Re-Side Right: A Systems Approach to High-Performance Re-Siding Projects

More than 1 million occupied homes in the United States are not optimized for reducing air leakage and/or adding insulation. Compounding the problem, the re-siding of homes typically only occurs about once every 25 years and results in current practices essentially locking in energy inefficiencies that will not be remedied for decades to come.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology is working to improve residential home energy efficiency with the installation of a one-inch insulating layer that serves as an air and water barrier, while a house was being re-sided. The proposal known as Re-Side Right, encourages energy efficiency upgrades during home renovation projects.

Typically, re-siding contractors already install an added insulation water resistive barrier. This acts as an underlayment, is usually 1/4-in. or less, and doesn’t add much insulating value. Re-Side Right combines the insulation layer to be an effective, rigid water, air, and thermal insulation barrier with liquid flashing so that re-siding contractors can install it with the same ease as the original water barrier.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology tested the Re-Side Right approach to ensure the air and water barrier was an effective insulation layer. They also wanted to analyze if this approach is cost-effective and simple enough for re-siding contractors to do.

The study resulted in an average drop in air infiltration of about 9% and an average yearly home energy reduction of 9%. Material prices and labor costs were slightly higher than a typical re-side job, so it was identified that energy efficiency incentives may help to overcome a price barrier. Contractors were identified as capable to install the insulation and with training, they could keep costs to a minimum.

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