About The Plan Review Process
If you’re building a new home, putting on an addition, or doing major renovations, you have a unique opportunity to make decisions that will affect your comfort within the home and how well it operates. Not all contractors follow the best practices of building science, potentially risking the durability and performance of your home and putting your investment at risk. Viridiant will review your plans, including:
- Assessing the building shell for thermal bridging, air sealing opportunities, proper moisture control, and best practice durability measures
- Reviewing equipment, window, and insulation specifications for efficiency levels
- Reviewing mechanical equipment locations for placement that may affect operating efficiency
- A report summarizing findings, cost-effective improvements, and details showing best practices
- Up to 1 hour meeting to review the contents of the report
Additionally, we can perform mechanical design and site visits.
Mechanical design produces accurate heating and cooling loads (manual J), appropriate equipment selection (manual S), and duct design (manual D) that can be provided to HVAC contractors to solicit bids. Language will also be provided that describes installation quality standards your HVAC contractor should adhere to.
Site visits occur at two points during construction—pre-drywall and once the house is complete. The pre-drywall inspection, conducted after insulation is installed but before drywall goes up, assesses the quality of the duct work installation, the insulation installation, and looks for potential areas of future air or water intrusion.
The final inspection is performed at the end of construction. A blower door test is done to assess air leakage in the home and a duct blaster test is done to check for leaks in the duct work. A visual inspection is also done to check for other potential issues that may affect comfort or durability.
If you would like contractor recommendations, please see our EarthCraft Builders page.