this cycle.

Designing and building with durability in mind is the exception to the norm in today’s construction industry. In Europe and other parts of the world, it’s quite common to see homes built hundreds of years ago that are still standing and perfectly inhabitable. This is the exact opposite of the cheap, throwaway builds littering American suburbs. Sure, they might have gleaming countertops, advanced technology, and fancy finishes, but underneath the gloss, many stick-built homes are literally wasting away mere years after their buyers move in.

Why Traditionally Built Homes Break Down

One of the main reasons for this is that a conventional home fails to adequately manage the elements that will degrade and eventually destroy it from the inside and outside. Much like pain in someone that’s injured, there are indicators that this might be underway in your current home. Leaks, hot and cold spots, and draughts are all tell-tale signs that all was not well with the construction process.

In stark contrast, Passive House standards mandate a better quality build from the ground up and roof down. Integrated water, thermal, air, and vapor control layers ensure that the inside of the home is a refuge from the extremes of the outdoor environment. The resilience of a Passive House starts by situating it in the perfect place on the site.

Building Better for Longer

When the foundation is poured for a Passive House, it isn’t backfilled for a month so that the concrete can cure properly. Internal and external drain tiles, a sump pump with battery backup, a dimple board, and channels in the wall assembly are all designed to take water down, out, and away as efficiently as possible. A Phius-certified builder like Kala also considers roof angles and overhangs, guttering and downspouts, and other elements that keep bulk water out.

Similarly, vapor is managed by taking the climate zone that the home is being built in into account. This provides a desired permeability and informs the creation of a six-sided building envelope (the foundation, roof/attic, and four walls) that is airtight but allows sufficient vapor to flow to avoid the moisture buildup that eventually leads to mildew and mold.

Windows and doors are two other common fail points that are susceptible to weather and other destructive elements. In a Passive House, windows with exemplary U- values and SHGC and premium doors with high-end hardware are installed by master craftsmen. This helps keep water at bay and prevents excessive vapor or air from leaking in and out.

“We really cared about the build quality but not necessarily the finishes or how fancy it was,” said Kala customer Morgen , who built a high-performance home at 67th Terrace in Overland Park, Kansas. “We didn't want to spend a lot of money on things that our kids could tear down. I'm very thankful that we went with the people that Kala suggested because not only was their work incredibly high quality, but they were also nice through the process. We have no doubt that everything is well built and solid, and we’re very thankful for that.”

Leaving a Lasting Legacy

Almost always when someone leaves a house to a family member in their will, they are trying to help the beneficiary. But sadly, being bequeathed a regular home can be more trouble than it's worth, as many dwellings age so badly and the beneficiary might actually be inheriting a laundry list of costly repairs to rotting siding, leaky windows, cracked basement walls, and more. While a typically constructed home often breaks down within a decade, a Passive House is carefully crafted to endure for a century or more.

“It's not just about saving energy, but also building something that will last,” said Nic, who entrusted Kala with building him and his wife the first Phius-certified Passive House in Missouri in Kansas City’s historic Beacon Hill district. “There are simple things you can do every step of the way to make things last longer, like adding rain screens, using certain paint, and adding a metal roof that will allow us to install solar. We also thought of the mechanical systems as part of the enclosure. We had this intentionality of making sure that this home is going to be here for the long term.”

“When I think of sustainability, I think of strength,” added Nic’s wife, Pooja. “100 years from now, our house will probably still be standing and be in reasonable shape, because it’s strong.”

How Passive House Building Redefines Health

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Sat, 02 Mar 2024 17:04:13 GMT

Healthy Homes Redefined

Your home should be a haven. Somewhere you look forward to returning to time and time again because it provides sanctuary against the elements. And yet for many of us, our houses are part of the problem. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – which estimates that the typical American spends 93 percent of their time indoors – in-home quality is actually worse than it is outside, as reported in a recent New York Times article . Here’s how a Passive House bucks this trend and facilitates better wellbeing.

Combating Allergies and Air Quality Issues

In most traditional houses, pollutants, allergens, dust, and other irritants flow in from the outside. The air control layer in a Passive House filters these out, utilizing an ERV to supply continuous fresh air. This was a key decision point to physicians Morgen and Sush when they chose Kala to build their high-performance home in Overland Park, Kansas .

“We wanted a house that was healthy because working in the medical profession, we know that environmental and home exposures are a massive player in wellbeing,” Sush said. “I have prescription medication that I take for asthma and allergies. It was probably something to do with the rental house we were living in, where the air quality was substantially worse. Now, I can go for a period of time without the medications and still be okay. I think that's somewhat related to the way the house is built and the air filtration that's in it.”

In their previous houses, the homeowners felt that the poorly built structure could be contributing to their family’s health challenges. This has changed for the better since they moved into their new Kala home.

“I can definitely tell a difference – when I come inside, I breathe easier,” Morgen said. “When we were moving, every time we went back to our previous house, I would sneeze uncontrollably and feel terrible. And then we'd come back here, and I’d be fine. Our kids are off their allergy meds too.”

Sleeping Soundly and Feeling Better

The gentle circulation of fresh, clean air in PoojaNic’s Beacon Hill Passive House (the first of its kind in the entire state of Missouri) offers a refuge from the hustle and bustle of Kansas City around the clock. The ERV has taken the place of a typical air conditioner and is both quieter, more efficient, and better at filtering out particles that compromise health.

“I’m sleeping better, which is important for mental and physical health and very valuable to me,” Pooja said. “Being in the healthcare field, I’ve seen diseases that can occur because of air pollution, and it can cause quality of life issues. So when you have the option to do something that’s going to be healthier, it makes sense to do that. Our son is as healthy as he can be in the environment that we control.”

When it comes to his and Pooja’s health, Nic realizes that they aren’t just trying to be healthier today or tomorrow but over the long haul. He believes that building a Passive House with Kala was not only a sound fiscal decision, but also a wise investment in his family’s health. “The first day you skip brushing your teeth, it's not like they’re going to start rotting, but you’ve got to have consistent habits and make good decisions,” Nic said. “This home allows us to do that without thinking too much about it.”

Uniquely Durable + Beautiful Siding

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 21:17:06 GMT

Not Your Typical Siding

Our Prairie Village house is a perfect balance of high-performance and high-design. That goes into every aspect of the home: from the sub-slab insulation, the wall thickness, the continuous air barrier, to the ventilated rain screen, and even the siding on the home.

We recently finished installing NewTech Vertical siding over the rain screen on the second floor exterior and a portion of the first floor. This product is unique in that it’s made of a composite material traditionally used for decking. It doesn’t require painting or staining, and is remarkably durable, requires minimal maintenance, touch-ups, and repairs over time.

Wolfgang and his team at Clapper Creations LLC did a fantastic job on the installation.

How a Passive House Supports Your Values

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 22:41:58 GMT

A House That Supports Your Values

Passive Houses Enable Sustainability

When a Kansas City couple, Sush and Morgen, decided to build a new home , they looked for a builder whose high standards would create a home that synced with one of their family’s most significant core values. “Learning about passive homes helped us understand what the value of sustainability is,” Sush said. “We wanted to show the people in our life what sustainable living can look like and also show our kids that it’s not just a word – it’s important that we try to live this way.”

The combination of continuous insulation, an airtight building envelope, and high-performance windows and doors helps the family’s house stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. They’ve hardly had to adjust the thermostat in the 3+ years they have lived in their Kala home.

“Once we made the decision, it was really important to us that it was energy efficient,” Morgen said . “We didn't feel right about building something from scratch and not having it be sustainable. We built this house because we care about the environment, and we want a home that's healthy for our family and their future. We feel good about what we ended up investing in.”

Facilitating Community & Hospitality

The careful collaboration between a homebuyer, Passive House builder, and sustainability conscious architect creates a home that is also conducive to community, hospitality, and a full family life. Carefully planned outdoor and indoor environments and intentional transitions between the two enable guests to enjoy all that the house has to offer. Features like thoughtfully placed, high-performance windows allow family members, friends, and visitors to enjoy the view without getting too hot or cold even when the weather prevents them from venturing outside.

“We wanted to build community and hospitality, so we talked to David and Keith about different hosting areas outdoors and inside where people could feel like they're part of something, but also have their own spaces,” Sush said. “We had to do this with the environment in mind, like natural light coming in through higher efficiency windows, so we’re not having energy leak in and out. These concepts came together well in this house.”

The same features that reduce the homeowners at our 67th project’s environmental footprint and utility bills keep the inside of their home comfortable throughout every season. “You have houses that you manage, and some you just live in,” Sush said . “Others add to you and help you carry out your values. This home does that, and it has become a part of us.”

Spend Your Time How You Please

A Passive House, or even a near Passive House embodies the epitome of modern design and construction efficiency, enabling you to spend your time how you please. Built to rigorous standards that far exceed those of conventional buildings, a Passive House ouse incorporates high-quality materials and building science backed building techniques that are both sustainable and durable. This heightened construction quality significantly reduces the need for frequent repairs and maintenance that typically plague homeowners. As a result, owning a Passive House frees up time that would otherwise be spent on upkeep, allowing you to focus on what truly matters to you—whether that's pursuing hobbies, spending time with family, or simply enjoying the comfort and tranquility of your low-energy, high-performance living space.

Choosing a Partner Who Understands Your Priorities

A big part of building a durable, healthy, sustainable, and comfortable home is picking a partner that takes pride in their work, puts you first, and listens to what you value, so they can incorporate high-performance features that support this. When craftsmanship is combined with a solid relationship, you’re going to get the kind of home that demonstrates your priorities and exceeds your expectations.

“We have friends who just finished building a home, and they won’t even speak to their contractor,” a Kala homeowner recently said “Whereas we trusted Kala throughout the entire process and still trust them now. They’re a great group who care about people and what they do. The team really listened to us the whole way through and saw how we live our lives, so the house reflects what we care about and our values.”

Levi is Officially a Certified Passive House Builder!

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 19:27:07 GMT

Congrats to Levi Caraway on passing his Phius Certified Builder exam!

Back in September 2023 Levi flew out to Portland to attend a several day long training course held by Phius. The Certified Passive House Builder (CPHB) training is a program geared toward construction professionals wanting to take their building science knowledge to the next level. As a builder at Kala, Levi oversees new home construction and remodeling projects ensuring they are moving along smoothly and meet the Kala standard every step of the way.

The CPHB course and exam covered several aspects of building science, including general building science fundamentals, the high-performance building enclosure, mechanical systems, airtightness detailing, project and site management, and cost optimizations.

It's not an easy exam to pass, so help us congratulate Levi on this accomplishment!

The Powerful Impact of a High Performance Home

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Sat, 14 Oct 2023 02:46:33 GMT

Operational vs Embodied Carbon

TLDR: Living in a high-performance home is the most impactful thing you can personally do to create a positive impact on the planet’s health and is more substantial than many realize.

Global climate science is constantly gathering additional data and refining it into more meaningful insight. Recently Architecture2030 compiled data from the International Energy Agency and Statista that helps clarify the impact of lowering the operational carbon footprint of the built environment.

The salient point is that the built environment accounts for approximately 42% of global carbon emissions and is broken into three categories - 1) infrastructure such as road, dams, bridges, etc., 2) the process of constructing buildings, and, 3) operating buildings over time. Infrastructure and building construction are estimated to account for 7.3% and 7.7% respectively of global emissions. This estimated 15% of global carbon emissions is due in large part to concrete, steel, aluminum used in construction, and all the energy expended to construct infrastructure and buildings.

The elephant in the room, or climate as it were, is building operations which account for 27.3% of global emissions through lighting, heating, and cooling. It is noteworthy that this actually exceeds the carbon footprint of the transportation sector by a wide margin and is statistically equivalent to industrial production as a source of CO2 emissions.

So why does a Kala house matter?

First, a typical Kala building reduces the energy needs for heating, cooling, hot water, and lighting by up to 80%. Savings show up immediately in the form of lower energy costs which accumulate over the life of the building, and grow as energy costs rise. After all, the cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use and never have to pay for. What is also important to note is that 80% reduction is on the most carbon intensive component of the overall CO2 emission mix.

Second, because the water, thermal, air, and vapor control layers protect the structure from decay, a Kala building costs a fraction to maintain and lasts 2-3 times longer than a code-compliant structure, pushing the need to incur additional embodied carbon debt out by decades if not longer. This reduces the embodied energy GWP of a building site by up to 50% simply by ensuring a structure is durable.

In short, a Kala building impacts operational and embodied carbon by as much as 80% and 50% respectively. Combined with the superior comfort and health benefits that come from living or working in a Kala building, it is hard to justify building any other way.

We encourage you to explore architecture2030 to learn more about how your decision to build a high-performance Kala building can impact your well-being and the environment. And, of course, we would love to speak with you about how affordable it can be to do it.

Early Foundation Details

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 16:03:06 GMT

Enhancing Durability: Early Foundation Details

We have officially broken ground on a new high-performance, near passive house, in Leawood, Kansas.

When building high performance, the devil is truly in the details. After pouring the footings, we took an extra step you don't often see when building new custom homes. We've added a capillary break at the top of our footings to keep moisture at bay, ensuring top-notch performance and long term durability. It's such a simple step that can make a long term difference in the durability of a new home.

This capillary break is seamlessly applied in liquid form, facilitating a smooth and uniform coating across the rough concrete surface. After application the material then cures to form a tough elastomeric membrane. The cured product is excellent at resisting air and moisture transmission through the membrane. It’s all about the details.

These photos were taken early on in the process - the guys came back in with a brush to apply the product around the rebar to completely isolate the footings.

Minimizing Risk Associated with a Flat Roof

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 20:34:49 GMT

Thinking Through a Flat Roof

The Prairie Village High Performance Home features an abundance of natural light, and a timeless yet modern design that integrates the indoors and outdoors.

Beyond Aesthetics

This home is the perfect example of high design meeting high performance. SixTwentyOne and Kali Buchanan Interior Design created a timeless design that will be an oasis for this active family. A truly eye-catching element of the Prairie Village High Performance Home is the flat roof. Our job was to make sure that the design would stand the test of time.

While flat roofs offer a sleek, modern appeal they also cause concerns with long term durability.

Combating Condesation

A major issue that can arise with flat roofs is condensation forming on the sheathing layer. The buildup of condensation can lead to mold, mildew, and decay of building materials. In order to ensure durability, we had to come up with a plan to keep the sheathing layer warm so it doesn’t run the risk of hitting the dew point and producing condensation.

Our strategy to combat condensation forming on the sheathing layer of the flat roof was a combination of air sealing, foam, open and closed cell insulation.

A general rule of thumb is that 30-35% of the R-Value should come from closed cell insulation when surrounding the roof sheathing. Vapor can move through open cell insulation but not through closed cell. Isolating the sheathing layer with foam on top and closed cell insulation on bottom will allow vapor to make it only so far into the assembly and then effectively dry out. This is important in any roof style, but especially important in a flat roof because we don’t have gravity on our side helping to drain water. While there is a drainage strategy implemented in the flat roof design, the roof will inevitably stay wet longer than a traditional roof causing a more dramatic temperature difference between the top and bottom of the sheathing layer, which can lead to condensation if not insulated properly.

While there are likely many routes to solving a problem like this, we found that air sealing our roof sheathing, using exterior foam, along with two inches of closed cell and six inches of open cell insulation was the most cost effective way to mitigate the risk of condensation on the flat roof for this project.

Setting the Stage: Footings at the Leawood High Performance Home

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 17:42:02 GMT

We’re in the initial phases of construction for a new custom high-performance home in Leawood, Kansas. While these early steps in the construction process may not seem as glamorous as others, starting off on the right foot, with a strong foundation, is arguably one of the most important steps to get right.

ABI Corporation, a concrete foundation company based in Lee’s Summit, handled the execution of the footings and foundation for this project.

Crafted from concrete and reinforced with rebar, poured into an excavated trench, footings are an essential piece of the foundation system. The footings ensure durability and stability as they distribute the weight of the structure evenly, preventing settling.

Next steps: capillary break! Follow along to see this home continue to take shape.

Kala Attends the 2023 Climate Action Summit

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:15:22 GMT

2023 Climate Action Summit

Several members of the Kala team attended the 2023 Climate Action Summit at Rockhurst University this past Saturday.

Sporting matching band tour inspired t-shirts, the team was easy to spot among the 600 attendees. The front of the shirt read "Fat Kala walls you make the burnin' world cool down." An ode to the late 70s anthem. The back of the shirt lists out the homes Kala has built and plans to build from 2012-2024.

Building Better Buildings

The afternoon reached its peak when a Kala homeowner took part in a panel discussion.

Jeremy Knoll from BNIM moderated the discussion, joined by Ashley Eusey from Hoefer Welker, Danny Roberson from Arnold Development Group, and Sush Govindan, a proud Kala homeowner.

While such events typically feature insights from industry professionals, gaining firsthand wisdom from someone who has lived in a high-performance home provided a truly enlightening perspective.

Dramatically Different Walls

Kala participated in the lunch Expo, where we setup a table and two sample walls. The walls were used as a visual to explain the core differences in a Kala home compared to a traditional new home. One wall sample was built to code standard and the other was a Kala high performance wall. Below Joe Nickels is shown explaining the differences in the "fat Kala wall" to an attendee.

How Passive House Building Redefines Luxury and Value

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 19:58:14 GMT

Redefining Luxury with Passive House Principles

As soon as suburban neighborhoods started springing up in the 1950s, the ways that American homeowners defined luxury and value changed. While the architectural design of folks like Frank Lloyd Wright continued to be appreciated, the craftsmanship that was at the heart of house building beforehand became an afterthought as people pursued bigger floor plans and high-end finishes. Passive House construction offers a different way to define both luxury and value, combining the best of building science and a throwback to the days when homes were built to last .

Are Bigger Houses Better?

One of the most common ways to define the luxury of a home is its square footage. The average size of a new single-family home ballooned from 909 square feet in 1949 to 2,480 in 2021, according to an article by American Home Shield . While this increase is staggering, the biggest issue is the plethora of McMansions, homes over 4,000 sqft that aren't built to last. Assembly line-like construction methods, building on cheaper land away from traditional city and town centers, and the widespread use of low-end, mass-produced materials allowed builders to offer larger houses at relatively low prices. A big-box supermarket mentality of getting as many square feet as possible for the least amount of money became the definition of “value” for many homebuyers in suburbs and beyond.

This square footage arms race is a factor at the upper end of the housing market too. Though recent rises in interest rates and signs of an economic downturn have slowed home sales, the past few years have seen an upward trend in luxury home sales overall. Houses priced between $750,000 and $1 million increased by 66 percent from February 2020 to 2021, while those costing over a million went up by 81 percent in the same period, according to National Association of Realtors statistics included in a story in USA Today .

“As wealthy Americans took advantage of cheap mortgages, increased savings and the ability to work from home during the pandemic, their demand for bigger homes and million-dollar listings outpaced sales of homes across all other price ranges,” the writer stated.

Fancy Finishes vs Quality Construction

The USA Today article defined “luxury” purely by the price point of homes, even though this varies significantly between different cities and states across the country. A million dollars might buy you a mansion in the rural South, whereas you’d be stuck condo shopping for the same amount in the pricey New York or San Francisco markets. Nevertheless, it seems that if someone pays a lot for their house, it’s considered to be a luxury purchase, regardless of how well it’s constructed or how long it’s designed to last.

Another way that builders have convinced customers that they’re getting a luxury home is by offering options that show well in listing photos and walkthroughs, whether that’s granite and quartz countertops, high-end appliances, and, more recently, tech features like app-controlled thermostats and video-equipped doorbells.

There’s nothing wrong with such features, but all too often, they’re prioritized over construction quality. The major differentiators in a Passive House happen before the finishes are installed. While fancy finishes can certainly impact the experience of a home, the details of a high performance wall can give real, concrete improvements in your overall quality of life.

The growth of the home repair industry into a multibillion-dollar market illustrates that as square footage has risen and options have become more sophisticated, build quality has unfortunately declined.

The Luxury of Comfort and Health

The progression of high-performance home building offers a different way to define both luxury and value. This starts with providing all-day, year-round comfort by keeping every room of the home at a pleasant temperature and humidity level. In a regular house, this requires noisy, inefficient furnaces and air conditioners to run constantly, but in a Passive House, it’s accomplished silently and efficiently with heat pumps and an ERV system.

A true luxury home should also help your family stay healthy . Passive ventilation brings fresh, filtered air in and takes pollutants, pet dander, and allergens out. This increases air quality and alleviates allergy and asthma symptoms . The use of non-toxic materials promotes a healthier indoor environment. While your cozy haven is separated from external elements and noise by thick, continuously insulated walls, a Passive House also connects you to the outdoors through thoughtfully placed, south-facing windows. A cliché of luxury is a million-dollar mountain or ocean view, but in high-performance construction, every home is oriented to take full advantage of whatever natural surroundings your location offers and welcome in ample natural light.

Prioritizing Sustainability and Durability

In recent years, electric vehicles have become must-have items because they’re exquisitely designed and better for the planet. So why not also prioritize beauty and sustainability in your home ? Passive House principles such as an air-sealed and watertight building envelope, high-performance glazing, and thermal regulation enable you to heat, cool, and power your home with a fraction of the energy required by a traditional home. This reduces both your environmental impact and protects you from rising utility bills .

A luxury home shouldn’t just look good the day you move in, but also age well over the years. Passive House standards ensure a more durable dwelling that lowers the cost of ownership by reducing maintenance expenses and lasting for decades. This combination of comfort, health, sustainability, and durability should be the new definition of value and luxury. A high-performance, better-built home provides more peace of mind and greater quality of life than square footage or superficial finishes alone ever could.

Can You Open the Windows in a Passive House?

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 20:54:37 GMT

Can You Open the Windows in a Passive House? (And Other Things to Know about High-Performance Glazing)

Building homes with cheap materials to sloppy standards has been the norm for so long now that the principles of Passive House construction make it hard to do an apples-to-apples comparison, leading to many misconceptions. In this post, we’ll answer one of the most common questions about Passive House building and then share why it’s related to an important element of a durable, comfortable, healthy, and sustainable home.

First Things First: What Does Glazing Mean?

Glazing refers to the glass technology used in windows. Consider the lenses in a pair of eyeglasses. The piece of glass is considered a lens once it’s placed within the frames of the glasses. In high-performance windows we utilize what is called an insulated glazing unit (IGU) which consists of the actual glass and fill, which is typically a noble gas used to insulate between the panes of glass.

Do I Need to Keep Windows Shut in a Passive House?

Airtightness is a key Passive House principle . To be able to control airflow in a home, you first have to enclose it, which requires creating a tightly sealed building envelope around the entire structure. This is why some people think you have to leave the windows sealed shut, as they believe opening them would break that airtight barrier between the indoors and outdoors. But that’s not actually true – you can open the windows in a Passive House. Certainly, this will let air in and out, but it’s temporary and done in an intentional way.

How does Airflow work in a Passive House?

That being said, you might not need to open your windows anywhere near as often if you build a Passive House. In a conventional home, doing so is the easiest way to let odors, mustiness, and fumes out and bring outside air in. It also allows you to connect with the outdoors when the weather is nice and the temperature is pleasant. In a Passive House, continual ventilation is always removing cooking fumes out of the kitchen, steam from bathrooms, and other kinds of stale air from the rest of the home.

Simultaneously, fresh, filtered air that’s free from allergens, pollutants, and irritants is being brought in.

While you still might want to feel the sensation of a nice breeze blowing through an open window sometimes, you won’t need to do so as often as you’re already enjoying refreshingly clean air inside. The mechanical systems in a Passive House also keep the temperature and humidity levels constant year-round, so opening windows isn’t necessary to experience relief during a stifling summer.

Why Do Windows Help with Temperature Control in a Passive House?

The windows in a Passive House help contribute to temperature and moisture regulation. Before your project even begins, your architect and builder will orient the home optimally on the site so that it’s south facing with thoughtfully placed windows. This maximizes the benefits of passive solar (i.e., capturing the sun’s heat energy and retaining some of this solar gain) to help warm the house in the winter, while providing ample daylight the rest of the year without overheating the home. This is complemented by carefully planned shading.

What’s Different About the Windows in a Passive House?

Another way that windows help keep efficiency high and bills low in a Passive House is by contributing to the integrity of the building envelope. In traditional homes, windows are a typical fail point that let more and more air and moisture in as they degrade over time. When combined with a lack of insulation, thermal bridges, and permeable walls, this leads to seasonal temperature swings that force your HVAC system to work overtime, drastically increasing energy use and utility costs.

Whereas in a Passive House, high-performance glazing features such as triple-glazed glass panes, insulated frames, and resilient flashing eliminate hot and cold spots and prevent excess air, heat, and moisture flowing in and out. Expert installers ensure that each window is correctly placed, perfectly sized, and tightly sealed.

When combined with well-crafted framing, insulated walls, foundation, and roof space and the elimination of thermal bridging, high-end windows help maintain a comfortable indoor environment at all times, which only needs to be subtly adjusted by the ERV (energy recovery ventilator) system that’s much more efficient and adaptive than standard HVAC. This reduces the environmental footprint of the home and utility costs. Premium glazing is also more durable, so it lasts longer, keeps maintenance costs down, and avoids the need for costly replacements.

So if you decide to build a Passive House or do a high-performance retrofit of your current home, go ahead and open the windows. And now you know how they can also keep warmth in during winter and out in summer, bring in natural light without hot or cold spots, and contribute to high efficiency and low utility bills.

& We're Digging!

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 19:23:48 GMT

Shovels in the ground!

It may not look like much yet, but this is just the beginning. We have officially broken ground on a new custom high-performance home in Leawood. This one is a partnership with SixTwentyOne Architecture and will certainly be a fun one to watch come to life.

A Quiet Place

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 22:01:17 GMT

How a Passive House Creates Calm and Minimizes Noise

Keeping Unwanted Sounds Out

In a regular home, the walls are thin and often poorly insulated so the aforementioned noises can sneak in unbidden at all hours. Not to mention the noisy intrusion of seasonal storms, loud holiday celebrations, and periodic roadwork. All this is an inconvenience during the day and can interfere with your sleep at night, which is particularly disruptive if you have sleep problems or young children who are easily woken.

A Passive House includes seals that prevent air and moisture from leaking in, and has thick walls filled with plentiful insulation. This not only reduces heating and cooling costs, but also keeps barking dogs, car alarms, and other annoyances from disturbing you while you’re trying to relax indoors. In most homes, doors and windows allow both drafts and outdoor sounds to seep in, but because these feature more premium materials and are carefully installed by expert craftspeople in a Passive House, one of the first things new homeowners notice is how quiet their new residence is. Then they start to see how much better their family sleeps now that noise is a non-issue.

No More Noisy HVAC

Another way that Passive House building creates a calmer, quieter atmosphere is by reducing the noise usually involved in seasonal heating and cooling. Using the principles of passive solar , heat energy from the sun is captured by a combination of thoughtful site orientation and large premium glazing. Airtight construction and ample, continuous insulation retain this sun-derived heat when it’s needed in the winter, reducing the amount of energy required to keep the home warm and cozy.

When it is necessary for mechanical systems to increase the indoor temperature, a heat pump sources this silently from the air or ground, rather than a noisy furnace kicking into high gear like in a traditional home. Similarly in the summer, the tightly sealed building envelope keeps outdoor heat and humidity at bay and preserves a comfortable living environment inside a Passive House. Instead of an air conditioner coming on at full blast if you want to nudge the temperature down a little, an intelligent, whisper-quiet ERV system circulates cool, fresh, filtered air throughout the home.

“The feedback that we get from guests is that it’s very quiet and comfortable,” Sush said.

We often think of comfort in a home as being all about nice furniture or fancy fixtures. But a Passive House redefines this term by minimizing indoor noise and keeping outdoor sounds where they belong. As a result, you can look forward to relaxing in a calm, quiet oasis every time you step through the front door, sleeping soundly at night, and living in peace.

Want to learn more about how your next home could be as quiet as it is energy efficient? Contact us today!

Why We Use Open Web Trusses

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 16:55:31 GMT

Open Web Trusses: They're More Than Just Structural

Utilizing open web trusses allows for better use out of the space between floors. The “open web” aspect of these trusses create a perfect space to integrate mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) between floors. Hiding MEP within the truss design gives us the opportunity to have higher ceilings because we don’t have to drop our ceilings for MEP integration.

Open web trusses have the ability to make large spans, lowering the amount of steel required on a job. They also require less drilling and notching for MEP trades, often leading to lower labor costs.

They provide a larger surface area to attach subfloor and are more consistently sized than dimensional lumber. Open web trusses lead to less squeaks with more glue applied to the surface, and less deflection (bounce), and in general the subfloor will lay flatter.

Precise Control Over the HVAC System

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 18:24:23 GMT

Next Level Mechanicals

Cable dampers aren’t something you often see in residential construction, but the Beacon Hill Passive House mechanical system design included cable dampers with convenient controls throughout the home for maximum comfort and efficiency.

Cable dampers are a mechanism that allows you to open/shut your heating and cooling system vents at specific areas of your home to manage the air flow to different rooms. Typical residential construction will have very minimal control over air flow from the HVAC system, in the form of a vent that has a knob to open/close and direct the air.

What are the benefits of cable dampers?

More precise control over the heating and cooling system
Ensures maximum comfort across the entire home
More efficient use of the system which save on monthly utility costs
Less use of the system which should increase the lifespan of the system
Flexibility to change the delivery of air overtime

Passive House Building Standards Explained

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 19:54:33 GMT

Passive House Building Standards Explained

In a recent post, we shared a brief overview of some of the leading green, energy efficiency, and high-performance construction certifications. To help you make a more informed choice for your next home build or renovation, this week’s article goes in depth on the principles behind Passive House building and the benefits they provide.

Where Did Passive House Construction Come From?

According to an article by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) , the energy crisis in the US and Canada prompted architects to investigate ways to make homes more efficient. This prompted the University of Illinois Small Homes Council to design what they called the Lo-Cal house in 1976. It used 60 percent less energy than conventional homes and informed the blueprints for a similar project – the Saskatchewan Energy Conservation House – which boasted even greater efficiency.

The first use of the term “passive house” might have been in 1982, when American physicist William Shurcliff used it to describe the benefits of using passive solar and thick insulation in his book The Saunders Shrewsbury House . But to find the origins of Passive House as it is today, we need to head a few thousand miles east across the Atlantic Ocean. With cheaper energy prices in the 80s, the momentum behind efficient, high-quality building in North America slowed, and it was left to Europe to reinvigorate it.

How Did Passivhaus Get from Germany to the US?

The catalyst was a May 1988 conversation between Dr. Wolfgang Feist from the Institute for Housing and the Environment in Germany and Professor Bo Adamson from Lund University in Sweden. Their vision was “to create a house which provided comfort, affordability, excellent air quality/ventilation, and reliable performance, without compromising on design,” per a blog post by HRV provider, Zehnder . This became a reality through a series of experiments that led to the development of the Kranichstein Passivhaus in Darmstadt, Germany in 1990. These four townhomes utilized 90 percent less energy than a typical house.

The project also prompted Feist to create the Passivhaus Institut (PHI) in 1996. This outlined a methodology for constructing both residential and commercial buildings to high Passivhaus standards that would ensure inhabitants’ comfort and health within structures that were sustainable and durable. While studying in Berlin, architecture student Katrin Klingenberg came across PHI and was captivated by this new approach to construction. Upon returning to the US, she built the first dwelling designed and constructed to Passivhaus standards in Urbana, Illinois in 2003 and co-founded the Ecological Construction Laboratory (e-co lab) with builder Mike Kernagis a year later. After proving the effectiveness of Passivhaus, they established the Passive House Institute United States (PHIUS) in 2007.

What are Passive Building Principles?

Passive House is the most rigorous of all energy-focused building standards. According to the PHIUS website , “Passive building is a set of design principles for attaining a rigorous level of energy efficiency while also creating comfortable indoor living spaces.” It outlines these as:

Thermal Control (High-Performance Enclosure + Thermal Bridge Elimination)

Designing an enclosure that’s free of thermal bridges removes cold spots on the inside of the home and reduces the risk of damp and mold in the walls. The building is also wrapped in thick, continuous insulation that retains heat when it’s cold outside and keeps the interior cool when the weather gets hot.

Benefits of thermal control

Maintain a consistent year-round temperature without HVAC systems running on high
Lower energy demands and monthly bills
Keep all areas of the house comfortable
Minimize maintenance and repair costs

Air Control (Airtightness + Balanced Ventilation w/ Heat & Moisture Recovery)

Passive buildings control air flow by sealing the entire enclosure. Airtightness increases durability and saves energy by minimizing loss of conditioned air and infiltration of outdoor air. Once air is enclosed, it can be controlled using continuous, balanced ventilation. This supplies fresh, filtered air through every inch of the home and exhausts stale air from the kitchen and bathrooms.

Benefits of air control

Reduce asthma and allergy symptoms
Achieve continual fresh air flow without running a noisy air conditioner
Prevent drafts and air leaks
Remove odors, fumes, and pet dander

Radiation Control (High-Performance Glazing + Shading & Daylighting)

Many homes struggle to control solar radiation, getting too hot or cold when you don’t want them to and failing to use energy from the sun when appropriate because of improper orientation. Passive building uses south-facing, high-performance windows and doors to capitalize on solar heat gain when it’s desirable. These are tightly sealed to prevent indoor air getting out and outdoor air leaking in. Thoughtful shading minimizes overheating during the cooling season, while capturing the sun’s energy to passively warm the home during the heating season.

Benefits of high performance windows

Reduce heating and cooling loads
Make it comfortable to be near windows in every season
Provide plenty of natural light and a visual connection to the outdoors
Eliminate temperature swings that increase energy costs

Moisture Control (Material Moisture + Air Humidity)

At Kala, we like to say that “ water finds a way ,” causing many of the most expensive home maintenance issues. Passive building provides moisture and vapor control with a high-performance enclosure that keeps water and air at bay with a ventilated rain screen, water-resistant barrier (WRB), and other moisture-proofing features. Efficient, whisper-quiet mechanical systems maintain safe and comfortable moisture levels no matter what the weather is doing.

Benefits of moisture control

Prevent mold and damp buildup
Minimize moisture-related maintenance costs
Avoid getting too humid in summer or dry in winter
Increase the lifespan of the home

The intertwining of these four basic principles leads way for the four control layers that ensure every Kala home is truly high performance. They all work together to create a home that is comfortable, healthy, durable, and sustainable.

High Performance Building Standards Explained

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 31 May 2023 15:14:17 GMT

Energy Efficient, Green, and High-Performance Building Standards Explained

If you’ve been looking into a high-performance home building or renovation project, you might well be baffled by the sheer number of certifications and standards out there competing for your attention. To help you sort through them, we’ve created this quick guide that gets past the jargon and gives you a brief overview of each so you can make more informed choices.

Passive House

Initially created as Passivhaus in Germany, Passive House is a set of standards that create healthy, sustainable, durable, and comfortable homes. Overseen by Phius in the US, Passive House principles emphasize airtightness, thermal control through a high-performance enclosure and thermal bridge elimination, and air control via balanced ventilation (with heat and moisture recovery). Passive House construction also requires radiation control with high-performance glazing and shading/daylighting (which can include passive solar ), plus moisture control.

Homes built to Passive House standards perform up to 85 percent better than traditional homes, last longer with lower maintenance, reduce energy use and utility bills , and offer greater wellbeing and comfort. Built to high construction standards, Passive House homes often check all the boxes for Energy Star, Net-Zero, and others on this list. The same cannot be said in reverse, as such certifications don’t require the use of Passive House principles.

LEED Certified

Created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is one of the longest-standing and most widely used green building certifications. Globally recognized as a gold standard for sustainability, LEED buildings must complete prerequisite requirements before a building project begins. The project team then selects from a list of criteria they want the house to be evaluated on, with the post-construction scorecard determining the level of certification achieved. LEED v4.1 is the latest standard for residential projects. Most LEED-certified homes use 20 to 30 percent less energy.

Energy Star

You’ve probably come across the Energy Star logo when shopping for new appliances. Did you know that it can also be applied to houses? Energy Star homes are certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They’re at least 15 percent more efficient than traditionally built options, thanks to better thermal enclosure, heating and cooling, water management and – you guessed it – more efficient appliances and lighting. Energy Star certified homes typically fetch six percent more when resold and can qualify buyers for Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEMs) .

HERS

Even with all these certifications, it can be hard to know how energy efficient a new home is compared to others on the market. That’s where HERS comes in. Created by Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET®), HERS is short for Home Energy Rating System. The HERS Index is a scale, and the lower the number, the better. After construction is complete a certified RESNET Home Energy Rater evaluates the energy efficiency of a house compared to a reference home that’s the same shape, size, and type. They then provide a relative performance score as a HERS Index number. The typical new home built to 2006 energy efficiency standards has a HERS rating of 100, while the average resale comes in at 130 (although it could be much higher). By comparison, a Kala project built to Passive House standards in Kansas City’s Beacon Hill neighborhood had a HERS rating of 32, making it 68 percent more efficient than the average new home . We’ve gone more in depth on HERS in another blog, click here to read more .

Living Building Challenge

Created by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the Living Building Challenge is divided into seven areas: place, water, energy, health and happiness, materials, equity, and beauty. These are then separated into a total of 20 imperatives. According to ILFI’s website , the fourth iteration of the Living Building Challenge – LBC 4.0 – aims to “Create buildings that generate more energy than they use, capture and treat all water on site, and are made using healthy materials.”

Net-Zero Energy or Energy Plus

A Net-Zero Energy (also known as (or Zero-Net Energy or ZNE) house utilizes renewable sources to produce as much energy as it uses in a year. This can sometimes extend to powering electric vehicles too. The State of California has outlined the ambitious aim of making all newly built homes conform to Net-Zero Energy standards by 2030. Per the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy , “A DOE Zero Energy Ready Home is a high-performance home that is so energy efficient that a renewable energy system could offset most or all the home's annual energy use.”

Energy Plus homes (aka Efficiency-Plus House or Plus-Energy House) are not merely self-sufficient, but actually create more energy from renewable sources like active solar than they use. This can be sold back to utility companies or sometimes stored.

To learn more about high-performance homes built to Passive House standards in the Kansas City area, contact us today .

The Passion Behind Passive House Building

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 23 May 2023 16:57:44 GMT

Passion Behind Passive House Building

When it comes to Passive House construction, it’s all too easy to get bogged down in the energy saving stats, technical details, and side-by-side comparisons with traditional building. But while active and passive solar, heat pumps, and advanced mechanical systems might power a Passive House, it’s passion that fuels the process and creates a truly high-performing home.

High Performance Meets Livability

A recent episode of The Building Science Podcast featured Graham Irwin, the principal of Essential Habitat Architecture, a Northern California design firm focused on healthy, high-performance, sustainable buildings. He recounted how his passion for designing higher-quality homes was kindled by the challenge of incorporating Passive House standards into homes that are also comfortable to live in.

“As an architect, if I just took those performance metrics, I could build buildings that are thermally controlled and have good indoor air quality but are horrible to be inside,” Irwin said. “That’s not enough criteria to design a pleasant building.”

One of the other elements that contributes to the livability of a well-designed, high-performance home is the client working closely with their builder and architect to create a space that meets their day-to-day needs. “ The environment feels really comfortable, ” said one Kansas City homeowner. “Things flow seamlessly and it’s so easy to get around the house.”

Furthering Values Through Design

During the design phase, this couple emphasized the importance of creating a home that was as welcoming to guests as it was energy efficient. “We wanted to build community and hospitality, so we talked to our builder about different hosting areas outdoors and inside where people can feel like they're part of something, but also have their own spaces,” her husband said.

This intentional approach to furthering a family’s priorities through the layout of their home should be integral to the design process, Irwin believes.

“How does your building foster connectivity to others?” he said. “Is that part of a building’s performance? I believe that it is. Are you proud of your home? Does it express your values, and do its performance and design meet the other high standards you hold for other aspects of your life?”

After completing a retrofit of his own home, Kala managing director David Schleicher understood that there was more to the term “high performance” than he initially thought: “When I first started building homes to Passive House standards, I was attracted to the durability element . I still want to create houses that will last, but what I missed was that this approach also increases your quality of life. You can’t tell that until your first night in a home like this, when you notice how quiet it is, how well you sleep, and what it feels like to live in a house that fits your lifestyle.”

Let There Be Light

When builders brag about including south-facing windows, they often focus on the benefits that passive solar provides. This harnesses the energy of the sun to help heat your home and reduce the reliance on mechanical systems. But there’s more to including well-oriented, tightly sealed windows.

“On a clinical level, it’s all about ‘let’s make sure we get enough passive solar gain in the winter and not too much in the summer,’” Irwin said. “You can talk about that in other terms, like ‘How about a building that’s perfectly designed in context with its site?’ Can you greet the sunrise and toast the sunset?”

For the homeowner we mentioned earlier, such comfort-related considerations weren’t contradictory to a desire for sustainability in a new home, but rather complementary. “We had to do this with the environment in mind, like natural light coming in through higher efficiency windows so we’re not having energy leak in and out,” he said. “These concepts came together well in this house.”

Connecting You to the Outdoors

Irwin shared that the traditional view of building has been that a house should separate you from the elements. While the continuous insulation and watertight and airtight walls of a Passive House provide sanctuary from harsh weather, Irwin asked rhetorically, “Isn't it equally important to consider how that building can connect us to the outdoors at appropriate times?”

“During extremes of heat and cold, you want to be impervious to what’s happening,” Schleicher said. “But you should also be able to experience the beauty of the outdoors through big, thoughtfully placed windows, whether that’s watching snow falling in winter without getting cold or summer sun illuminating your living room but not making it too hot. A high-performance home can bring the best of your outside space to you.”

Irwin stated that such a connection should be a must-have in high-performance home design, and that this can jive with the protective features of Passive House building. “When you close those doors and windows, it'll block sound better than any place you've ever experienced,” he said. “But when you want to open them or you want to look out, it’ll give you better views and better connection to the outdoors than you're going to get in any other house.”

When your home is created by people who are as passionate as they are skilled, building better leads to you living better. “I believe in crafting homes that are comfortable, healthy, durable, and sustainable,” Schleicher said. “You shouldn’t have to compromise on any of these.”

Want to learn more about how we can carefully craft your next home with passion, expertise, and high-performance features? Reach out today .

Looking Ahead

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 11 May 2023 17:30:18 GMT

Looking ahead in a construction project is key to success.

Levi Caraway, the Project Manager the Prairie Village house, has gone around the site and labeled several important details to ensure all teams involved are on the same page. The fewer grey areas left to interpretation, the fewer problems we will run into down the line. It’s all about communication.

The Details Behind a Mudsill

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 03 May 2023 16:22:10 GMT

Detailing the Mudsill for a High-Performance Home

While the concept of a mudsill isn’t groundbreaking, special attention to detail when installing the mudsill is crucial to maintaining a continuous air control layer from the foundation up to the wall system.

In order to achieve this we have to pay attention to how we transfer our air barrier from the actual foundation wall through the mudsill and into the wall system. We apply two continuous seams of Big Stretch sealant on top of the foundation wall. When placing two hard surfaces together you are bound to have spaces and gaps. The surface of a concrete foundation wall is never one hundred percent smooth and there will always be ridges and gaps in wood. Big Stretch sealant has a bit of elasticity to it which allows our air control layer to be continuous as materials, like wood, expand and contract through the various seasons. This is especially important in the Kansas City climate since we have our dramatically different seasons.

After the sealant is applied, we used what is known as a sill sealer to make the actual seal between the foundation wall and mudsill continuous. This step is standard in most construction. The sill seal serves as the capillary break between the high moisture content foundation wall and the wood framing - we don’t want the wood to absorb any more moisture than it needs to.

Before installing the actual plate, we apply another round of Big Stretch surrounding each bolt with a continuous line between them.

Another important detail is a simple line of Big Stretch on the edge of our boards to eliminate any gaps between the two surfaces. This is a similar idea as using a continuous bead of Big Stretch between the concrete foundation wall and the wooden board on the mudsill - two hard surfaces are never going to meet and be completely airtight. The sealant between the materials fills up any gaps between the surfaces to ensure a continuous airtight barrier.

You only have one chance to get your foundation right

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 19:41:08 GMT

The High Performance Foundation

While you don’t necessarily see the foundation of your home on a daily basis, it’s arguably one of the most important aspects of construction to get right the first time around. It’s not glamorous, but when done correctly, a high performance foundation will keep your home comfortable, healthy, durable and in the long run more sustainable than a traditional foundation.

We’ve all heard the horror stories of foundation cracks, cold and leaky basements, and sinking houses… how do you avoid these terrors?

Build a home with a high performance foundation

In keeping with Passive House standards, a high-performance foundation in a humid climate like the Midwest must take into consideration four crucial control layers: water, air, thermal, and vapor.

Thermal Control Layer

R-20+ sub slab insulation to eliminate thermal transmission from the ground and maintain a comfortable temperature in the basement
R-20 insulation on the inside of the foundation wall isolating the wall from touching any other layers of concrete

Bulk Water Control Layer

Waterproofing on foundation walls and footings to stop moisture seeping in
A capillary break that prevents moisture wicking up from the foundation footings
A dimple board that allows water to drain and reduces pressure on foundation walls
Interior and exterior drain tile to take water out and away from the home

Vapor Control Layer

A vapor barrier that creates a tight seal, preventing excess air movement and moisture buildup
Vapor layer is taped with Compego tape to seal it to the foundation wall and taped at all the seams and plumbing penetrations

Air Control Layer

15 mm plastic sheet lines the insulation above compacted gravel and is taped to the interior side of the foundation wall to create a continuous air control layer

All of these details come together to create a foundation system that will stand the elements over time. Maintaining the same attention to detail through the mudsill ensures that the control layers are continuous up into the wall system.

Take a look at how we've tackled important, but often overlooked, foundation details on recent projects:

Kala Framing Team Moves Forward on Prairie Village High Performance House

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:06:25 GMT

Kala Framing Team Makes Moves at the Prairie Village Custom Home

We are making headway on the High Performance Home in Prairie Village, Kansas. Last week six it took six of our team members plus a lot of coffee and bagels to move this large wall into place.

Thats a BIG wall.

67th Terrace Homeowners Reflect on The Kala Experience

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 15:24:51 GMT

From the Eyes of The Kala Customer

"We trusted Kala throughout the entire process and still trust them now. They’re a great group who care about people and what they do."

When asked why he and Morgen decided to choose Kala over other builders they considered, Sush shared that it came down to a people decision. “In our first meeting, David told us that this was a relationship, so let’s go through the next steps and make sure it’s a good fit for everyone,” he said. “We could tell that the whole team really cared about that. They were great throughout the process. That was especially important during COVID because things came up that we couldn’t plan for. You can go with a builder that is just about the project, and then moves from one thing to the next. But there is a way to build lasting relationships with people and help them achieve what they want to through their home. That’s what David and his team did.”

Morgen was quick to contrast their Kala experience with the way that some other builders treat their clients. “We have friends who just finished building a home and they won’t even speak to their contractor,” she said. “Whereas we trusted Kala throughout the entire process and still trust them now. They’re a great group who care about people and what they do. The team really listened to us the whole way through and saw how we live our lives, so the house reflects what we care about and our values.”

See the full interview, photos of the home and more on the 67th Terrace portfolio page:

Passive Solar vs Passive House

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 19:58:52 GMT

What's the Difference Between Passive Solar and Passive House Building?

In high performance construction, energy efficiency and sustainability continue to be top priorities for many people. This can lead to searching for ways to reduce energy consumption, of which passive solar is one. However, this term can get confused or used synonymously with Passive House building, even though they’re not the same. Let’s explore the similarities, differences, and clear up any confusion.

Defining Solar

One of the fastest growing segments of the home improvement market is installing solar panels to harvest and utilize energy from the sun to generate electricity. This is made possible by the photovoltaic (PV) effect, which is why it’s often referred to as PV solar. It is also called active solar because there’s a process to collect, store, and convert solar energy. It can be used in conjunction with mechanical systems to heat air or water. Active or PV solar is great if you already own a home and want to do something to it that will reduce your energy consumption to benefit the planet and lower your monthly utility bills.

In contrast, passive solar refers to a method that relies on the design and orientation of a home to utilize solar energy to – as the name suggests – passively impact the indoor temperature. Placing the house in such a way that it gets a lot of sunlight is a key starting point. From there, installing south-facing windows in such a way that they will get plenty of light in all seasons is essential. There are a few other considerations to make the most of passive solar. In an article for Earth & Human , Nina Howell explained, “If you want your house to retain the solar heat, then certain materials will need to go into the building of the house itself. Some materials that can capture heat better include ceramic tiles, stones, bricks, and concrete. These materials are excellent at heat retention, and once night falls, they slowly radiate the stored heat.”

Some of the benefits of passive solar include better regulating a comfortable indoor environment without purchasing or maintaining additional equipment, getting plenty of natural light in your house, and not needing to alter the aesthetics as you would with solar panels. However, it’s only possible to pursue passive solar when building a new home, as trying to do it later would involve a full remodel and still may not be doable because of how a house is situated.

Is Passive House Building the Same as Passive Solar?

Simply put, Passive House building is not the same thing as passive solar. It is an approach that originated in Germany with Wolfgang Feist, a physicist who specialized in low-energy architectural designs that were efficient and left a small ecological footprint. He created a prototype dwelling in 1989 that resulted in a set of standards and principles. These have since been adopted in the US by Phius , which certifies builders, tradespeople, and both retail and commercial construction projects.

As Certified Passive House consultant Graham Irwin put it during an interview with the Building Performance Association : “Passive solar is an approach to building that uses heat from the sun to directly heat a building, whereas Passive House is a performance standard, based around long-standing principles, carefully analyzed and modeled for cost optimization, rather than relying on equipment (e.g., a furnace or air conditioner).”

How Does a High Performance Home Go Beyond Passive Solar?

While some people confuse passive solar and Passive House building, others might think that they could only take an either/or approach while constructing a new, high performance home . This isn’t the case. Although a house with passive solar wouldn’t necessarily include other high-performance features such as an airtight building envelope , continual insulation, and balanced, controlled ventilation, a Passive House build could incorporate passive solar with these. Designing a high-performance home typically begins by situating it in such a way on the building site that there is abundant daylight coming in through the windows year-round. Window type, size, placement, and shading also comes into play. Combined with an ERV and other mechanical systems that source energy from the air and ground, this thoughtful approach can help keep the temperature steady without relying on inefficient traditional HVAC equipment.

While windows often leak air, heat, and moisture and are a common fail point in all too many houses, they’re a differentiator in a high-performance home . The Passive House approach prioritizes correctly installing premium glass, flashing, gaskets, and hardware that makes the most of passive solar, the positive impact of which is often mitigated with lower-grade windows and/or poor installation. It also removes cold drafts in the winter and hot spots in the summer so that you can be comfortable looking out on your surroundings at any time without outdoor conditions affecting you.

Utilizing thick, continuous insulation with high R-values around the entire building envelope and eliminating thermal bridges further encourages retention of energy captured from the sun. It also creates a barrier against the excess air and moisture transfer that can lead to large swings in temperature and humidity. This helps retain energy captured from passive solar and unlocks its full potential for contributing to a comfortable indoor environment while reducing energy consumption and costs. While passive solar can go someway toward you living in a more efficient, comfortable, low-impact way, combining it with all the other standards of Passive House construction is a complete game changer.

Your next home could exceed your expectations for sustainability, comfort, durability, and health through high-performance construction. Want to learn more? Contact us today .

When to Backfill

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 20:02:48 GMT

How long should you wait to backfill after pouring your concrete foundation?

Short answer: at least 28 days.

Long answer:

While we all love photos of beautiful finished homes and luxury finishes, it’s just as important to talk about things less glamorous: dirt.

It’s common in the construction industry to backfill a few days after pouring foundation walls. The foundation of a home not only holds the house up, but should keep moisture out, insulate from the cold, and resist the earth’s movement around it. It provides stability to the structure above it and prevents uneven settling. There’s a lot of weight on the foundation of a house, both literally and figuratively.

Backfilling too early adds pressure to the concrete before it has had a chance to fully cure. Under ideal conditions, it takes 5-7 days for concrete walls to cure to 75%, and 28 days to be fully cured. Backfilling quickly might seem like a good idea when you’re concerned about deadlines and moving a project forward, but you only get one chance to get the foundation right. Backfilling too early can cause micro-fractures in the foundation and major problems in the future.

The foundation of a home should be durable - it should last the next century or longer. Starting out with micro-fractures sets the foundation up for failure. The long term durability that comes from waiting the full 28 days for your foundation to cure creates benefits that far outweigh any benefits from backfilling a few weeks earlier.

Seeking High Performance without Moving: Consider a Retrofit

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 23:26:49 GMT

What Does it Mean to Do a Retrofit?

If you’ve been thinking about building a new high-performance home from scratch, there might be a few things holding you back. One could be that you love the location of your current home and being a part of your neighborhood community. Then there are all the memories you’ve created with your family in your house, plus the personal touches that make it uniquely your own. The good news is that you can stay where you are and still get most of the high-performance benefits you seek. How? With a retrofit, which differs from a remodel by making functional upgrades rather than just cosmetic changes. Let’s look at why this might be a good option for you.

Your Home is Due for Repairs

Some of the most common durability issues with existing homes are related to the exterior. If your siding is old, low-grade, or wasn’t installed properly, extreme swings in the Midwest weather (see hot, humid summers and frigid, dry winters) have probably taken a toll on the outside of your home. Moisture has likely seeped in behind the cladding and may have caused a buildup of mold or mildew, as well as compromising the integrity of your insulation. No wonder there’s an entire replacement industry now. With this in mind, you could already be looking to get new siding.

Another item on your home repair list might well be windows. If your home is 10 years old or more, the initial windows were poor quality, or they weren’t put in by an expert, then it’s likely that at least some need to be switched out. There could be obvious red flags like rotting frames or sills, gaps along the edges, or degraded seals and weather stripping. You might also feel draughts or cold spots in certain rooms and see condensation or even frost buildup.

If you need to repair or replace siding and/or windows, then a contractor will already need to get into the wall assembly. This provides a great, one-time opportunity to add some high-performance features at the same time that will increase energy efficiency, make your home feel more comfortable, and provide greater durability.

You Want to Make Your House More Comfortable and Durable

The combination of adding a rain screen and making the exterior airtight will provide a barrier to excess moisture and air in the wall assembly. With most homes, it isn’t just water getting in behind siding that’s the issue, but it staying there. New siding can be put on in such a way that dries moisture out and removes it from the walls if it does find a way in. And higher quality cladding makes it less likely that water will enter in the first place. Putting in larger gutters and longer downspouts that are buried and route rain away from your house will also keep excessive moisture at bay.

As the walls will already be open to repair or replace siding and/or windows, you have a chance to upgrade the entire exterior envelope of your home by adding extra insulation. This isn’t merely thicker, but also creates a continuous wrap around your home that acts like putting on a weatherproof jacket. Combined with air sealing, the moisture barrier, better windows and siding, and bulk water channels, this will make it easier to maintain a consistent indoor temperature and humidity level, eliminate hot and cold spots, and make you more comfortable year round.

You Want to Reduce Your Energy Bills

Another aspect of retrofitting that might appeal to you is making your home more efficient. With energy costs continuing to soar this winter, your home might be leaking both energy and dollars. One of the easiest wins from a performance perspective is to improve the insulation above your head. A surprisingly high amount of heat is lost as it rises to the top of your home if there isn’t an effective barrier between your living space and what’s above it, and air and moisture can seep in from the roof down.

A high-performance retrofit remedies this problem in two ways. First, the attic is air sealed top and bottom and around the rim joists to prevent excess air leaking in and out. Second, more insulation is added to reduce heat loss. Both measures help you keep your home at the temperature and humidity level you want, regardless of what the weather’s doing outside and will reduce the amount of energy you use.

Another way to do this is to upgrade your heating and cooling systems. This could mean just installing a more efficient air conditioner and furnace if you’re not altering the exterior envelope. Or if a high-performance contractor is going to be air sealing the outside of your home, they’ll need to install a high-efficiency ERV system that provides fresh, clean, filtered air, makes it easy to keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and sips energy instead of gulping it like traditional HVAC hardware.

You Need a Better Floor Plan

If your home has a hard-wearing exterior like stucco, stone, or brick, you might not need to do anything to upgrade the outside. But perhaps there are some things about the interior that you wish were different. It could be that you want to add a bedroom or bathroom or finish the basement. Or perhaps there’s something else about the current floor plan that doesn’t fit with your lifestyle. In any case, a retrofit allows you to make those alterations you’ve been planning for so long, while also adding high-performance functionality from the inside out.

One of the easiest wins as structural elements are being altered is to update your appliances. There are a wide range of energy efficient models of ovens, dishwashers, and so on that are simple to swap out. Doing so also gives you the opportunity to get away from gas, which will remove a pollutant from your home. You could install new plumbing fixtures that utilize less water and put in a tankless water heater, which will ensure your family never runs out of hot water and yet has lower bills. Swapping out original lights for LEDs can further reduce both your home’s environmental impact and your utility costs.

If you want the comfort, durability, health, and sustainability advantages of a high-performance build but can’t bear to leave your current home, then contact us today to discuss a retrofit.

HERS Ratings + Energy Efficiency

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 16:11:35 GMT

What is a HERS Rating and Why Does it Matter in an Energy Efficient Home?

Energy efficiency is one of the biggest motivators people have for building high-performance homes. Whether the driving factor is reducing environmental footprint, cutting your utility costs, minimizing the total cost of ownership, or all three, most people would prefer an efficient home over a non-efficient one. More importantly, coupled with passive house building techniques, achieving an excellent HERS rating means your home will be healthier via the highest standard of air quality, comfortable in all weather conditions, and more durable with minimal maintenance required.

Let’s explore how a HERS rating can factor into your search for a more energy efficient home.

What Does HERS Mean?

HERS stands for Home Energy Rating System.

It was created by Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET®) , a non-profit organization whose energy efficiency standards are accepted across the construction industry and recognized by state and federal government entities, including the U.S. Department of Energy.

One of RESNET’s primary goals is to create a net zero residential energy sector by 2040. Creating the HERS Index was a major step toward achieving this ambitious aim.

How are Homes Rated on the HERS Index?

The HERS Index is a scale. Like in golf, the lower the score, the better (although unlike it, you can’t end up at or under par). Once the structure is finished, a certified RESNET Home Energy Rater assesses the energy efficiency of a house compared to a reference home that’s the same size, type, and shape. They then assign a HERS Index number as a relative performance score. This ensures accuracy and fairness, as smaller homes aren’t being rated against larger ones, or vice versa.

What Factors are Included in a HERS Rating?

While each house is rated with an overall number, it’s actually a composite of an in-depth assessment that incorporates several different aspects of the home’s construction that can significantly impact energy efficiency. According to RESNET , these are:

All exterior walls (both above and below grade)
Floors over unconditioned spaces (like garages or cellars)
Ceilings and roofs
Attics, foundations, and crawl spaces
Windows and doors, vents, and duct work
HVAC system, water heating system, and your thermostat
Air leakage of the home
Leakage in the heating and cooling distribution system

What's a Typical HERS Score for New and Used Homes?

HERS ratings can vary quite dramatically due to a number of variables in addition to those listed above, including the age of the home, its overall durability and construction quality, the age and performance of its main systems, and damage/decay. In 2008 as part of the Building America project, the U.S. Department of Energy sought to create reference points for people wanting to compare their current home or one they planned to build against median values for existing and new houses. They determined that the typical new home built to 2006 energy efficiency standards has a HERS rating of 100, while a resale will usually be at 130. However, some existing homes could be a lot higher.

Why are Traditionally Built Houses Not Energy Efficient?

Many new and existing homes are anything but efficient, leaking energy through inadequately insulated walls and leaky windows and wasting it with inefficient HVAC systems, appliances, and lighting. Cost cutting with cheap materials is also a common issue, as these are less energy efficient to begin with and decline rapidly over time. These shortcuts and quality control challenges lead to a greater environmental impact and, together with rapidly increasing utility costs, higher monthly energy bills.

What Improves Energy Efficiency in a High-Performance Home?

Building an energy efficient home starts with creating a well-insulated , tightly sealed envelope around the entire building to minimize energy loss through the walls, foundation, and roof. Premium windows and doors installed meticulously also cut down on the movement of excess air, light, and heat.

State-of-the-art heating and cooling systems maintain a stable, comfortable indoor environment all year round while using a tiny fraction of the energy that regular HVAC systems consume. High-performance builders also encourage their clients to select the most energy efficient appliances and utilize plumbing fixtures that require less water.

Why Does a HERS Rating Matter?

While not every new home builder goes through the process of having a certified RESNET rater assess their projects to attain a HERS rating, there are a few scenarios where it is beneficial or even a requirement.

In the case of the Beacon Hill Passive House, we were required to submit the home's HERS rating as part of the Phius certification process.

Another reason for getting a HERS rating is for the Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum. The addendum is a tool that is used to communicate high performance features of a home which can be overlooked by real estate agents, appraisers, and financial institutions. In order to submit the addendum, a HERS rating must be included and the full HERS report has to be attached to the submission.

Some residential real estate markets have implemented green features within MLS that allow buyers to search for properties based on green features, including a HERS score. While this options hasn’t been introduced to the Kansas City market, we have to create a database of homes with HERS ratings for potential buyers to be able to find them once we have the opportunity to search in this manner.

How Much Can a Low HERS Rating Reduce My Utility Costs?

A recently completed Kala home in Kansas City’s historic Beacon Hill neighborhood became the first Certified Passive House in Missouri. The HERS rating was 32, meaning the home is 68 percent more efficient than the typical new build and much more so than the average resale house. It also met or exceeded Energy Star 3 and 3.1 criteria. Experience has shown that a Kala home will save a customer thousands of dollars per year in energy costs while providing the healthiest, most comfortable, and durable living experience possible.

Want to learn how you can build an energy efficient home or retrofit your current house to achieve a low HERS rating plus other high-performance features? Contact us today!

Indoor Air Quality in a Passive House

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 19:35:43 GMT

High Performance Homes Improve Asthma, Allergies, and Air Quality

Your home should provide a safe haven from the outside world, but for all too many people, their house merely makes asthma, allergies, and other air quality-related health issues worse. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the typical American adult spends 90% of their time indoors, and given all the hours you’re at home, the environment around you is bound to have an impact for better or worse. Let’s look at why indoor air quality can be so poor, the problems this creates, and how more thoughtful, health-first home building can help.

According to the Allergy & Asthma Network , one in five Americans have been diagnosed with at least one environmental allergy. Among adults, this leads to four million missed work days annually and $8 billion in healthcare costs. Two thirds of asthma patients also have an allergy, and children have a 50 percent chance of developing allergies if one parent struggles with them, and 75% if both parents has allergies. Pollen, dust mites, mold, animal dander, and poor air quality are among the most common allergens that sufferers say negatively impacts their quality of life. Symptoms include itchy nose and throat, fatigue, watery eyes, sneezing, and rashes.

The Not-So-Great Outdoors

A 2021 study found that climate change has made the pollen season an average of 20 days longer across the US, with a 21 percent median increase in pollen concentration. Kansas City and the Midwest in general have seen some of the steepest increases, a story in The Kansas City Beacon stated.

While those who suffer from allergies and asthma often retreat indoors when pollen and other outdoor allergens are at their peak, pollution warnings are in place, or wildfires and other environmental factors compromise outdoor air quality, the EPA states that with indoor air, “the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher.”

One of the reasons is that most traditionally built houses let outdoor allergens seep inside unbidden. This doesn’t just occur when windows and doors are open, but also when they’re low quality or the seals have deteriorated over time. Mechanical ventilation systems bring in outdoor air that’s poorly filtered, if at all, and then forcefully blow it around the house. Heating and cooling this alters the humidity level, creating a breeding ground for mold and mildew when it’s too moist. Joints, gaps, and cracks in walls, foundations, the roof, and other structural elements allow whatever is outdoors in.

All the Irritants You Can't See

Indoor pollutants are another significant contributing factor to allergies and asthma. These can include oil, gas, and wood fuels that release carbon monoxide and other harmful particulates, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from synthetic building materials and cleaning products, and cooking exhaust fumes. If a house is inadequately sealed, bulk water and other moisture can build up in the walls and between levels, creating a breeding ground for one of the most common and pervasive household allergens: mold. Its growth is perpetuated when temperature and humidity is poorly and inconsistently regulated and exacerbated by seasonal changes in weather conditions.

Reducing Asthma and Allergen Exposure by Design

Per the Energy & Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA), 82% of high-performance home buyers are at least moderately concerned with indoor air quality, 81% believe that their house has a strong or very strong impact on their health, and 60% are allergic to dust and/or other irritants.

EEBA board member Suzanne Shelton shared that 39% of high-performance home buyers are also more concerned about indoor air quality than they were before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an EEBA survey, the joint top reasons for starting a high-performance build – along with having the right floor plan to meet family needs – were “prevents moisture problems that can contribute to mold and attract pests” and “a healthy home that mitigates the risk of radon, carbon monoxide and other harmful gases.”

A high-performance home is purposefully designed and constructed to meet these health-related expectations. An intelligent, controlled ventilation system gently circulates clean, fresh, filtered air that’s a consistent temperature and humidity throughout the house, while simultaneously removing stale indoor air. This keeps exterior pollutants, pathogens, and allergens out and gets rid of pet hair and dander, dust, cooking and fireplace fumes, VOC off-gassing, and other inside irritants. The ERV system also expels air that might be excessively warm or moist from areas like the kitchen and bathroom to further reduce moisture accumulation.

Tightly sealed and continuously insulated walls, floors, and ceilings create a strong barrier that maintains a comfortable environment inside and repels excess air and moisture. The elimination of thermal bridges further minimizes the kind of moisture buildup that can lead to mold growth. This effect is enhanced by premium windows and doors that remain airtight when they’re closed, eliminating draughts and air leaks. Plus, natural, responsibly-sourced building materials are used as widely as possible, reducing chemical exposure. As the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America puts it, “Allergy and asthma control begins at home.”

A Kansas City Homeowner’s Air Quality Improvement

In a recent case study, one Kansas City resident contrasted the air quality in a rental house with their new Kala high-performance home .

“I can definitely tell a difference – when I come inside, I breathe easier,” she said. “When we were moving, every time we went back to our previous house, I would sneeze uncontrollably and feel terrible. And then we'd come back here, and I’d be fine. Our kids are off their allergy meds too.”

I“I can definitely tell a difference – when I come inside, I breathe easier,” she said. “When we were moving, every time we went back to our previous house, I would sneeze uncontrollably and feel terrible. And then we'd come back here, and I’d be fine. Our kids are off their allergy meds too.”

With a high-performance build or remodel, you can have the peace of mind of knowing that your family’s wellbeing is safeguarded through a whole-home approach to health that’s much more effective than isolated measures like using fans, filters, or humidifiers or costly repairs like mold mitigation and window and door replacement.

Airtight construction . Balanced ventilation. Active moisture management. These are the ingredients for reducing asthma and allergy symptoms, improving indoor air quality, and creating a refreshingly healthy home. Interested to learn more? Contact us today to start a conversation about your own high-performance home project with Kala.

Insulating the Foundation for a High Performance House

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 21:34:37 GMT

Foundation Insulation

Imagine stepping barefoot onto the floor in your basement - your body is immediately flooded with chills.

With traditional homes, that’s likely the case but we’ve developed a strategy to maintain a comfortable temperature in the basement of this high performance home all year long.

From the construction site of a new high performance home, David Schleicher explains in the video below how we isolated the foundation in order to build a more comfortable, durable, sustainable, and healthy home from the ground up.

Inside of the 9 ft tall foundation walls, we installed 4 inches of EPS foam on top of 8 inches of compacted gravel with the seams staggered to minimize heat loss.

Above the foam we installed our air/vapor barrier: a 15 mm plastic sheet that we ran 1 foot up the walls and taped with Compego Tape along the foundation walls. The foundation wall serves as the air barrier from the foundation wall to mud sill. All of the plastic is taped, including penetrations for the floor drainage.

An additional measure that we like to do on a job site is to transcribe the wall details on the foundation wall so all parties involved have a visual - this helps to minimize the potential for errors at this crucial step in construction.

As our final step to creating a well insulated basement floor, we pour the concrete making sure that timing lines up with the installation of our air/vapor barrier. If we install the 15 mm plastic too soon it will shrink with exposure to the elements. Our goal is to install the plastic and pour concrete the next day.

At the end of this process, we have a system that isolates all concrete from directly touching other layers of concrete.

Waterproofing a Foundation

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 17:53:52 GMT

Managing Water from the Start by Waterproofing the Foundation

We probably sound like a broken record at this point, but that’s because we can’t drive this point home enough: water is the enemy of durability. In order to build a home that will stand the test of time you must have a strategy to manage water from the beginning.

The Vapor Barrier

After pouring the foundation footing, we took an extra step you don’t often see in typical construction. We utilized a product called Air-Shield LSR to seal the footings before pouring the foundation walls. Air-Shield LSR is a liquid synthetic rubber product that is an asphalt-free liquid/vapor and liquid moisture barrier. The product is rolled out as a liquid which allows for a smooth and seamless application, even on a rough surface, then cures to form a tough elastomeric membrane. The cured product is excellent at resisting air and moisture transmission through the membrane.

We are seeing longer humidity cycles in our climate with higher levels of humidity each season. Because we are seeing more moisture in the air, we have had to adjust our waterproofing strategy by implementing extra measures to prevent water from getting inside our houses.

The Air-Shield LSR serves as our vapor barrier to reduce the risk of our foundation walls soaking up water from the footings, which take on moisture from the earth. The added layer at the top of the footings stops the process of moisture moving up and into our foundation walls.

After the vapor barrier cured, we poured 9 ft forms on top of the footings and applied our standard waterproofing spray to the outer side of the foundation walls. This serves as the primary waterproofing layer for our foundation walls.

The Drainage Mat

After the waterproofing layer was applied, we added a dimple board/drainage mat. The dimple board is an additional layer of protection against water intrusion.

No matter how careful you are when backfilling, you’re going to have materials hitting the waterproofing layer with the potential to scratch and damage it. The dimple board provides protection against rock, clay, dirt and other materials from damaging the primary waterproofing layer.

The specific type of dimple board that we utilized on this project has a layer of fabric over the top which limits the amount of dirt that will get stuck in the dimples. The dimples provide space for water to drain, so keeping the dimples clear of dirt and debris is important for the longevity of our waterproofing strategy.

Dimple board also helps relieve hydrostatic pressure* on our foundation wall by reducing the amount of pressure that is directly up against the waterproofing layer.

Water is inevitable, it’s how we deal with it that matters. The dimple board allows water to drain quickly rather than settling around the foundation wall. Water flows down through the dimple board quickly and out through the drain tile.

While each of these steps might not sound like much individually, combining them into an integrated system creates a long lasting waterproof barrier to ensure the home is comfortable, durable, and healthy for decades to come.

Science

*Hydrostatic pressure is the pressure that is exerted by a fluid at equilibrium at a given point within the fluid, due to the force of gravity.

Why Now is the Best Time to Build a High-Performance Home

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:44:31 GMT

There's Never Been a Better Time to Build a Passive House

Rising interest rates, soaring inflation, and housing market volatility are giving people pause before they purchase their next residence–all valid concerns that make today the best time ever to build a high-performance home. Doing so can save you money, protect your family from rising energy costs, put you in a durable structure with a fraction of the maintenance of a normal home, support your sustainability values, and more.

Energy Costs are Typically the Single Biggest Ongoing Expense in Homeownership

Anytime you turn on the daily news, you’re likely to see a story about rising energy costs. At one point this summer, the price you were paying at the gas pump had risen by 48.7 percent year-over-year, taking more money from your wallet every time you fill up. And it’s not just oil and gasoline prices that have skyrocketed – the cost of fossil fuel-based energy sources has also soared. Natural gas prices spiked to a 14-year high , with one week alone seeing a seven percent surge. Propane is totally unregulated, making more fluctuations inevitable.

Electricity has typically been more stable but has gone up over 15 percent in the past year. According to a CNBC report , the average household’s energy costs in September 2022 were 18.2 percent higher than in September 2021. And that’s before cold weather hits. The Energy Information Administration estimates that heating costs this winter will be up to 28 percent higher for households that heat with oil and gas; those that rely on electricity can expect a 10 percent increase. All these energy sources are predicted to rise more in the future.

Achieve Real-World Savings

A high-performance home minimizes energy costs on your family budget. From efficient heating and cooling systems to highly insulated windows and walls, every feature is designed to increase comfort and durability while significantly reducing energy consumption and costs.

All too often, reductions in energy use and the associated cost savings are confined to theoretical models, charts, and spreadsheets. While these estimates look good on paper, it’s hard to know if they are best-case scenarios that exaggerate actual benefits or, worse still, merely wishful thinking.

Yet there are real Kansas City homeowners who are enjoying lower energy costs and usage right now.

Example Kala homes include a fully-electric, 3,600 square foot home that has a total energy cost for heating, cooling, hot water, lighting, and cooking of $120 average per month. Another all-electric, solar-equipped 3,300 square foot Kala home is currently carrying an $81.67 credit to be applied during the winter months. Our anticipation is that the cost for energy for the twelve month period will be $0.

Our rental house had less than a third of the square footage of this one, yet our energy bills are now significantly less expensive here than they were there .”

In a recent case study interview, another Kala customer commented on the differences between the energy costs at their current high-performance home and a previous residence. “Our rental house had less than a third of the square footage of this one, yet our energy bills are now significantly less expensive here than they were there.”

It's All in the Structure

Although all the decisions made in constructing a home matter, the structure itself is the primary reason a Kala home performs at such a high-level.

the best control over electrical demand may not be in the electric system, but in the building itself . Good thermal design–tight construction, good window design, and appropriately sized ventilation systems.”

In a customer fact sheet, the National Grid stated that “the best control over electrical demand may not be in the electric system, but in the building itself. Good thermal design–tight construction, good window design, and appropriately sized ventilation systems.”

As heat is retained, humidity balanced, and fresh air continually circulated, there’s no need for systems to guzzle energy from the grid to try and keep up with temperature changes. As a result, a high-performance home significantly reduces your monthly energy bills and limits your dependence on the electrical grid. With solar panels, these savings are compounded, as you’ll be generating power at a greater rate than you’re consuming it.

Lower Your Environmental Impact and Live Sustainably

From reducing your reliance on the electrical grid to lowering your monthly energy bills to supporting your sustainability values, a high-performance home offers many ways for you to live a comfortable lifestyle more cost-effectively and with less environmental impact. That’s why there’s never been a better time to build with Kala. Want to learn more? Contact us today to talk about exploring a high-performance home build with Kala.

Air & Vapor Control Layers: Foundation Footings

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 19:30:47 GMT

Air & Vapor Control Layers Starting at the Footings

Water, vapor, air, thermal… the components that we have to think of when building a new home.

In order to build a home that will stand up to the elements over time, we have to have a dedicated plan for controlling each of these components. We recently broke ground on a new high performance home project, and after pouring the footings, we took an extra step you don’t usually see in new home construction.

We utilized a product called Air-Shield LSR to seal the footings before pouring the rest of the foundation. Air-Shield LSR is a liquid synthetic rubber product that is an asphalt-free, synthetic rubber based liquid/vapor and liquid moisture barrier. It’s rolled out as a liquid which allows for a smooth and seamless application even on a rough surface, then cures to form a tough elastomeric membrane. The cured product is excellent at resisting air and moisture transmission through the membrane.

Beacon Hill Open House

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 19:34:11 GMT

Open House at Missouri's First Passive House

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We had a fantastic turn out at the Beacon Hill Presentation + Open House this past Saturday. It's such a wonderful feeling to have so many people interested in the type of homes we are building.

We partnered with Heartland Renewable Energy Society to put on the final open house before the homeowners move in to the Beacon Hill project.

David Schleicher, Managing Director at Kala, covered a variety of topics and answered many questions about the home, the process, Passive House, energy usage/savings and more. We also had Rick Jenkins out to discuss the certification and verification process required when pursuing Passive House Certification.

While we have been building high performance homes and projects with Passive House principles for the last decade, we learned a lot along the path to Passive House Certification.

Zero Air Leakage: That's the goal

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 18:57:32 GMT

Moisture is the enemy of durability

We used Intello as our air/vapor barrier between the conditioned space and the garage at the Beacon Hill Passive House.

The barrier is air tight but vapor open, meaning it allows moisture to escape.

By allowing the moisture to escape we reduce the likelihood of it getting trapped in the wall assembly and creating mold. By using Intello here we were able to keep a continuous air barrier over the entire conditioned space of the home. We carefully taped and sealed every opening of the barrier to allow for as little air leakage as possible.

High Performance Windows, High Quality Views

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 21:11:58 GMT

Advantages of High Performance Windows

Bob and his team at Advantage Architectural Woodwork delivered these high performance windows from Colby, Kansas. The amount of hard work that went into these windows has been unreal. When we say hard work, we're not exaggerating. One of these windows weighs about 400 lbs.

Advantage Architectural Woodwork is a company based in Colby, Kansas that manufactures energy-efficient European style windows and doors for low energy homes and buildings. You read that right, these windows are actually manufactured in Kansas!

Advantage Architectural Woodwork was the first Smartwin partner in North America, which is the type of windows we installed in the main living space at the Lake Quivira remodel. Smartwin windows all contain a slim and elegant wood frame with insulated triple-pane glazing.

The Smartwin sliding door was the first style of sliding glass door to be certified by Passive House. They have a completely encompassed, continuous air-tight seal and are the exact same proportions as the Smartwin window. They seamlessly fit within the profile of the windows at the LQ remodel.

Making Passive House Possible: BS* & Beer

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 17 May 2022 14:30:09 GMT

Building the Passive House Community in Kansas City

We hosted another BS* & Beer at the Beacon Hill High Performance Home this month. Joe Nickels and David Hawkins presented on the ins and outs of making Passive House possible.

The Beacon Hill home is Phius Design Certified and is on track to reach full certification upon completion.

The path to Passive House requires full commitment from start to finish from all parties involved: the builder, the client, the subs, the architect. The team has to be prepared to make adjustments along the way as things come up in the build process.

For the Beacon Hill home, we encountered a few situations that we were required to address as a team to maintain our path to certification. Joe and Hawkins discussed thermal bridging associated with the second floor overhang, air leakage through the ductwork, and window selection among a variety of other high performance features throughout the home.

The event was well attended and well enjoyed by all! Continue following along with Kala as we approach the finish line. We are eager to share the finished product.

Air and Vapor Control Layer at Lake Quivira

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 10 May 2022 23:16:27 GMT

Vapor Control Layer

When building a Kala home, we pay special attention to four major aspects that we call control layers. The airtight control layer, thermal control layer, water control layer, and the vapor control layer. While the Lake Quivira remodel wasn’t a new home, we still made sure to keep these aspects in mind to build the best possible home for the family.

We took out a roughly 30’ x 40’ section at the center section of the roof and replaced it with new gable trusses to allow for taller high performance windows and high vaulted ceilings.

The vaulted ceilings coupled with the Smartwin windows create a space that will be breathtaking all year long. In order to keep this space comfortable and durable for years to come though, we decided to use Intello as part of the air/vapor barrier in the main living space.

Our climate is a tough one to build in because of our harsh winters and hot/humid summers. Each year our summers seem to get even hotter with higher humidity levels year over year, putting even greater importance on mitigating moisture in our homes. The Intello barrier is air tight but vapor open, meaning moisture is able to escape. Moisture getting caught in the walls can lead to mold and other harmful effects. It’s vital to the building’s longevity and overall health of its occupants that moisture is able to escape.

The Spiral Staircase

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 15:42:10 GMT

Kansas City MetalWorks is making great progress on the spiral staircase at Fairmount

While it's not quite finished yet, it's pretty enough to share a little sneak peek.

Kansas City MetalWorks is a locally owned custom metal fabrication company that was created and run by fine artists and artisans. They do fantastic work and we can't wait to share the final product.

Venetian Plaster + Lime Paint

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 19:31:04 GMT

Unique Bathroom Details at Fairmount

The Venetian Plaster flooring and Lime Paint walls at Fairmount are starting to take shape!

Italian Plasterworks is doing a seamless floor to ceiling installation of lime plaster in the primary suite. Since limestone is resistant to mold, mildew, and bacteria this bathroom is just about as low maintenance as you can get.

This video shows the first of three steps in the sealing process on the floors. The installation of this type of product is time consuming, but the end result is well worth the wait.

Venetian Plaster flooring isn't typical in new home construction - especially in the Kansas City market. You see Venetian plaster as an accent wall fairly often, but the depth and luxury of this primary suite is next level.

In order to ensure durability, the flooring mixture includes white concrete so we can deliver the beauty of Venetian Plaster with increased durability. After each step in the process is finished the room is taped off to make sure no one enters the space.

Beacon Hill is Design Certified!

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 19:36:10 GMT

Beacon Hill is now a Design Certified Phius CORE 2021 Project!

We are one big step closer to final Passive House certification with the Beacon Hill High Performance Home. The house is officially a Design Certified Phius CORE 2021 project !

Assuming there are no additional changes to the aspects of the building that impact energy performance (insulation, windows/doors, HVAC or appliances) the project is on track to achieve final certification upon completion. We will have to achieve a required minimum blower door test score and make it through on-site verification by a certified Phius rater, but we're on our way!

Continue following along with us on social media to see how the Beacon Hill home progresses. We’re excited to finish this one up!

Raisin' the Roof on the Lake Quivira Retrofit

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 19:53:40 GMT

Making Progress at the Lake Quivira Deep Energy Retrofit

We cut a roughly 30' x 40' center section of the gable roof out of this Lake Quivira residence and replaced with new gable trusses to allow for taller windows and high vaulted ceilings. Can't wait to share more on the progress here.

Big shout out to the framing crew at Schelp - they did a great job on this one.

And we have floors at Fairmount!

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 20:09:37 GMT

New Hardwood Floors at Fairmount

Armstrong-Citywide, Inc. knocked it out of the park with the hardwood floors at the Fairmount home.

While they're currently covered up for protection as we finish out the home's construction, these finished floors really make the project feel more like a home . Can't wait to take off the covers and let them shine!

Thermal Bridge Blocked at Beacon Hill

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 16:21:05 GMT

The second floor overhang at the Beacon Hill High Performance Home created an aggressive thermal bridge that needed to be addressed.

What is a thermal bridge?

Think about how ice cubes melt into a glass of water on a hot summer day. Heat flows from hot to cold - it’s the second law of thermodynamics. We’re reaching way back into the depths of science classes past, but bear with me.

As defined by the Passive House Institute, a thermal bridge is a localized area of the building envelope where the flow is different (usually increased) in comparison with adjacent areas.

They are often caused by a break in the insulation layer with a more conductive material, allowing increased heat flow through that material. In the case of the Beacon Hill home, the biggest thermal bridge issue we ran into was caused by the wooden second floor overhang. While wood isn’t as conductive as steel, the wood created an aggressive thermal bridge that we had to address.

Thermal Bridge “Free” construction is one of the five principles of Passive House, so this thermal bridge had to be reduced in order for us to pursue Passive House Certification. Thermal bridges wreak havoc on the durability of a home. They produce areas where moisture is likely to build up, creating a breeding ground for mold. On top of that, they make the space uncomfortable and are a huge energy suck. Whether or not we were going for Passive House Certification, the thermal bridge here had to be reduced.

How do you reduce a thermal bridge?

David Hawkins, Senior Construction Manager overseeing the Beacon Hill High Performance Home, worked with Ryan Abendroth, principle of Passive Energy Designs, LLC, to figure out a plan to reduce the thermal bridge. Passive Energy Designs, LLC is a consulting firm that specializes in energy modeling for high performance buildings, a major component in achieving Passive House Certification.

They worked together to determine the most efficient insulation strategy to reduce the thermal bridge caused by the second floor overhang. The solution they came up with included varying amounts of open and closed cell insulation on the interior and exterior of the home. Modeling a precise solution like this is efficient not only because it will reduce future energy loss, but provides a path to the least amount of wasted materials.

A+ Insulation executed the plan we developed to reduce the thermal bridge. It’s really a team effort when it comes to high performance building.

(Click image below to view full size)

Water Finds a Way...

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 18:57:43 GMT

Ventilated Rain Screen at the Beacon Hill Passive House

Water is the kryptonite of durable construction.

You have to build proactively in order to create a durable home and that means a tried and tested method of dealing with bulk water. That means a ventilated rain screen.

What is a Ventilated Rain Screen?

High performance construction calls for ventilated rain screens, which is essentially just a cavity between the home’s Water Resistant Barrier (WRB) and the most exterior layer. The ventilated rain screen creates space for bulk water to run down and escape through the bottom of the cavity.

The design of a ventilated rain screen is actually quite simple.

At the Beacon Hill High Performance Home we wrapped the SIP wall assembly with Kimberly-Clark BLOCK-IT House Wrap to create the WRB. On top of that we used furring strips to create space between the WRB and the cladding. There’s an opening at the top and bottom of the cavity with a screen at the bottom with a that allows water to run through without bugs and critters getting inside the cavity. The space for water to run down between the WRB and siding ensures that moisture won’t build up and harm the wall assembly.

It's all about the [window] details

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 18:49:16 GMT

Passive House Window Details

Placed and installed properly, the benefits of just the right windows go beyond a beautiful view. It’s really all about the details.

Cutting holes in the envelope of your home has to be done with great planning and precision. Windows can be a weak spot in your air and water barriers.

At the Beacon Hill High Performance Home, we used ZIP System® sheathing around the rough opening of the windows to create a continuous air barrier from the window to the wall.

At seams, joints, and rough openings, we used a few PROSOCO products to maintain the continuous air and water barrier.

While this blog isn’t sponsored by PROSOCO, maybe we need to touch base with their marketing team ��

We applied PROSOCO Joint & Seam Filler to reinforce the seam between materials in the window rough opening.

The red material applied along the bottom of the rough opening is PROSOCO FastFlash, their liquid flashing membrane.

Within the window detail we applied AirDam, an air and weather sealant that ensures moisture from outside doesn’t enter the home and conditioned interior air doesn’t escape around the window.

A continuous air barrier is one of the most important items to think about when building high performance. Not only does heat gain and loss through windows account for 25-30% of residential heating and cooling expenses, a drafty window just isn’t comfortable!

The right windows, in this case Alpen's Tyrol PH+ series , installed properly are a crucial step in the path to high performance.

Midwest Building Science Symposium

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 16:41:27 GMT

Midwest Building Science Symposium 2021

David Schleicher, David Hawkins, Joe Nickels, Drew Arsenberg, Brandon Brown, and Kevin Gilbert all attended the Midwest Building Science Symposium this week. The event was a two day educational event with over 100 local builders, architects and other building science enthusiasts.

Presenters included Peter Yost, Steve Baczek, Ben Bogie and other industry leaders. Of course, any midwest event isn't complete with barbecue and Boulevard Beer. All in all, the Kala guys had a great time at the event.

Fairmount Open House

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 21:44:54 GMT

LEED Platinum Single Family High Performance Home Walk Through

We hosted around 45 high performance building enthusiasts at our Fairmount property for a walk-thru and discussion on several crucial ingredients that go into a home of this caliber.

The Kala team was on site explaining different facets of the home and the process of building a high performance home.

David Schleicher discussed a concept we call “The Productive Triangle.” This is essentially the team: the customer, the architect, and the builder that work closely together to ensure a high performance result that doesn’t compromise the customer’s vision. It’s crucial to develop a team that can work well together, all with the same goals in mind for the end result.

Joe Nickels explained the importance of the airtight envelope, the key components of our wall assembly, and the high performance windows and doors that we’ve utilized at the Fairmount project.

If you’ve never seen tilt-turn windows in action, you’re truly missing out.

Cary DeCamp explained the mechanical systems that support a high performance home: including a whole-house dedicated ERV, kitchen make up air, geothermal heat pump for heating, cooling, and domestic hot water production, among other systems.

Cary also explained the solar array we’ve built to transform this high performance home into a net-zero home.

We catered lunch from a locally owned french company, Velouté. The Kala team enjoyed lunch on the front porch after the event was over. All in all, it was a great experience!

If you'd like to be kept in the loop for future events, please fill out the form below!

Sealing the Ceiling

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 20:14:07 GMT

Attention to Detail on the Kansas City Passive House

We recently sealed up the envelope at the Beacon Hill High Performance Home. Using Zip tape and OSB, we created the airtight layer in the ceiling. This carefully sealed layer will help to ensure a comfortable temperature is maintained inside the home.

A traditional home isn't sealed in this fashion. The air you’re paying to heat in the winter and cool during the summer is escaping through holes in your ceiling, to the attic, and out the vents.

Look up at the ceiling wherever you're reading this. What do you see? A ceiling fan. An air vent. A light fixture. Each of these essential items was installed by poking holes into the ceiling, allowing air to easily escape.

Once the ceiling layer is created and the seams between boards are sealed up with Zip tape, we create an additional layer to serve as a cavity for electrical wiring and space for LED wafer can lights.

Early on in the design process we make sure there’s room for HVAC within the envelope as well so no penetrations to the airtight envelope are necessary later in the process.

After all, it's not an airtight envelope if you have to poke holes in it.

ChocKALA Chip!

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 20:44:21 GMT

Kala proudly sponsored the 2021 Kansas City Ultimate Summer League.

It was a summer for the books.

HOT weather, a great group of people, and tons of fun out at the Kenneth Road Polo Fields.

We think the team might have set a record for the most karaoke on the sidelines.

Air Sealing at Its Finest

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 19:50:17 GMT

Air Sealing at a West Plaza High Performance House

Joe Nickels and Brandon Brown have been working on air sealing at the Fairmount High Performance House this week. Joe is one of the only certified dealers qualified to use AeroBarrier in Kansas City. It is safe to say most builders in the area are skipping this integral step in the building process altogether.

Sure, it’s easy enough to locate large holes in the building envelope. Those aren't the holes we are concerned about filling here. You’ve heard the phrase “death by a thousand cuts.” Those smaller holes in the envelope are what we are looking for in this sealing process.

It’s crucial to seal those small holes to create a truly airtight envelope.

AeroBarrier is an aerosol sealant used to fill gaps in the envelope smaller than ½ inch. Those tiny holes can make or break the envelope. The process of air sealing involves a blower door to pressurize the home and finely tuned nozzles to spray the sealant throughout the interior of the home.

AeroBarrier sealant is a non-toxic, water based formula that is GreenGuard Gold certified with Ultra-low VOC content and no off-gassing. While you don’t want to be inside the home during the sealing, it’s safe to resume work 30 minutes after the process is complete.

How the Air Sealing Process Works

The process of air sealing is fairly straightforward.

We start out by covering up openings that won’t be sealed during the application. After the larger holes are covered up, we then set up the AeroBarrier Connect System: blower door, nozzles, hoses, fans, and the computer control system.

The space is then pressurized using a blower door and then the computer control system runs the remainder of the process. Temperature, pressure, humidity and the application are all controlled by the computer system. Once everything is set up and running properly, we can see the airtightness results in action through the control panel.

Attention to Detail

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 21:52:10 GMT

Driveway Finishes

Hardworking crew putting the finishing touches on the driveway. Is there anything more satisfying than smoothing out the finish on concrete?

Little Luxuries

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 20:29:00 GMT

Radiant Heat Driveway

Radiant heat automatically controlled based on the current climate keeps the slab tempered and the driveway free of ice and snow.

BS* + Beer at Beacon Hill

cassandra@kalabuilt.com (Cassandra Gillespie) — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 15:22:09 GMT

Joe Nickels and David Hawkins really hit it out of the park at this month’s BS* + Beer Event!

We hosted the event at our Beacon Hill High Performance Home. The guys presented to a group of about 40 people: architects, contractors, electricians, and other trades. They discussed the ins and outs of the structurally insulated panels (SIP) wall system and how Passive House principles have played a major role in designing and building this high performance home.

It was HOT, but despite the heat we had a great turnout. Thank you again to everyone who attended. It’s a great feeling knowing that there are so many like minded people in Kansas City interested in high performance building.

And we're framing!

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 17:30:20 GMT

Framing the Kansas City Passive House

We are currently framing the home, the phase of construction where the home really begins to take shape.

We’re using a Structurally Insulated Panel (SIP) wall assembly at the Beacon Hill High Performance Home. SIPs are a prefabricated wall system with a layer of insulation “sandwiched” between two layers of structural panels.

Using a SIP wall assembly makes the process of framing a home much more efficient. Prefabricated materials are generally manufactured using machines and lasers so as we assemble the wall system, it’s a much more precise construction.

The walls are the insulation in a SIP wall assembly. This allows us to have a higher insulation level within a smaller wall system. A continuous SIP assembly can cover a much larger space without joins, seams, and connections between panels compared to a traditional wall . This creates less “holes” in the air barrier and allows for a quicker assembly.

Fairmount Goes Solar

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 19:28:35 GMT

And just like that, the Fairmount high performance home goes solar!

We recently installed a 14 KW solar array on the Fairmount project - a custom home we're building in Kansas City's West Plaza neighborhood.

In-Wall Toilets are the Bomb

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 20:51:07 GMT

In-Wall Toilets

Nobody really wants to talk about toilets but there are better, ahem, solutions...

Absolutely Nothin' Blowing in the Wind

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 20:59:02 GMT

Superior Ductwork

All steel ductwork, insulated from the outside, and sealed to .05 static pressure helps keep the air in the house pure.

Ductwork provided and installed by EK Energy .

Foundation Insulation

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 16:22:03 GMT

Insulating the Foundation of the Kansas City Passive House

Brandon, David, and Griffin, the High Performance Cowboys as we like to call them, were out braving the heat at the Beacon Hill project last week.

They worked on insulating the foundation which is a crucial step in building a high performance home - one that is often skipped in a traditional home build.

The insulation and poly vapor barrier they installed will help isolate from thermal transmission between the ground and the home.

We’ve all been in traditional basements and experienced dramatic fluctuations in temperature. Adding insulation below the basement slab and on the interior side of the foundation walls will help ensure the heat is kept in during winter and out during the summer. We're building a space that will be comfortable all year long.

Next step: pouring more concrete!

Camera. Lights. Action?

Sun, 20 Jun 2021 21:02:21 GMT

Rockhill Electric Installs Exterior Lighting at Fairmount

The lighting crew locating uplighting on the porches to make sure the house glows without blinding the neighborhood.

Lighting installed by Rockhill Electric .

We have foundation walls at Beacon Hill

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 17:34:40 GMT

Building the Foundation for Kansas City's Passive House

Things are progressing at the Beacon Hill High Performance Home

In partnership with ABI Corporation , we officially have foundation walls!

The concrete foundation will need to cure for at least 30 days to prevent micro-fractures and increase durability of the foundation.

Too often we see backfilling starting quickly after the foundation is poured which can lead to a higher likelihood of foundation issues in the future.

In order to build a durable, healthy, and sustainable home we have to take proper care of the foundation. Before backfilling, we will also waterproof and insulate the foundation.

Liftin' Me Higher

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 19:12:29 GMT

That trek from the garage to the master bedroom is a lot easier in an elevator.

Craftsmanship on Display

Tue, 25 May 2021 21:41:06 GMT

Custom Cabinetry at Fairmount

Beautiful, hand-crafted cabinetry ready for install.

Cabinetry by Hinge Woodworks .

Getting Started: Footings & Capillary Break

Wed, 12 May 2021 19:36:54 GMT

First Steps Underway for Kansas City's Passive House

In partnership with ABI Corporation , we’ve officially dug and poured the trench footings for the foundation at the Beacon Hill High Performance Home.

Pictured here you see the ABI Corporation team laying the form work and structural steel required for pouring the concrete footings.

Newbie to the construction world?

No worries! The purpose of footings is to provide support for the foundation and prevent the structure from settling.

Footings are necessary for supporting the structure and preventing uneven settling, especially in areas with poor soil quality. Since they are the lowest point of the foundation structure, footings are exposed to moisture from the earth that can wick up the foundation wall causing unwanted moisture in the home.

Moisture in the home means humidity.

It's humid enough outside in Kansas City, so how do we prevent unwanted humidity in the home?

How do we prevent humidity in a passive house?

At Kala, preventing moisture from wicking up the foundation wall is a high priority during construction. We utilize what’s called “capillary break” to provide a barrier between the footings and the stem wall. Without a capillary break the moisture from the footings would be sucked into the wall - leading to more water vapor in the home. More water vapor means more humidity.

Adding capillary break is a step commonly skipped by typical construction companies. This is one of the many steps in construction that truly separates a Kala home from the rest.

The white material shown in the photos below, Drylock Extreme, serves as the capillary break for the Beacon Hill High Performance Home. The capillary break is added after we pour the trench footings before the foundation wall is completed.

Continue following along with us as we progress in the construction process of the Beacon Hill High Performance Home! Next step, completing the foundation.

Rock Steady

Wed, 05 May 2021 19:06:16 GMT

Building Differently

We could use standard wood frames for pocket doors instead of aluminum and steel. But we didn't.

Kala Kicks off a New Passive House in Beacon Hill

Tue, 04 May 2021 22:08:14 GMT

Breaking Ground on Missouri's First Passive House

It may look like just a big hole in the ground, but that hole means that exciting things are happening in Beacon Hill!

We’ve officially broken ground on a new custom high performance home - the Beacon Hill project has begun!

Follow along as we progress through the build process.

Next step, foundation with ABI Corporation.

Bigger is Stronger

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 20:52:26 GMT

Fat Kala Walls

Nothing cements the reality of a new home quite like the foundation coming out of the ground. There are many elements to consider when designing the foundation, but all things being equal an 8” wall is much stronger and more durable than the required minimum 6” wall. Just one of many small improvements that can add decades of life to a home.

Galvanized Supporters

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 20:54:10 GMT

Hot-Dipped Galvanized Steel Support

It’s important to consider every aspect of the foundation when building a 200-year home. Steel provides support to concrete footers and foundation walls, but over a long period of time moisture can oxidize and compromise both the untreated steel and the concrete it supports. Taking the very unusual step to hot-dip galvanize the rebar prior to placement ensures its integrity and supporting strength will endure for the long haul.

Hot-dipped galvanized steel is not to be confused with any type of epoxy coated rebar which is widely used. You can watch an interesting video here and you can learn more from Wikipedia and from the industry association .

Going Geothermal

Sat, 13 Feb 2021 20:55:14 GMT

The Beginnings of a Geothermal Heat Pump

Building a green home is different from the very exciting first day. The wells for the closed loop geothermal heat pump are drilled and the loops are installed before any excavation occurs. Instead of contributing to the urban heat island the home is ready for decades of using the earth itself as a heat sink, lowering energy use for heating and cooling by up to 65% through this system alone.

Learn more about Geothermal here

Window Nerds Rejoice

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 19:19:54 GMT

High Performance Triple Pane Windows

U factor 0.15, SHGC 0.41, Visible Transmittance 0.55. These windows absolutely rock. Trust us.

Maximum Insulation

Thu, 05 Nov 2020 19:43:27 GMT

Continuous Insulation

Rim joists insulated with an airtight seal at R-36 mean a warm and cozy home in the absolute worst weather.

Insulation provided by A+ Insulation .

Rock Solid

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 22:48:29 GMT

Waterproofing the Foundation

Waterproofing coupled galvanized rebar yields a long-lasting foundation.

Drillin' for Energy

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 22:57:29 GMT

Geothermal Wells at the West Plaza High Performance House

The hardworking crew from Evans Energy drill the geothermal wells that will use 90% less carbon energy for heating and cooling over the next 100 years.

Fading Boundaries. Art & Building.

Fri, 04 Nov 2016 19:40:12 GMT

Art & Building

“I was interested in art but I grew up in a constant state of learning about architecture - studying how spaces look and feel,” explained Joseph excitedly as we set up the video cameras to record the 20 hour process of turning a blank canvas into a work of art.

Joseph’s studio in his Kansas City family home was cluttered with variously sized canvases and paintings still in the works. His beautiful murals of churches and family portraits with bright colors and contrasting shading were hung on the walls, the paint texture playing beautifully with the light. This space, humble but perfect, was where creativity could flow free, and art and architecture could combine.

An empty lot and an empty canvas both present an opportunity to make people see beauty in the world.

- Joseph Almendariz

A few days prior to the encounter with Joseph, five Prairie Design Build team members sat in their office around a glass table trying to answer the abstract question - how do we visually depict the potential of a house if we haven’t built it yet?

The PDB team was working on drawing attention to an empty lot they owned that was ready to be built upon. The lot, located three minutes from KU Med and nestled in a lovely cul-de-sac, had incredible potential for a beautiful new family home. The team had floor plans and renderings to showcase for the site, but these didn’t quite align with the fact that the home was not built yet and had no input from a client's own imagination.

As with most unchartered ideas, David spoke up with a little hesitation, “I know an artist who does really good architectural painting, maybe he could paint us something beautiful?” The rest of the team unanimously agreed that a painting represented exactly what PDB stood for - meticulous detail, attention to beauty, and craftsmanship. That’s what the lot had the potential to hold.

So, the next day we set up our cameras and Joseph began to paint. Joseph explains the power of painting, saying, “I think there is that creative spirit in everybody and that art stimulates that creativity and allows people with other talents and the means to create things to be pushed a little farther than they would of without that inspiration. I see art as the catalyst in architecture.”

His process is extremely meticulous as we see in the video. He covers the canvas and then as quickly as possible places the elements of the house on the canvas. To get the scale of the building he paints people into the scene, a near impossibility to see in a video that compresses 20 hours of diligent brush strokes into two and a half minutes of video. We can see when the idea of the house changes in Joseph’s mind and he alters his vision on the canvas. The colors begin to take shape and beautiful landscaping comes in. “There are colors that focus your eyes. I’ll put a little yellow flower near a wood element with sunlight sparkling on it to allow your eyes to explore and find correlations between things that you may not have noticed.” We notice the way the Prairie Design Build windows glimmer, how the wood around the veranda is rounded, and the colors between building materials add visual appeal to the home. Joseph brings art to an empty lot.

Painting stimulates creativity in the viewer whereas a photo just showcases a thought.

- Joseph Almendariz

As the painting comes to a close we see beauty unlike any we could capture in a photograph. “I think the paint allows more inspiration, it allows the viewers imagination to continue the thought, but a photograph, the thought is what it is. Painting stimulates creativity in the viewer whereas a photo just showcases a thought.”

Four days after we first set up the cameras to capture Joseph’s work, it was time to collect them and begin to put together the time lapse. As we were closing up shop, Joseph explained what his hope was for the painting, saying, “My goal is to paint hope, joy, peace, love, even if it’s not exactly seen in the painting. The painting should stimulate creativity in the home owner and maybe push the home owner further in their design of their home on that lot.”

And with that Joesph concluded that original thought David had glimpsed in his mind at the Prairie Design Build office five days earlier - let's see what we can do with the area that fades between building and art.

Mission Cliffs is High Performance

Mon, 20 Jun 2016 20:56:52 GMT

Comfortable Urban Living Meets Passive House

Prairie Design Build is proud to offer the first Passive House with Google Fiber in the world, right here in the urban core of Kansas City. The Passive House will offer the lowest maintenance costs and the greatest interior comfort possible. This high performance home is designed to the most energy efficient building standard in the world. When intelligent design, maximum comfortability, lowest energy consumption possible, and modern practical living are your desires, we have your home. Welcome to the Mission Cliffs Passive House project.

Passive House is High Performance

Comfortable and intelligent home design means high performance design at Prairie Design Build. Through the use of an integrated design and construction process, architectural beauty and low energy consumption are paramount. Every design decision is influenced by its impact of practical living, low building maintenance, and interior comfort.

Envelope Performance Specifications

Roof R-80
Air Leakage <0.6ACH
Wall R-42
Windows R-7
Foundation R-18
Slab R-18

Practical Living

The Mission Cliffs Passive House is conveniently located 1 mile west of the KU Medical center . With a Walk Score® of 66 , the Mission Cliffs neighborhood is within walking distance of many parks, schools, restaurants, and grocery stores. Downtown, Westport, and the historic Plaza area are all within a short 5 minute drive. Located close to many shops, cafes, bike trails, and public transit, the home is right in the middle of all the Kansas City action.

Low Building Maintenance

Low building maintenance – for life. Passive House design is a stress-free building. Careful design of the exterior shell of the home ensures a long lasting, high performing building. Mechanical systems are small and simple, windows are triple paned, and exterior siding is made of durable fiber cement. The airtight structure with thick amounts of insulation ensures no moisture issues, and a mechanical ventilation system maintains the best indoor air quality possible.

Interior Comfort

The Mission Cliffs Passive House is the most comfortable home on the market. There are no cold drafts blowing through the home, and no cold surfaces by windows or doors. Superior indoor air quality is delivered though a ventilation system to your bedrooms and living spaces. Thick insulation layers, airtight exterior shell, and high performance windows mean a quiet interior space. The interior floor plans are inviting, functional, and entertaining – simply stunning.

Stay tuned for upcoming news, field notes, videos and pictures of the Mission Cliffs Passive House.

Mission Cliffs Update

Thu, 16 Jun 2016 19:39:34 GMT

An Update on the Mission Cliffs Passive Houses

Just before the new year, ground was broken on two of our lots in the Mission Cliffs neighborhood. Combining modern and sophisticated architecture with proven energy reducing strategies, these two 2,000 square-foot single family homes will be the lowest energy-consuming homes in Kansas City. Our Facebook posts have highlighted the work that has been completed on the first home since the groundbreaking. This month’s blog post provides a full timeline of how the project has come together and what work is left before the first model home is ready in August.

During February the footings, foundation walls, and floor slabs were put in prior to the prefabricated wall panels being delivered in March. High density foam along with a polyethylene liner was placed underneath the floor slab, creating a thermally broken foundation assembly. David Hawkins discussed the system in our first video of the progress . In addition to the floor system, there is high density foam between the poured foundation walls and framed interior walls that will aid in temperature control for the home.

In March the prefabricated wall panels for the first home were packaged and delivered to the job site by BuildSMART from Lawrence, KS. The panels make up the entire exterior shell of the homes and consist of standard 2x4 framing, sheathed with plywood that sits behind six inches of rigid foam insulation and a ZIP board shell. All windows and exterior doors in these panels came installed and saved weeks of labor for our crew if the home had been framed traditionally.

Once the walls were up, roof trusses were installed and the home was dry-in. The trusses feature extended heels that allow for more insulation and help eliminate another area of common thermal bridging. This is one of the many details that will help to keep these homes within a five degree temperature range year-round.

By the end of April we had our first of three open houses with guests ranging from architects and designers to the Kansas City, Kansas mayors office and Chamber of Commerce representatives. Once the rough-in of plumbing, electrical, and HVAC is complete, we will host our second open house outlining the unique mechanical systems that will help keep energy costs low in our homes.

In the last month we have conducted blower door testing to measure the air tightness of the home. The test measures the number of air exchanges per hour when the house is pressurized at 50 pascals. A regular code home changes air about seven times per hour, while the Passive House standards require less than 0.6 exchanges per hour. Our home achieved 0.52 air exchanges per hour on the very first test! We plan on retesting after plumbing, electrical, and HVAC rough-in.

Just over a week ago, the wall panel system for the second lot at Mission Cliffs was delivered. Construction is expected to begin on that home in the coming weeks, as we look to finish up the first home by August. Stay tuned for the next post featuring the mechanical systems in the first home and the progress at the second speculative house at Mission Cliffs!

104th Street Exterior Remodel

Mon, 15 Feb 2016 21:07:29 GMT

Exterior Remodel on 104th Street

Our clients’ new “Blue House” was regarded as an eyesore among the neighbors, much in need of updating. The homeowners fell in love with the shape of the house – mid-century modern – and wanted to bring it to the 21st Century. They made plans to completely remodel the home, including exterior, 1st and lower level, and landscape – the exterior facelift was first on their list.

The divided garage was a constant hazard for the homeowners, as they were continually backing their vehicles into the large support between the two garage doors. The painted batten board look was also too outdated.

Few access points existed from the backyard into the home. The siding was rotting. The windows and doors were all very leaky. This was not a healthy or functional home for a young family.

The tiny deck off of the kitchen was virtually unusable, except for standing. You can see the low roof overhang. This was a potential safety hazard for our tall homeowner entering and leaving the home.

The change in landscape elevation is very apparent. The yard was filled with loose landscaping stones for a “garden” that contained mostly weeds. Here, you can see the existing wooden deck with no guard rail.

The size of the deck was increased substantially, and is much better suited for a young family. The laundry/mudroom addition now provides direct access into the home and to the garage. Horizontal fiber cement and cedar sheathing replaced the vertical batten boards. New windows and air sealing of the exterior walls are energy efficient improvements that provide superior comfort and energy savings.

The original wall and door to the garage, as well as the concrete around it, and were made flush with the wall to the kitchen. This change provides more space off of the kitchen for the laundry and mudroom. Cedar siding against two shades of grey contrast color and texture. The addition of a sliding door from the deck into the home aids in traffic flow.

Due to restrictions, wooden decks are only allowed so close to property lines. This obstacle was overcome by creating a wooden deck/concrete patio combination, as wood couldn’t be too close, but concrete was allowed. This not only creates a unique design, but allows for a much larger deck area.

The cable rails provide a sleek design element while also providing safety for the homeowners and guests.

Differences in landscape elevations of the property made the concrete transition to the yard difficult. Utilizing some brain power and determination, steps were incorporated to create an entrance to the deck from the yard.

Tongue and groove cedar lumber was chosen to contrast against the gray siding to provide changes in texture and materiality. A custom cedar porch with cable handrail was added off from the living room. Exterior sconces were added to provide indirect, romantic lighting The roofline was cutback, so that homeowners didn’t hit their heads upon entering the home. New windows and sliding doors provide access from multiple interior rooms. Solar exposure from the south make heating in the winter a breeze.

The city does not allow sheds, which was another obstacle. A basement workshop was created with garage door entry that allows easy access to the yard and storage. The large Concrete patio provides an additional visiting area with access from the basement office and recreation room. The original windows and doors were changed into a double French door and window to allow daylight and accessibility.

Textural and material contrast were further developed through the use of ledge cut dry stack stone. Three materials of cladding are used - cedar, fiber cement, and stone – to create a totally unique, modern look that neighbors now envy.

2015 Remodel of the Year Awards

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 21:07:31 GMT

Remodel of the Year Awards

Prairie Design Build took home Gold at the Kansas City NARI 2015 REMY (Remodel of the Year) Awards.

PDB went two for two, winning Gold in both the Exterior Remodel $100,000-$200,000 category for the 104th Exterior Remodel and in the Detached Structure category for the Little Blue Pool, Pool House, and Entryway.

Winners were selected by a panel of judges comprised of experts from within the remodeling industry. Entries were judged on functionality, problem solving, aesthetics, craftsmanship, innovation, degree of difficulty, and entry presentation.

Each entry was scored based on how well the project addressed the following questions:

To what degree were the expressed needs of the client met?
To what degree does the project enhance the existing structures functionally?
To what degree does the project enhance the existing structure aesthetically?
Is there evidence of superior craftsmanship?
Were innovative uses of materials and/or methods of construction used in the project?
Did the contractor overcome difficult obstacles?

We are proud and honored to be recognized for the hard work of our team.

25 Under 25

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 20:18:32 GMT

25 Under 25 Awards

Prairie Design Build has been recognized as part of Thinking Bigger Business Media, Inc.’s 2016 Class of the 25 Under 25 Award.

In its 15th year, the awards program recognizes 25 outstanding Kansas City businesses with under 25 employees. Until the 25 Under 25 Awards, no formal recognition program existed in the Kansas City area that specifically targeted business with fewer than 25 employees.

In order to be nominated for this award, companies must employ fewer than 25 full-time employees, operate a for-profit business for three or more years, and be located within the Greater Kansas City area.

Qualified nominees must then provide additional support materials that are reviewed by an independent panel of judges consisting of area business leaders. The panel reviews the applicants and selects the final 25 honorees according to financial stability, ability to overcome adversity and challenges, community involvement, distinguishing or defining characteristics, and company vision. Nearly 1,500 nominations were submitted.

We are deeply honored and excited to be recognized with our fellow 25 Under 25 Award winners. More information and the full list of this year’s winners can be found here.

Lake Quivira Passive House - High Performance Window Installation

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 20:18:29 GMT

High Performance Window Installation

Proper window installation is critical to Passive House construction. As the windows are the only “hole” in the building envelope, ensuring the air barrier is properly sealed and remains continuous around all the windows in the home is crucial.

In the below video, the high performance window installation at the Lake Quivira Passive House is reviewed by Building Scientist David Hawkins.

The window installation process begins by prepping the window buck system with Prosoco Fast Flash and Joint & Seam Filler. These products are a liquid applied flashing membrane that simultaneously provide waterproofing and airtightness. The two products come in sausage-like packages and are applied using a specialized caulk gun. Prosoco Joint & Seam Filler (“Pink sausage,” as we call it on site) is first applied in areas where the seams are a bit thicker, such as corners and gaps. Fast Flash (“red sausage”) is then gunned onto the outside of the substrate before being troweled overtop of the entire outside surface.

The Prosoco flashing system is incredibly sticky, so we wait to apply it to the inside surface of the window buck until immediately prior to window installation. By waiting, it won’t collect any particles or dirt that might create voids in the air barrier.

Location of the windows on the home and their placement within the wall are both very science driven. We have a healthy window buck of twelve inches, which allows us some flexibility in where we place our windows inside the wall cavity. The Lake Quivira Passive House windows are installed in the center of the window buck. This is the highest performing, lowest heat transfer location in the assembly. If the windows were installed flush with the outside of the window buck, the convection currents of the winds on the exterior would have increased heat transfer. Conversely, if they were installed on the inside, the same thing would happen on the interior. This decision can be illustrated much the same as wearing a coat with a hood in the winter time. When you put the hood over your head, you notice that your face feels a lot warmer. That is because it’s sheltered from the winds and convection currents that would make your face feel a lot colder.

The massive Passive House certified windows are extremely heavy, and required four guys from our crew just to maneuver and lift them into place. They are triple-paned, argon-filled, and have very large frames. Alone, these windows have an R-value of around eleven in the center of glass. Taking into account our window detailing and installation methods, we have an overall R-value of seven to eight, depending on the glazing to window frame ratio. More glazing area compared to frame equates to higher R-values.

Typical windows use nailing fins to attach them to the home. There are no nailing fins on these windows. Instead, metal straps attach to the window frame in order to secure it to the window buck. This allows us to place the window exactly where we want, which is in the middle of the wall. Everything lines up, as our thermal insulation layer coincides with the window panes, giving us optimum thermal performance.

The windows must now be incorporated into the interior air barrier membrane. This is done by using a very high performance tape to attach the interior air barrier membrane directly to the window frame. Rather than relying on spray foam around the windows, which can expand and contract, eventually causing voids in the air barrier, this high performing tape allows for movement without cracking. This tight seal ensures our air barrier is continuous around the entire home.

A key characteristic of the Lake Quivira high performance window installation is the foam that we have installed around all of our window and door frames. The frames of the windows and doors are the weakest part and allow the most heat transfer. To combat this issue, we installed strips of foam around the frame, which greatly reduces heat loss for a better overall performance. The foam is installed on both the interior and exterior sides of the frame. By sandwiching the frame on both sides with foam, we are able to increase the performance of the windows and doors by about 20%.

Superior window installation methods are critical to ensuring continuity of the air barrier throughout the home. The windows on the Lake Quivira Passive House have been installed using techniques that will ensure the home stays airtight, energy-efficient, and comfortable for long to come.

Little Blue Pool, Pool House, and Entryway

Sun, 15 Nov 2015 20:18:29 GMT

Little Blue Outdoor Living Space

Our clients for this project sought to create a vacation-like destination for their family on their property. Also very involved in the community, they desired a place to host large groups for entertaining. Plans for the addition of a pool, pool deck, pool house with spa and outdoor kitchen, and also an entryway reconstruction were all drawn up. Every detail was to be thoughtfully designed and respectful of the 100+ year-old home.

There was ample space to make the homeowner’s dream a reality. Executing the project beyond their satisfaction was to be challenging, as the homeowner desired a 4-sided infinity pool, very few of which exist in the entire world. Assembling a team of local experts with the knowledge and experience to be able to execute the project was a daunting task. The existing entryway served its purpose as an entry from the front to back of the house and from the garage to inside the home. However, the space was very small and felt isolated, more like a bottleneck than a passageway for traffic.

The beautiful old home came complete with overgrowth and three-story fire escape. A drastic change in landscape elevation along the side of the home would prove difficult to making the homeowners’ dreams a reality. More on that to come.

From the front of the existing entry prior to reconstruction, you can see that an attempt was made to retain the look from the home. However, the stone was completely abandoned, and compared to the grandeur of the home, the entry appeared small and out of place. Inside, the entryway served its purpose as a passageway, but functionality was limited, as walkways and hallways were small, dark, and cramped.

And so the work begins....

After only excavation, the project is already massive in size.

Forms for the concrete walls are constructed and set in place. The concrete walls are poured, measuring as tall as 14-ft.

As previously mentioned, an extreme change in landscape elevation existed where the pool was to be built. This created a large obstacle, as taller support walls needed to be built, increasing the amount of gravel initially anticipated.

Ultimately, several thousand tons of gravel were needed to create a uniform surface for the pool.

The amount of gravel used actually ended up aiding in the final design of the pool, as the gravel not only provided additional support, but also promoted superior drainage, ensuring the pool will be secure for long to come.

The 14-ft. concrete walls are overlaid with Battleship Grey limestone veneer to match as closely to the existing home as possible. Looking up from in front of the wall is quite magnificent.

The pool house construction begins with the forms for the concrete footings. The height of the walls compared to a 9-ft. ladder illustrate that this is going to be one impressive pool house. Ceiling heights inside the structure extend to upwards of 10 feet. The exterior of the pool house is sealed using Prosoco Fast Flash, which simultaneously air seals and waterproofs the exterior. This product not only helps the durability of the structure, but also aids in energy efficiency and a comfortable interior.

The pool house is nearing completion, as it is attached to the stone column supports.

The original entryway has been completely deconstructed, and construction of the new entryway is underway. As you can see, the footprint from the original structure is being increased substantially.

The general shape of the original entryway has been kept, but that is about it. The final result of the new entryway is going to be much more impressive.

The most difficult obstacle faced on this project was mimicking the new material to the aesthetic of the original 100-year-old home. Everything from the stonework to the soffit detail was created to match the existing home. The new entrance is wider, taller, and much more closely matches the existing home.

Free-standing, custom-built, “floating” closets were installed with an LED toe kick strip, which gives the illusion that they are floating above the floor. The cappuccino tile is laid in a herringbone pattern and is heated underneath. Trough LED uplighting along the beams wash the white ceiling.

Custom-built structural beams provide architectural interest within the entryway. The white oak beams provide a striking contrast against the white ceilings. An additional hint of texture and dimension is added by the bead-board used for the ceilings.

Custom-built ipe pergolas were constructed from the entrance to the new pool house. Eventually, wisteria will grow onto the trellis on the pergola to create a natural cover.

The ivory travertine patio stone chosen has a porous, slip-resistant surface, making it perfect for a pool deck application. There are also no steps on the entire patio from the entrance to the pool deck. This is not only safer for the homeowner’s children, but also makes the entire outdoor area handicap accessible.

Klearwall windows and doors on the entry are triple-pane and Passive House Certified. The doors contain multi-point locks within the hardware.

Stone columns run from the entrance to the pool house. The nearly 9-foot-tall side windows and 8-ft. glass doors on both sides of the entrance allow for one to see from the front of the home to the end of the pool deck through the columns. Extreme glass heights are possible because they are triple-paned. The uplighting on the columns indirectly illuminates the patio, and creates a romantic, resort-like ambiance.

Lighting above the mosaic tile wall cascades down over the multi-colored tiles, creating a waterfall effect. The countertops are also underlit. Sonos Audio is incorporated throughout the project and both the pool and hot tub are WIFI-enabled. The homeowners could power up the system from Hong Kong, if desired.

In order to provide an infinity edge on all sides, the pool had to be perfectly level. This was accomplished through close collaboration between the builder, architect, fabricator, and stone mason. With the water flowing evenly over all sides of the pool, this 4-sided infinity pool is one of very few in the entire world.

The twilight sky is perfectly reflected on the glass-like surface of the water. If you didn’t know any better, you would think you could swim right off into the sky.

The stone wall was built using Battleship Grey Limestone veneer. Concrete copings sit on top of the wall. The stones surrounding the pool are beach pebbles from Baja California and were hand-selected for the infinity pool border. Virginia Mist granite copings were used for the edge of the infinity pool.

The pool house comprises an outdoor bathroom, shower, cedar steam room, and full outdoor kitchen – all with heating and cooling capabilities.

The outdoor kitchen features black granite countertops and stainless steel beverage refrigerator, grill, and farmhouse sink with polished chrome faucet. The Permapanel cabinetry appears like wood, but is actually an extremely hard plastic much more durable for outdoor applications. The 3/4” Vitreous Glass tile wall is made to order at the exact dimensions needed. Every tile is individually numbered in an exact location.

A sauna was custom-built within the pool house. Cedar was used for the walls, ceiling, and benches. The variation in the shades of the cedar lumber contrasts with the uniform 3x36” black tile floor.

Small LED lights provide just enough illumination to be able to see inside the sauna while still being able to relax. LED lighting was used throughout this entire project, as it is not only energy-efficient, but provides more lumens per wattage and a longer lifetime.

A custom lime green vanity in the pool house bathroom is made of Corian, which is translucent and glows when backlit. The shape of the vanity mirrors the bathroom ceiling detail.

The bathroom vanity extends into the shower through the glass shower wall. Here, you can see the backlit Corian glowing inside the bathroom.

White subway tile was installed in the pool house shower with chrome plumbing fixtures. The overhead shower has a rain shower head, and there is also a hand shower accessory.

A corner bench and chrome mop faucet sit opposite from the shower. This added functionality of the faucet came about from a request by the homeowner.

The clients are thrilled with the results of their resort-like space. They love spending time with their family, and are proud to entertain guests at their new backyard getaway.

View images of this job and more of our work on our Portfolio page.

Lake Quivira Passive House - Blower Door Test

Tue, 22 Sep 2015 19:18:28 GMT

Testing the Airtightness of the Lake Quivira Passive House

Prairie Design Build brought in Mary English of Small Step Energy Solutions to test the airtightness of the Lake Quivira Passive House.

Airtightness directly impacts the energy efficiency of a house, and is also linked to a comfortable and healthy interior living space. Many people who complain that their home is just old a drafty don’t realize there are steps that can be made to tighten up the house. That is where Small Step comes in.

Small Step Energy Solutions is a certified energy rater and conducts home energy audits to help homeowners make energy efficient and green improvements to their home and lifestyles. Performing a variety tests, Small Step helps homeowners pinpoint exactly where improvements are needed and outlines solutions to increase the comfortability and healthiness of their home.

In this video, Mary English performs a Blower Door Test to verify the airtightness of the Lake Quivira Passive House. After running the test and calculating the results, the Lake Quivira Passive House was one of the tightest homes Small Step had ever tested - including some high performance new construction homes.

A final test will need to be run once the final floor insulation and interior finishes have been installed, but the Lake Quivira Passive House is already testing among the tightest houses in the area.

For more information on the other tests and services that Small Step Energy Solutions provides, please visit their website: http://smallstepenergy.com/home-energy-audits/

Lake Quivira Passive House - Air Barrier Testing

Tue, 22 Sep 2015 19:18:24 GMT

Testing the Air Control Layer at the Lake Quivira Passive House

The interior air barrier installation is complete at the Lake Quivira Passive House. We now need to identify any voids that may exist and seal any cracks, seams, or holes. The PDB Crew did a great job of sealing during installation, methodically going through all of the details and junctions of materials changing. However, until we perform a few field testing techniques, there is no way to verify that every penetration is secured.

The video below shows Building Scientist David Hawkins performing multiple testing techniques to isolate and seal penetrations in the interior air barrier.

The process begins by putting the home under a depressurization state using a Blower Door. This depressurization forces outside air into the home through any voids in the air barrier. There are multiple methods to isolate locations of air leakage, some being as simple as using our physical senses of hearing, feeling, and seeing.

Many of the holes are so small, that the air coming through a hole produces a whistle sound. Walking past certain locations in the home, one can physically hear air entering the home. Likewise, by running a hand across certain areas, one can physically feel air blowing through very fine cracks and seams.

After initially addressing the larger penetrations that one can hear or feel, further identification becomes very difficult. At this point, we employ some field tools paired with our sense of sight.

One of the special characteristics of the Lake Quivira Passive House is that it has a crawl space in which we are able to test the floor air barrier. The floor is one of the more difficult surfaces upon which to recognize leaks. The technique we use utilizes a theater fog machine to fill the entire crawl space with smoke. While under a depressurization state, the home sucks the smoke from the crawl space up through any holes in the floor air barrier. Any place where smoke enters the home gets sealed.

Another technique that utilizes field tools and our eyes involves using a lighter around the interior walls. In locations where there may be a leak that can’t be pinpointed, we use a lighter and see how the flame reacts. Any spot where the flame dances in the opposite direction of the wall is immediately secured.

Finally, the most precise tool used to identify air penetrations is an infrared camera. The camera recognizes air temperature differences in a certain location. Anywhere the is a difference in temperature between the air inside the home and the air entering the home shows up on the camera. The infrared camera identified tiny cracks in some existing sealant around a bottom plate, and was then resealed.

The air barrier needs to be as tight as possible, as it is a vital part of our energy efficient home. With all of these techniques and the help of our Blower Door, we were able to isolate and seal remaining cracks, holes, and seams throughout the air barrier, making the Lake Quivira Passive House even tighter.

Mission Cliffs Passive House

Fri, 04 Sep 2015 19:18:26 GMT

Passive Houses Coming to Mission Cliffs

The wheels are turning at our Mission Cliffs lots, as initial site clearing was recently completed. We are excited to announce that three new Passive House construction projects will soon begin on these cleared lots, and are available for purchase.

Eric Schleicher, CLC

Wed, 08 Jul 2015 19:18:23 GMT

A Big Announcement!

Prairie Design Build is pleased to announce that Eric Schleicher has recently achieved the prestigious Certified Lead Carpenter status. A Certified Lead Carpenter (CLC) designation proves the individual’s superior knowledge, technical comprehension, and skill.

NARI’s CLC program measures skill and expertise valued not only by other professional carpenters, but by consumers, as well. Highly respected by those who have achieved the designation, the CLC program identifies professional carpenters who have undergone comprehensive review and testing in areas of business, technical, communication, and quality assurance. In addition, they must also adhere to NARI’s strict Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. The NARI Certification program assesses the knowledge and skills of the carpenter in over 21 task areas, including business basics, job site safety, tools, building codes and construction law, building site layout, and all trade skills required in constructing your home. Attaining this certification requires the candidate to have been working full time in the field for at least 5 years— two as a lead carpenter—and passing a comprehensive assessment exam. Preparation for this exam takes up to 16 weeks of intensive study and self-examination.

Congratulations to Eric on this prestigious accomplishment!

Lake Quivira Passive House - High Performance Wall Assembly

Tue, 26 May 2015 19:18:22 GMT

High Performance Wall Assembly

The exterior wall assembly is nearing completion at the Lake Quivira Passive House. This multi-layer envelope contains superior insulation, aids in airtightness, and is designed to protect against the elements. Watch Building Scientist David Hawkins take us through the composition of the wall, explaining each of the layers in the video below.

The system begins with a weather membrane over the existing sheathing. This initial layer is continuous around the entire home and ties into the Prosoco flashing material on the windows and doors. The membrane shields the structure from the elements and gives a layer of airtightness.

The next components in the wall system are two layers of 3” EPS rigid foam insulation. This foam is installed over the entire exterior surface of the home. Each piece is custom measured and cut to fit its precise location on the wall. We are mindful to tape every seam between the pieces of foam. Any gaps between the foam and existing structure are filled with spray foam to ensure a continuous insulation layer. The sealed seams on each layer of foam are offset of each other to ensure there are no voids in our insulation. This also aids airtightness.

A final layer of weather membrane is installed overtop to provide weatherproofing for the foam insulation. This membrane adds an additional component of airtightness and is the base layer for the rain screen system.

Special 10 inch screws were required to attach vertical furring strips on top of the foam. These screws go through the one inch furring strips, through six inches of foam, through one inch of sheathing, and then two inches into the studs. The furring strips provide support for the exterior siding. Horizontal furring strips were then installed, to which the vertical-run siding material attaches.

At the base of the wall below the vertical strips is a piece of coravent material. This material has holes that run through it that allow any moisture that gets behind our siding material to drain. The holes also allow air movement behind our siding throughout the cavities created by the vertical furring strips. The air movement ensures our wall assembly stays dry. The underside of the coravent has a thin mesh material, which keeps insects from getting behind our siding and burrowing into our wall. The coravent material is essential in ensuring a durable, long-lasting wall assembly.

The final layer of our rain screen and exterior wall assembly is the vertical-run rough cedar siding. Much of the material for the siding was reclaimed from the existing siding material. The exterior siding is close to completion, and the Lake Quivira Passive House will soon be weathertight.

Lake Quivira Passive House - EPS Exterior Insulation

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 19:18:21 GMT

Exterior Insulation of the Lake Quivira Passive House

The exterior rigid foam insulation has arrived at the Lake Quivira Passive House. For this retrofit project, we are utilizing EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) Type One foam. This type of product is very popular for insulation, and is commonly known as "styrofoam." The 3" thick sheets of foam will be installed to the exterior of the home in two layers for a total of 6" of exterior insulation. The seams between the sheets of each layer of foam will be taped to aid in airtightness. The vertical and horizontal seams of each layer will be installed offset of each other. There is a lot of styrofoam required to cover the entire home, about half of our garage's worth of foam. This product will perform excellently for our Midwest climate, and will keep the home warm in the wintertime and cool in the summertime.

Lake Quivira Passive House - Interior Air Barrier System

Mon, 06 Apr 2015 19:18:20 GMT

Interior Air Barrier

In this video, Building Scientist David Hawkins walks us through the interior air barrier system at the Lake Quivira Passive House and explains the importance of addressing the placement of the system early in the design phase prior to rough-in of framing, electrical, and insulation.

Defining what materials make up the air barrier is critical during the beginning phases of the project design. While the air barrier can exist at any point within the wall assembly, for this specific project an interior membrane system was chosen. The Lake Quivira Passive House utilizes an INTELLO smart vapor retarder, which also acts as an air barrier system.

The decision to use an interior membrane system requires a high level of detail during the design phase. The membrane must be continuous throughout the interior surface of the home. This means that in certain areas the membrane had to be installed prior to any rough-in of framing, electrical, or insulation. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to get our membrane into certain locations.

During the entire construction process we must be constantly mindful of our interior air barrier system, making sure to tape all seams and and keep it continuous throughout the home.

Kansas City High Performance Home Appraiser

Tue, 24 Feb 2015 20:18:18 GMT

In Search of an Appraiser!

A regular hurdle we have encountered when trying to build high performance homes in the Midwest is the homeowner financing for the project. Many interested homeowners are easily approved for home construction loans, however, most Midwestern banks do not recognize the added value associated with building to superior standards.

Banks essentially give home appraisals based on square footage and the typical market rate of similar sized homes in the area. They do not account for the increased durability (value) and lower energy consumption (savings) of homes that are built using high performance techniques.

Because high performance homes can cost 5-15% more to build, banks think that the higher cost should be reflected in more square footage rather than higher value. They see the project as more risky, and thus require more initial investment, in upwards of 30% or more. This puts an incredible burden on homeowners interested in building a high performance home.

Finally, we have a solution to this problem.

A local individual trained to identify the value associated with high performance homes could translate more appealing numbers to stubborn Midwestern banks.

We are in contact with an NMLS Course Provider & Instructor who can provide training locally to individuals interested in learning how to properly evaluate high performance homes.

If you are interested in becoming the only certified High Performance Home Appraiser in Kansas City and being on the forefront of this home building revolution, please contact us immediately at either 913.441.0000 or info@kalabuilt.com.

2014 REMY Silver All Star Award

Wed, 28 Jan 2015 20:18:17 GMT

90th Terrace Remodel Takes Home REMY

Last night at the 2014 REMY (Remodel of the Year) Awards, hosted by the Kansas City NARI Chapter, Prairie Design Build received the Silver All Star award for our 90th Terrace Project .

Held at Hallbrook Country Club, the evening began with a social hour in which entrants and their guests could visit and view image boards of all of the competition entries. The boards contained a summary of the project and listed the suppliers and vendors involved. Our guests, the 90th Terrace homeowners, were able to join us and share in the excitement of the evening.

At dinner, we visited with our guests and fellow NARI members before the awards ceremony began. The winners in each of the project categories were highlighted and summarized, displaying the before and after photos of the projects. Our project was entered into the Kitchen Remodel Over $120,000 category.

The 90th Terrace Kitchen Remodel was awarded the Silver Medal in its category, and was also given All Star recognition. Entries were judged on a 60-point system that included project overview, before and after photos, budget considerations, overall aesthetic appeal, and communication with the homeowner. In order to receive All Star status, the project had to score a total of at least 56.5 out of 60 points possible.

The evening was a great success. We appreciate the effort from our local NARI chapter in putting the event together and it running so smoothly. We are honored to receive our first award for our work and we’re eager to submit more award-winning projects in the future.

Lake Quivira Passive House - Demolition Wrap Up

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 20:18:16 GMT

Demolition at the Lake Quivira Passive House

Demolition is just about complete at the Lake Quivira Passive House. Down to the subfloor and studs, we have a blank canvass that is ready to be transformed into a beautiful high performance home. Watch David Schleicher summarize demolition and explain the next steps in the retrofit process, including window orientation , insulation , and the internal air barrier .

Lake Quivira Passive House - Project Walkthrough

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 20:18:15 GMT

Virtual Walkthrough of the LQ Passive House

We are excited to bring the first Passive House retrofit project to Kansas City! In this video, David Schleicher gives us a tour of the home in Lake Quivira, KS, explains the changes that will be made to the home during construction, and the techniques and difficulties faced to get this home to the Passive House standard.

Lake Quivira Passive House - Preliminary Blower Door Test

Thu, 18 Dec 2014 20:18:11 GMT

Blower Door Test at the Lake Quivira Passive House

The Prairie Design Build team is excited to bring the first Passive House retrofit to Kansas City, the Lake Quivira Passive House Project.

David Hawkins, our Building Scientist, completed a preliminary Blower Door test to measure the leakiness of the home and pinpoint the leak locations. Our findings were just as we expected - this is one leaky 50-year-old home.

Watch the video below to see David Hawkins perform the test, find leaks throughout the home, and describe the findings:

To perform the Blower Door test, we first close all exterior windows and doors, open all interior doors within the home, and turn off all mechanicals. After setting up the Blower Door in one of the main entries, we take measurements from two different portions of the test - pressurization and depressurization. Our goal is to change the pressure in the home from positive 75 Pascals (Pa) to negative 75 Pa. The software takes readings and derives a calculation for the amount of air leakage in the home.

The pressurization portion of the test consists of blowing air into the home through the Blower Door from the outside. Depressurization occurs when we blow air to the outside from inside of the home through the Blower Door. By doing this, we create a pressure difference between outside and inside the home. Nature wants to always have equal pressure, so to relieve this pressure difference air moves through penetrations in the building envelope. These penetrations could be from any number of things, including: spaces between the exterior doors and frames, cracks between the window frame and buck, electrical outlets on exterior walls, and even directly through exterior walls.

We measure the test using a unit called ACH, or Air Changes per Hour, at 50 Pa. Essentially, this number describes the amount of times your home will recycle all of the air inside your home with outside air at 50 Pa of pressure. 50 Pa of pressure is roughly the same amount of pressure as 20 mph winds blowing on your home from all sides. Typical new construction in the Kansas City area varies between 5-10 ACH50.

Unfortunately, due to the leakiness of the home, we weren’t even able to get to 50 Pa of pressure difference. However, using a best-fit line, we were able to derive an estimate for the project.

To be Passive House certified, our Lake Quivira Passive House must be at or less than 0.6ACH50. Our initial Blower Door test garnered a result of about 15ACH50 - much higher than typical new construction, and much much higher than Passive House requirements. We certainly have our work cut out for us to get this home to Passive House standard.

90th Terrace Project Summary

Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:18:09 GMT

A Kitchen Transformation

In the homeowner’s own words:

“The kitchen was barely usable with drawers literally falling apart, a very small oven (a cookie sheet wouldn’t fit in it), a replaced cooktop that had been very poorly installed, ceramic tile countertops, a refrigerator that stuck into the room and was across the room from everything except a little storage, a pantry that consisted of shelves in the attic staircase landing, and a very small utility closet.”

The kitchen was high-maintenance, low-design, with broken cabinets and useless appliances.

From day one, the homeowner emphasized:

Open space
Freedom of movement
Integrated appliances
Functionality of horizontal surfaces

A fridge in the main walkway was NOT going to cut it.

The homeowner loves to cook, to bake, and to entertain. Can you imagine hosting a Thanksgiving meal for your family here? With turkey, pumpkin pie, and two surly brothers-in-law? You couldn’t do it.

So we tore it all out.

The attic access was moved to the garage, tray ceilings were framed in, the basement stairwell was opened, and larger windows were installed.

We found ourselves with a beautiful space. The next challenge was to fill it with meaningful, thoughtful, design that fully realized the potential.

Removing the old attic staircase created full height above the basement stairwell. The wall was dropped to rail height to create horizontal space. This also opened a feature wall for artwork. LED spotlight trims were installed to focus light on this area.

Tray ceilings were framed to create vertical space and architectural interest. One tray would house a ceiling fan, while the other would house a suspended range hood. An eye towards finish was required during framing, so the finished hood could be centered within the tray, and centered above the island.

LED energy-efficient recessed lighting provides a superior lighting quality, warm color, and excellent lumen-to-watt ratio. This type of lighting also provides a clean modern look that is visually pleasing.

The black slate fireplace with custom cherry mantle and embedded media cabinet was another challenge. First, the cabinet was installed, including metal storage box for firewood. Tile was laid to the face of the cabinet and top point of the mantle. The mantle was then fabricated to fit both tile and cabinet. Finally, the slate was finished to the mantle to create a fully-embedded look. The finished product creates a striking contrast with bright, clean lines.

Before: As a passionate cook, our homeowner needed more than this traditional oven could offer. Cooking for guests requires ease of movement, and enough space to prepare multiple dishes at once.

The old cooktop was inadequate and unsafe. The cabinet face frame and shelving prevented large cookware from being stored inside. Headroom and ventilation were insufficient. It was cut into the existing countertop, and was neither wired nor secured correctly. One element the homeowners loved was the natural light from the window. More on that in a minute.

After: Cooktop integrated with usable workspace and ventilation on the island. Multiple ovens stacked in an integrated cabinet column. Easy triangle flow from sink to cooktop to ovens, with room for a mixer and a dough slab in between.

After months of collaboration with the homeowner, carpenter, and stone fabricator, the “dough slab” was born. Designed and built specifically for rolling dough, it is fully retractable, fully integrated with undercounter storage, and able to support 500 pounds of force.

The “dough slab” was a unique design challenge. It needed to:

Fully disappear and roll out smooth
Support the weight of a person rolling dough without collapsing or retracting under the cabinet
Be removable for cleaning without shifting in place during use.

Initially, we conceived a table on wheels that would roll under the countertop when not in use. The wheels would lock, solving the stability issue. However, the loss of undercounter storage was huge. This was unacceptable near the oven and range, a critical area for storing large pots, pans and cooking trays.

Our big breakthrough was the locking, extendable hardware shown here. These sliders extend and anchor deep within the cabinet to counter-weight downward force on the slab. They also have a release mechanism on the bottom side. The sliders remain totally rigid unless the release is activated. Finally, the bottom of the drawer has a hole cut in it, so the slab can be pushed up from below. The slab itself is tapered down the front edge to prevent a “vacuum” effect, and easily releases the slab upward.

Functionality: Dish storage next to the dishwasher, with drawer heights optimized for the homeowner’s unique dinnerware. Stainless steel finish extends from the faucet, to appliances, to pulls, to ceiling fan. A subtle backsplash and clean undercab lighting unify the design.

Open Space: By removing the wall to the living room, sight lines and conversation flow freely throughout the home. A beverage cooler and auxiliary sink are perfect for entertaining and preparing larger meals. Divided lite windows, added French doors, and wood paneling retain the home’s classic character while blending with the modern composition of the kitchen remodel.

Beyond the physical design challenges were budget concerns. All decisions had to be made through this lens. Tray ceilings and dropping the wall to the basement were both relatively inexpensive ways to create space. While some key items were chosen to indulge on (appliances, cabinets), simple design choices like subway tile and retaining the original paneling kept costs down in other areas. This, paired with effective communication, ultimately helped us to achieve our budget and schedule.

In the Client’s own words: “The kitchen is awesome with a great design, beautiful cabinetry, new appliances, lots of storage, impressive countertops, a large window, and many small details that make it nice to be and work in. Opening up the staircase wall, adding a tray ceiling, and removing the wall to the family room makes it seem very spacious.”

View images of this job and more of our work on our Portfolio page.

Window Installation

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 19:18:04 GMT

High Performance Window Installation

Proper window installation is an essential process among low energy consuming buildings. Standard construction methods often leave sources of air leakage, or worse, water leakage, which accelerate the deterioration of the building. Superior window installation methods protect the interior environment and building’s structure from the elements for decades to come.

Air leakage is one of the primary sources of energy waste in buildings. We burn fossil fuels and money to run our mechanical systems to condition our air to keep it comfortable all year round. In order to keep our conditioned air inside the home, we must make the building airtight. Along the walls, exterior sheathing with taped seams is what prevents air movement through the walls. To achieve airtightness when installing windows, we must continuously seal the sheathing material to the window frame.

Sealing the exterior sheathing to the window frame begins with preparing the window rough opening. There is a seam between the framing lumber and the sheathing that is a potential source for air leakage. Our window installation process begins with sealing this seam. This is shown in figure 1 using Joint & Seam Filler by PROSOCO. This ensures a continuous air barrier from the taped sheathing to the rough opening. In figure 2, our team member is spreading the Joint & Seam Filler into the seam, ensuring the seam is filled, preventing any air movement. Figure 3 shows the rough opening with the seam between the framing and sheathing filled and ready for a liquid applied flashing application.

Figure 1: Applying the Joint & Seam Filler to window rough opening

Figure 2: Spreading the Joint & Seam Filler into the seams

Figure 3: Joint & Seam Filler in the rough opening

Next, the rough opening must be flashed and made waterproof. In figures 4 & 5, the rough opening is coated in FastFlash liquid applied sill sealer by PROSOCO. This product has advantages over the traditional peel and stick system. Peel and stick membranes can have multiple seams that can lead to potential leakages. With a fluid applied membrane, there are no seams, just a continuous waterproofed system and a connection in the air barrier.

Figure 4: Fluid applied membrane on window sill

Figure 5: Fluid applied membrane on window sill

Finally, the window is air sealed to the liquid applied flashing membrane using either a sealant or a tape. In figure 6, the Air Dam sealant from PROSOCO is shown making this connection on the interior window frame edge. In figure 7, a high performance tape is shown making this connection.

Figure 6: Air dam sealant installed around window

Figure 7: Tape installed around the window frame

The continuous air barrier from the exterior sheathing to the window frame is now complete, eliminating air leakages typically left by standard building methods. By taking a little more time to install windows properly, you can ensure greater comfort inside your home, reduce your energy spending, and save on costly future building repairs.

View a 30 second time-lapse video of our team installing a casement window using these installation methods below:

kalabuilt

A Live Look at Leawood Living with KCTV5

A Live Look into Leawood Living with KCTV5

Framing Begins a the State Line Performance Home

New Custom Home in Westwood Takes Shape

Foundation Build for Performance

Precision in Every Detail

Designed to Impress

A West Plaza Home Built Around Natural Light

Natural Light + Work Life Balance: The Story of a West Plaza Family Living in a High Performance Home

Creating a Welcoming, Well-Lit Space

Creating an Indoor-Outdoor Lifestyle

Offering Work-Life Comfort During COVID-19 and Extreme Weather ﻿

Keeping Energy Use and Utility Bills Low

Building Code: A minimum standard, not a good one

Building Code isn't a Standard for Home Durability

Exceeding Code Requirements with Waterproofing

Aiming for Airtightness

Ensuring Continuous Insulation

Why Understanding Dew Point is Key to Building Durable Homes

How does the dew point impact durability?

Understanding Dew Point and Durability Concerns

Crafting Airtight, Vapor-Open Walls

Dealing with Attic and Foundation Dew Points

Bringing Building Science to the Whole Team

Kala Style: Knowin' BS Since 2012

The Kala Foundation

Want to Learn More About Kala Foundations?

Building Science Fact or Fiction: Does Your Home Need to Breathe?

Balancing Airtight and Vapor-Open Design in Passive House Construction.

Why Do People Think Houses Need to Breathe?

How Can You Limit Airflow in a House?

Why Do High-Performance Homes Have Vapor-Open Walls?

Why Do Passive Houses Need Mechanical Ventilation?

The High Performance Window Explained

What Makes a High-Performance Window?

Why Do We Even Have Windows?

The Usual Window Problems

What Do R-, U-, and STC Values Mean?

Understanding Heat and Light Transmittance

Why Installation Matters

The Bottom Line

A Final Open House in Leawood

A Final Toast at Wickey's Home

4 Ways Passive House Construction Keeps You Cozy in Unpredictable Spring Weather

Passive House Keeps You Comfortable During Unpredictable Spring Weather

CONTINUOUS INSULATION

AIR BARRIER

MECHANICAL VENTILATION + HEAT PUMP

PREMIUM WINDOWS & DOORS

David Schleicher Featured in the Wall Street Journal

High-performance windows make David’s home more comfortable

Project Update: Lunawood Siding at the Modern Woodland Retreat

Expert Craftsmanship at Every Detail

Vertical Siding + Rain Screen

How Passive House Building Improves Durability During Winter

Passive House Design & Build Improves Winter Durability

Managing Ice and Snowmelt

Keeping Cold Air and Moisture Out

Tackling Thermal Bridges

Protecting Pipes

Why Home Durability & Sustainability Are So Closely Linked

The Link Between Durability & Sustainability

The Hidden Costs of Short-Lived Homes

Building for the Long Haul

The Link Between Airtightness, Durability, and Sustainability

Precision Craftsmanship Reduces Waste

Going Beyond Materials

Durability Delivers Peace of Mind

A House Built to Last is a House Built for the Future

Why Kala Self-Performs the Things that Matter Most to Home Durability

The Best Path to Long-Term Durability: Self-Performing Where it Matters Most

It All Starts with Design

Crafting an Airtight Wall Assembly

The Durability Test

Windows Should Be “See Through Walls”

Nailing Durability Details

Making a Home More Durable from the Ground Up Part 3: Windows & Doors

Durability From The Ground Up

Minimizing Moisture and Airflow

Offering Work-Life Comfort During COVID-19 and Extreme Weather