Making Crawl Space Access Air Tight
ayers0129
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
Need to close exterior crawl space access in new addition. New Fed standards require that point of entry be “air tight”. I do not plan to access crawl spce on a regular basis. Thinking of 5/8 CDX with rigid insulation or vinyle basement window sliders that are placed in reverse. Walls are R-19 banged in with a hilti gun. Crawl space is about 28 inches in height. Openings are 24 X 30. Thanks in advance.
Manny in NJ
Replies
"New Fed standards require that point of entry be "air tight". "
What federal standards.
AFAIK things like this are all controled by building codes. And building codes are locally (state or city) adopted, usually from model codes with local changes.
The department of energy building energy code program. In order to obtain a building permit, I had to be compliant with the federal code requirements for insulation .
Where are you building? Never heard of that either.
Same deal in NH. All new construction, additions, or renovations >150 sq ft. must be in compliance with national energy code. Approved plans showing compliance with the energy code must be presented to obtain local building permit. It is my understanding that spaces that will not be heated (or will only be heated with non-fossil fuel (e.g. solar or wood) are exempt from the code requirements. I"d trim the rough opening with 2x cleats on the inside of all four sides to accept a removable panel. Panel could be 2x frame with sheathing/siding to match the exterior, and EPS panels attached to the inside to increase the R-value of the panel. There's a wide assortment of gasket material to put between the cleats and the panel to satisfy the "air tight" requirement.
Try this, I know the patent holder and distributor.
http://www.crawlspacedoors.com/exec_summary.htm