Building AFFORDABILITY into Your High Performance Home Plan with Scott True

Scott True is an awesome builder, and he is our good friend (dimorahomes.co.... We pulled him aside at a conference to share his wisdom on keeping the budget tight, and how we sells high performance with his clients.
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[@MrNiceGuyMEGA08]

Just wanna say that Scott seems like an awesome person. We need more people like him building houses without breaking the bank. I really believe that if people like him lead the way in practical improvements to building better homes (AND educate the general public) that the industry will be forced to follow because the potential homeowners will be demanding it. I would recommend that he also reach out to realtors and their respective associations to further help inform the public on the value that high performance houses will have compared to shotgun houses. Anyway, come to NC pkease! We need people like you here!

[@JL-hn6hi]

Thx. The world needs more Scott True videos.

[@Notch8]

So True... so True... yes pun intended 😁

[@pyroman590]

​@@Notch8True indeed

[@GenZyannd]

I think Scott is a full-time builder unlike Risinger, lol😂

[@james__wilson]

I’m in the Austin area, thankful for curious minds and performance builders and contractors!

[@Natedoc808]

He nailed it when he said “it’s not much more than what we are already building.” It really isn’t, just tighter on the details and sealing up areas where, traditionally, we knew bugs like to get in.

[@pyroman590]

I'm one of those people! I followed Scott's/Matt's/Corbett's methods to a tee, definitely mentioned him to Corbett when he did my Manual J. My house is just about wrapped up, blower door score was a 0.67ach50, it's extremely comfortable and efficient. I was shocked, Corbett kept saying "trust the math", it's hard to see on paper but worked out exceedingly well in the end.

[@HomePerformance]

MAN I LOVE HEARING THAT

[@josephmerritt1411]

Congrats. It would be interesting to hear your story. My home project is still in progress, and I am pursuing an airtight home. So, lots of attention to sealing, e.g., zip tape, EPDM gaskets, Fentrim tape at the foundation, and foam insulation around doors, windows, holes, and interfaces. However, the original plan included more than I was doing, partly because it became unaffordable.

[@shubinternet]

Yes, we love Scott True! My only regret is that we haven’t won the lottery, so that we could afford to have a new house built for us. If we do ever win the lottery, I’m definitely contacting Scott.

[@bradmesserle999]

Good to see you Scott. One issue is contractors not knowing how to do some of the things that are being talked about on KZbin..there is a skill gap

[@SommerBros]

Excellent conversation! Always enjoy listening to you guys. We have learned is that sequencing is perhaps the most important strategic game plan in the build process. In order to efficiently execute high performance details while managing costs, a rethink of the industry standard order of operation is critical.

[@ronm6585]

Thank you.

[@reg11756]

Not sure I want a "tweaker" building my house..😳😁🤣. IYKYK. Great conversation. Love Scott's work.

[@tweake7175]

😢😢😢

[@Austin-fc5gs]

Not sure if you can sub out a house with that criteria

[@HomePerformance]

Haha sorry tweak, I think everybody’s an ex-drug addict in this thread

[@Werdna12345]

Avengers assembled!

[@HomePerformance]

🤓

[@DB57RB]

Scott True is a hero for the average man. Making high performance homes is hard. Figuring out how to make high performance affordable is even harder but Scott's done it.

[@LincolnLog]

Other contractors don't disclose the marginal increase in cost because they can upcharge a premium. Taking advantage of ignorance is the American way ("I got mine!")

[@clayfenlason1240]

I understand and am behind the point about involving builders early in the design process, conceptually, but I'm really struggling to square that with my experience. It's hard enough to find a builder you think you can trust and who will be a good partner, let alone one that has perspectives on home building that the state of the market doesn't encourage. At my pricing tier, all the builders have honed a business model around just meeting code efficiently - which is entirely prudent, I have to admit, but it means I need to think differently about the planning process. Going for high performance has meant for me increasing the pressure to be my own GC, and engage with builders like they are sub-contractors, mainly leaned on to get the rough structure in place, while I look elsewhere to get insight about the building as a system.

[@HomePerformance]

Good points, Clay

[@TrytoCatch22]

I am not in the stage of building or designing my own home... yet. But when I do I will be employing all of these methods Corbett/Scott/Matt use and I have to say, coming from a smaller town, everything you said is SPOT ON for my situation as well. There seems to be little incentive for builders to do the few extra details it takes to make it high performance without charging the premium for all of the "hastle". That is... unless you find a production builder who actually cares about the end user like Scott does.

[@GrayHouseStudio]

I'm really enjoying the conversations and look forward to more! We all want to see the spreadsheet.

[@danslickers8166]

Great short discussion guys. I’m trying to talk to costumers and other builders around here about this stuff and I’m still looked at like I’m crazy. It’s been working ok till now why do I need to change is kind of the general response I receive. Keep up the good work you two. Grace and Peace Slick

[@HomePerformance]

Keep pushin Slick

[@braol]

It's not going to change until it is mandated and enforced by whoever is in control of inspections.

[@timdestasiohvac]

My HVAC Design and Consulting business took off after getting on your list Corbett. I can only imagine what happened after you got on Matt’s list.

[@ScottyDMcom]

Started watching Scott's videos last week. Speaking of educating yourself, I'm a home/cabin/land owner with a pile of projects over the next 3 years. Going to fix up the cabin, build a home on the bare land, and sell my existing home. I'm a retired electrical engineer, and was born to solve problems. I think things through, it's like a disease or something. My first project is to build an insulated well house at the cabin (at 10,070 feet above sea level, west of Pikes Peak). The direct shot between well and cabin is about 140 feet with existing plumbing a big mess. Going to dig the well house down about four feet, UNinsulated floor, ICF walls, and pipes buried deep. I love designing and solving problems. A tiny problem is that I'll need 3+ bundles (16 each) of ICF straights---by + I mean 49 pieces. So I'm figuring out the best way to slice and dice my ICFs to eliminate that 1 straight block, as well as how to cut them so my door buck fits with a cross-tie close to the door buck, but not in it's way. Given that the "shed" (well house) is under 200 square feet, in theory I don't need a building permit. However it will contain electrical and plumbing, and I'll need permits for those. So I'm drawing good plans and will at least take them in to the county office. The steel cellar door I want to use doesn't quite fit the 6' 8" minimum headroom as you're descending the steps. I'd hate to have the county say that because my "shed" is super-insulated, air-tight, and made of concrete, plus it's packed with electrical and plumbing, I need a permit. THEN my low headroom becomes an issue---unless I get them to give me a variance (in writing) due to the "shed" not being living space. Or maybe I spend a couple hundred more on a bigger cellar door.... But a rebuild? Perish the thought! Anyway, I _design_ what I want to build, and I _design_ how to build it (it's like a disease or something). In what order and what are the steps. E.g. which layer of ICF to pierce for which pipe. Think about it: what happens to the water if my plumbing leaks, plus what to do with the radon that's in the well water. So a drain (to a drain field not right on top of the well), clean water pipes, electrical power conduit, data conduit, and radon pipe---4 sets of pipes/conduits (fortunately some are small, and some don't go far). But yeah, having to educate myself. It's fun.

[@HomePerformance]

Good thinking and good work

[@MichaelJ674]

Great discussion! I appreciate the mention of diminishing returns. I live in the PNW and I sometimes see the opposite problem along the I-5 corridor (Eugene, OR up to Seattle) to what you see in much of the rest of the country: TOO much emphasis on achieving impossibly high standards or “you’re not doing enough to save the planet.” The 80/20 rule really seems to apply here (or maybe it’s 90/10 for a high performance home). As you mentioned, Corbett, at a certain point you start wasting resources if you go too far. Great collaboration. Thanks.

[@dylans2669]

I live in a 60s house in silicon valley. To get to high performance the siding and roof would need to come off and to wrap the house in a blanket of insulation (2x4 walls an open attic (there is R-49 I think - double layer batts) ducts run in partially above the insulation in the attic and in a ventilated crawl space. I would like to add an ERV. but the other stuff but the reality is that new siding, roof, windows, and insulation is just so costly at this point that its unlikely to be something that is done. But if i was to have a custom home built that stuff would be high on my list. Would rather save money somewhere else if i had to get good a good envelope.

[@Benoitmenu15]

what about the architect ? Are you working with PH certified architects ? What should we do differently to make it happen except include you guys early on in the design.

[@jumbo_mumbo1441]

Why do you avoid passive homes? To me those seem great just from a maintenance standpoint-if I’m looking for a home to last generations, it will get neglected from time to time and the more passive it is, the less of an impact that downtime has

[@jesseghostly]

They said insulation under the concrete is not needed but what about it Minnesota? Is it worth it in cold climates?

[@DStokesNC]

More videos from both of you! Or create a course Scott and sell it. Would be very interested in that.

[@patawn]

Does a Scott True equivalent exist in or around San Antonio, TX?

[@thomasvarney723]

I've gotten the thousand yard stares trying to explain high performance details and bitcoin to Mom, friends, potential buyers and others. Lol. Scott, have your custom clients come in any way from your spec home experience?

[@MitchemBoles]

Great conversation! I was surprised by the comment about no under slab insulation. Even in Texas, wouldn’t that be valuable especially for continuity? We are in Texas and looking to build a basement, so I had planned for sub-slab insulation, but if it’s not worth the cost, then insulation around the edges certainly sounds more economical!

[@susanray4383]

We are in the research stage of custom home planning. Does anyone have suggestions on how to find an Iowa-based builder/contractor/consultant to help us min-max the cost vs. performance? equation?

[@HomePerformance]

Builders don’t generally do that- performance consultants do. I do it for Scott, historically. Look for a HERS Rater in your area.

[@xokissmekatexo]

⁠@@HomePerformance so confusing overall. We are looking to build passive or close to passive in St. George Utah. I found a passive house certified architect in Salt Lake who also does the HVAC plans + energy calculations, do I still need a performance consult? Also regarding insulation under the slab-I hate that cold feeling from the tile on my feet, even though St. George is climate zone 3, I was thinking insulating under the slab may keep the tile warmer?

[@HomePerformance]

You found the right person it sounds like

[@YIQUANONE]

The problem with many of these high-performance things is they don't give back a good return and end up sometimes causing more problems down the road. A lot of them are companies trying to sell new products to make money and promote their product as fixes as if there was a problem to fix.

[@DeuceDeuceBravo]

What kind of return are you referring to? If the high performance upgrades are well thought out then they will pay for themselves, especially in areas of the country with high energy costs. If a homeowner wants to attain Net Zero then it will be a lot easier with a higher performance envelope. And what is the "return" on comfort? A high performance home allows for a much better performing HVAC system, including cleaner air. I'm curious why you think these homes would cause more problems down the road. In what way?

[@tealkerberus748]

High Performance specialist builders being booked out years in advance and charging rampant profits as a way of managing their queue is actually very good for the industry. That's the market signal to tell all the other builders to up their game and get into the same market.

[@triaxe-mmb]

I am curious - How is a R-22 wall considered high performance? I believe in CA code minimum is R-20 wall cavity with exterior insulation on top of that I thought all State codes were built off the same standards? With some localization changes...am i wrong here?

[@ScottTrue]

I think the international building code for this zone is R-15 and the localization code (Austin's amendment) is R-19 for walls (or R-15 + 2 on the outside). But remember, R-value is one of many factors that go into high performance. If a builder focuses only on R-value, their home won't perform as well as a home with technically less R-value but has other things going for it.

[@randymatthews5263]

R-20 walls is like comparing apples and oranges. It’s not the insulation part but how much of the wall is not insulated. Studs have a R-1 value per inch of wood. California doesn’t include the studs and cavity R values and averaging the values. Plus bridging with either exterior or interior insulation can double the wall average R value

[@DeuceDeuceBravo]

Depends on climate too. A home in southern California will be fine with R22 (assuming good construction) while R22 in Wisconsin would probably be inadequate for "high performance".

[@triaxe-mmb]

Thank you all! I knew there was something I wasn't getting and it seems there are multiple somethings, 😆 I am trying to retrofit my 1960s built house to be more air tight and efficient and I am trying to do it in stages since I can't afford a single step upgrade - the learning curve is real with this atuff

[@firstdaddy]

Once you understand how R values really work, you're at the point of diminishing returns at around R 20.5. The amount of additional insulation to reduce further BTU loss through the wall assembly is cost prohibitive. If proper air sealing is done, R 22 is more than enough. Beyond this, you are better off up sizing your mechanical systems than to continue to throw money at your wall assembly.

[@Natedoc808]

Looking for “tweakers” in construction, shouldn’t be hard to find.