How to Frame a LEED Platinum Wall Assembly - Ecohome Demo House framing

Discover all about wood framing for a LEED Home www.ecohome.ne...
Framing lumber, also known as structural wood, is the grade of wood used for house framing (studs, headers, roof trusses and floor joists, etc.). Its technical characteristics make it perfectly suitable when large spans are necessary. The list below outlines the different families of framing lumber.
Standard SPF (spruce-pine-fir) lumber - Softwood lumber
Light structural lumber is mainly used in residential construction. It is milled from softwood trees (spruce, fir and pine) that are sawn and machine-planed to standard dimensions (2x4", 2x6", 2x8", etc.). Wood as a framing material is advantageous in that it doesn't undergo much transformation during processing, it has a low embodied energy, it's a renewable resource and it stores carbon.
Heavy timber refers to any dimensional lumber over 4.5" and is often used for post-and-beam construction. Large dimensions of wood can support heavy loads and facilitate long spans, in addition to being extremely fire resistant.
Finger-jointed lumber (also known as end-jointed and end-glued) is manufactured using short, dry pieces of wood that have been machined on each end and joined using a water repellent structural adhesive. This technique is ecologically beneficial, as it makes use of short pieces of wood to create a finished product that is larger, more stable and easier to align.
Worthy of note: the dimensions of light structural lumber do not match their given names. A commercially available 2x4" is actually 1.5" x 3.5", a 2x6 is actually 1.5" x 5.5". The general rule of thumb: any width listed as 2" will actually be 1.5" and as for the depth, actual dimensions are .5" less. The reason for this is planing; some true dimensions can be found at lumber yards, referred to as 'rough' as they are unplaned.
Here is a brief rundown on the different products you have to choose from, and their correct applications.
#Framing #Wood #LEED #Platinum #House

[@MrRerod]

Wish you guys were located in Iowa.
Any suggestions on how I find the contractor that can build me a passive house for not much more than a regular one? Hard to believe the Edelweiss home didn't cost much more than it did.

[@johndunstaple4802]

Do you have any thoughts, regarding cost and performance, about building a house in Ontario that is timber framed with mortise-and-tenon joinery, and that uses a hammer-beam truss design? And then enveloping the structure with straw-bale insulation to eliminate thermal bridging?

[@Mreynolds.ecohome]

Sorry for the delayed response John. As a former timber framer I can tell you that that is an easy way to add 10s of thousands in cost to a build. its beautiful and I loved building them, but its a very expensive craft unless you do it yourself. It does however lend itself well to strawbale, and straw provides and excellent R value, you just need to be careful about it and very mindful about moisture issues.

[@786otto]

Looks good but think insulated concrete ICF s forms would work better and chipper than all that thermofiber insulation and labor involved.