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Home The Importance of Collaboration, Validation, and a Green Box

Jake Bruton is with architect Steve Baczek on site at the hybrid house that looks a lot like a green box right now.

While the green box is important, the two really dive in to the key ingredients to success: collaboration and validation. So, how do a builder and an architect team up to make a hybrid house that's going to be suitable for the next 150 years or so? Working together from the beginning is crucial and they've seen great success from their efforts.

Why is the house green? We'll be called on to think about air tightness and water leakage. If you don't validate and understand what you're doing, it's difficult to teach others how to do it or improve.

In this case, they chose to sheath over all the windows in order to test the Zipwall as the only air barrier, and then when they cut holes for windows, and re-test, they'll know what the difference is and how to make adjustments and improvements. Over the years, they'll be able to track every window install by implementing this green box strategy. 

It's one more way for Jake and Steve to verify. Is the framer getting better? Are they making improvements each time? By validating with a green box, they can track progress. The only way to gain control is to know what you're doing, Steve says. 

Jake and Steve will reveal the results of the blower door test they conducted on this hybrid house, too and some of the changes they needed to make along the way. 

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