Brooklyn architect Jeremy Shannon wrote a piece for Fine Home Building’s January 2013 issue covering his evolution of techniques for Deep Energy Retrofits (DER) on four brownstones homes that are over a century in age.

In the article “Buttoned Up for a New Century” (press on link below for more info) Shannon shares deep insight on how he tackles the tricky subject of “Preservation meets performance” and what I like about it is he really does care about durability, performance and beauty. Using a liquid applied air barrier and cellulose he manages to get super tight envelopes in ultra leaky shells. Of course, the front end planning and energy modeling – using PHPP – play a crucial role, but he goes further in using WUFI to analyses moisture loading potential of the masonry wall to ensure that the home won’t be crumbling due to efflorescence or spalling.

Torontonians with their double brick homes stand to learn a lot from this great article!