Energy Efficient Home Planning:
How to Decipher R-Values

It is relatively easy to list the amenities that you would like in your dream home. When you say "I want an energy-efficient home," getting the results you want takes knowledge, planning and decision-making from your home design team. Your home designer will talk to you about the position of your floor plan on your lot, the amount of windows used and their effects on energy gain (and loss) and building materials and structure.

During these energy-efficient discussions, you will hear information on how best to use these three components to maintain a consistent temperature inside the home's thermal envelope. Of all the terminology you will hear, R-value is often the most confusing. The "R" stands for resistance. The more resistant the material is to conduction of heat, the higher the R-value. The R-value is stamped on all insulation, but it can't be directly translated to stopping heat loss (and energy savings). The materials used to build the frame and how well the insulation is installed often become larger factors in making your home energy-efficient than the insulation itself. The bottom line is that R-values do translate to lower energy bills and a more comfortable room temperature throughout your dream home.

The Department of Energy provides recommendation on R-values based upon your zip code here. Your local Lindal dealer also has complete local information on energy-efficient recommendations. When you are finishing the design phase of a Lindal home, many dealers can also offer you a complete energy-efficiency analysis of your dream home.