Author Archives: Owen Grierson

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Putting the Walls to Rest

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On this fine Saturday, the crew whipped up the rest of the exterior walls for the HyggeHaus.

Considering that most members of the group have little to no experience with power tools and measuring tools, the exterior walls came together quite quickly. It has been motivating to see everyone develop a better sense of their roles and responsibilities. Each week rewards the team with more synergy and proficiency than the last, and everyone on site feeds off that energy. Nonetheless, the crew will have no time to pat themselves on the back until the HyggeHaus is finished for the Green River Festival.

In the coming weeks, we will dive deeper into the building science involved in the building’s envelope as we install the roof, weather-resistantt barrier, and windows.

Exterior Walls Timelapse
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Feeling not so Hygge

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Since week 1 the New England weather has been fighting against us, and this Saturday was no different. Despite the heavy snow, we still managed to raise one wall and get the rest of the wall pieces cut.

To start the day off, people jumped straight into gluing and nailing sheathing to the floor diaphragm. We spent the latter half of the day laying out and assembling the north wall.

The original design called for a double 2×4 wall construction with densepack cellulose but in order to decrease the amount of embodied carbon yet maintain the insulation value of the assembly a change was made to a densepack cellulose 2×6 assembly with outboard Gutex Panels (more on Gutex coming up in the near future). In addition to preventing conductive loss/gain, rigid air sealing protocols will also be employed (more on products in future posts).

Next up will be wrapping Hygge house with the control layers for bulk water management, air leakage control, water vapor control, and more thermal control. Finally, it will be extremely important to properly seal off the intersection of the roof and wall. If there are air leaks along this joint, the heat loss for our building will increase dramatically making the Hygge Haus not so Hygge.

Floor sheathing and north wall timelapse

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Hygge Haus Takes a Mud Bath

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After 2 weeks of stormy conditions, we finally started building the HyggeHaus.

Floor Diaphragm

The HyggeHaus will eventually sit on six Helical Piles which will be mimicked with a timber foundation for the duration of the build at East Branch Studio. Using a laser level, some members of the crew leveled the timber foundation followed by the LVL rim joists. Once the LVL rim and end joists were squared and leveled, the crew nailed some joists on hangars with TICO nails. As winter comes to an end, the Timber foundation will begin to sink into the thawing soil so leveling will be a continuous process.

Next week the team will proceed to sheath the floor diaphragm and start building some walls!

Floor Diaphragm Timelapse

Welcome to the HyggeHaus

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During our first week, the team split into three groups to focus on building envelope, interior design specifications, and a framing model.

Building Envelope

Lia, Josh, Hala, and Owen worked on some solutions to the building envelope. The HyggeHaus will be hitching a ride on a trailer for part of its journey through western mass, so the roof and wall panels will be detachable.

The house will have a seam where the roof and walls connect which is not ideal for protecting the inside from the outside. Much like a deep-sea fisherman, all buildings must face four main factors affecting their durability and longevity: bulk water management, air leakage control, water vapor control, and thermal control. High-performance building is an approach that controls these layers more efficiently, notably the exchange of air. A leaky house results in wasted energy and money, especially during the winter months when thermal loss is highest. The team will take extra care when taping and insulating to optimize all four control layers.

Interior Design Specifications

Dylan, Sophia, Ahmed, and Sara made some aesthetic and logistical changes to the house. Their first task was to find a water heater that fit in the 4’ loft space above the bathroom. They also moved the sliding door towards the living room with the intention of creating a more direct entry path to the living space. Next, they replaced a 2×6 partition wall with a 2×4 wall to allow more space, and added a lighting detail along the walls. To wrap up the week, they finalized the exterior and interior finishes.

Framing Model

As mentioned before, the roof and knee walls will need to be disassembled. To visualize this, Susanna, Andrew, and Megan constructed a scale model that accommodated these requirements. The model also served as a reference for placement of the water heater, possible partition walls, and thresholds. On top of that, it looks pretty darn good.

For the next 13 Saturdays, our team will be at East Branch Studios where Kent Hicks will kindly be hosting and directing the build construction. Thanks for tuning in.