Charles_Shade

1. You sure could frame it flush. Where do the HVAC ducts run? Probably in a dropped chase.
2. You sure could frame it one side or another. No one here knows what the finish space is to be or exactly how the loading above is.
3. You sure could face hang it. There are many face hanger options available. Know the load - know the hanger.
4. You sure could top hang it. Infill the cripples as needed. Crushing is not an issue here and if it was you would not be top-mount hanging anyway because of the plates.
5. You sure could make the windows smaller but maybe the owner did not want that.
6. You sure could have designed the space differently.
7. So... no one here has ever framed a beam into a beam on a floor level? Guess that never works either ;-)
8. Too many what-ifs and sanctimonious not-in-my-world would that happen here speculation in this discussion.

This reads like a bunch of plan reviewers and inspectors not understanding what they are looking at.

Regards,
Charles Shade

Always interested in learning

As a home designer for the past 10 years and a believer in energy efficient homes I feel pretty confident in how to design and implement an energy efficient home.
Insulation R values are a valuable tool but are not the end all be all of keeping energy costs low. Even doubling the R values required by the code (especially with batt fiberglass) will not have a cumulative effect if air-sealing is not part of this system. Too many builders ignore sealing of the exterior envelope, as is indicated in the article above around windows, to make the most energy efficient building systems.
Good holes, i.e Windows, Doors, Walls tightness; is the best way to create an energy efficient home. $150 vinyl windows are not the way to achieve this regardless of their NFRC ratings. They will fail.
Testing of the system when implemented by a Builder who has decided to create an efficient home thru the use of quality windows, doors, air-sealing and HVAC is the only way to achieve any long term energy efficiency in a home.
Retrofitting old homes with "new" "energy efficient" windows is a band-aid at best and will be money thrown down a well for the most part. Education of the public may help but don't count on there being a critical mass of purchasers making the change to informed consequential home design and building.
The use of Green Building in the industry has become so abused that it is now for the most part feckless in determining whether or not a home is built well or efficient. And the illusion of payback over time can be demonstrated for some systems and product choices but these are few and often have too many variables to predict. One of the energy efficiency gurus that I have worked with over the years likes to point to a spot in the house and say "My house leaks right there!". He knows where he has controlled the movement of air in the house and knows that what he has put in place will work. There are far too few looking at this level of design or implementation. Don't fall into the trap.