Features

Super-insulated building envelope

Cost effective modular construction

Southern Exposure

  • Passive winter heat gain through high performance South facing windows
  • Ideal roof orientation for solar hot water and photovoltaic panels
  • Overhangs designed to reduce solar heat gain in summer

Reduced electrical loads

Other Energy Efficient Features

Added "Green" Features

Spray foams, attic vents, & compact fluorescents

If I read it correctly, you're planning to spray the attic floor with high-density foam, but ventilate the attic space with soffit+ ridge venting(?). With ANY spray foam (even open-cell low-density stuff) the vapor retarding quality is sufficient to make the attic venting superfluous if it's a no-access space. But if you have access ports & electrical/mechanical penetrations to the attic or if it's being used for ducts/vents/storage, etc. you're better off spraying the rafters and NOT venting the attic, making it all conditioned-space. It would mean a higher volume of foam, but would have fewer problems worrying about leakage point losses into the attic space from the living spaces.
Most high density closed cell foams use CFCs- they're higher R-value per inch than low density water-based low-density foams, but the low density stuff has fewer shrinkage issues, and is cheaper per R-value (though it has to be thicker) than the higher density stuff. There are some intermediate-density closed cell foams out there that are water-based though- shop around, see what's the best (and greenest) value for your application.
The high-density stuff may be called for in a retrofit situation where the available depth is limited, say a 2 x 4 framing wall, where you could get R24-25 with high density, but only R13-14 with the low-density foams. In attics there is generally enough space to make the R-value whatever you like.
On a separate note, compact fluorescents aren't necessarily the best option for ambient lighting. A typical CFL puts out 50-60 lumens per watt compared to ~90 lumens per watt for T8 (1" diameter) linear fluorescents, or 100+ lumens per watt for T5 (5/8" diameter)linear fluorescents. If you install up-lighting coves or cabinet-top fixtures using walls & ceilings as your reflectors/diffusers you can get a lot better lighting quality (no glare) and run at lower overall power for a given ambient light level. There are dimmable ballasts available for both T8s & T5s- they require compatible dimmers, and some require special wiring, but there are 2-wire versions too for not a lot extra. If you're using recessed downlighting, there are dimmable fluorescent versions of these too. But too often recessed downlighting adds glare which interferes with vision- better to do the heavy lifting of ambient lighting with uplighting- bright ceilings & walls just plain FEEL better. But as importantly, humans can see better without the glare, even at dramatically lower light levels. (Glare causes your pupils to constrict more, so you end up needing more light.)
Leave the standard compact fluorescents for table lamps, etc. (And consider using 2 to 8 watt cold-cathode CFLs instead of the higher wattage standard CFLs- they're nice for mood lighting, dining etc, if a bit on the dim side for providing the whole room ambient light. Cold cathode lights typically last 2-3x as long a standard CFLs too, with no heater-filaments to burn out.)
dana

Thanks, Dana

I've been given the shell of the house much more thought than the inside. Thanks for the info on the CFLs.

The spray foam issue may just come down to cost. I can insulate the attic floor for a lot less money that the entire rafter system. Plus, I can anticipate a "discussion" with the building inspector in regards to a non-vented roof. (Nothing is easy!)

I've chosen the 12/12 roof pitch with the intention of finishing the attic space later on. One of the thoughts I had was to insulate the floor with a thin layer of closed cell foam then fill the cavities with blown cellulose. I figured that when the time comes to finish the attic space I would compress the cellulose and remove the excess to install the floor.

Thanks for the input. It is much appreciated!

Ed

Mr. Green Dreams

The Square Root of Two

With a 12/12 roof the surface area of the roof is 41% larger than the floor (floor x sqrt2). If you used low density foam on the rafters vs. closed cell on the floor it would be roughly cost-equivalent per unit R-value. Low-density spray foam is quoted a couple of ways, simple cost per board foot (12" x12" x 1") of material,
or board feet + labor. If you wanted to guesstimate what it would
cost, the straight board-feet quotes I've seen recently are in the
$0.40-0.45/bd-ft range, and the R value is roughtly 3.6-4.0 per inch of
depth. High density foams run about $1/bd-ft and run about R6-7/inch.
The ratio of the cost at equivalent R-value between high/low density
foam is roughly the same as the the ratio of the roof/floor surface
area- the cost would be about the same. Have it quoted by a few contractors, it can vary quite a bit, but the low density foams are all pretty equivalent (cheaper is better).

The primary reason to ventilate the attic is to avoid condensation & mold during the heating season. Since foam is a vapor retarder it would be important to spray the rafters with sufficient R-value to keep the attic above dew point, say 1/3-1/2 the total R-value, if you then used cellulose fill in the floor or unfaced batts on the rafters to bring it up to the final insulation level (as a cost savings.) But if you foamed the floor then later insulate the rafters you then have a double-vapor-barrier, which could create it's own humidity trap problems without active ventilation.

Going that route you will save the cost & labor of the vents
as well (which you would seal up later when you finished
the attic.)

There is a lot of good info available on building envelope schemes on the building sciences website. Most details of finished attic spaces recommend low-density foam on the rafters as the best solution. You may find their Zero Energy Home recommendations a good read (big pdf-may take awhile for dial-up connections):

http://www.buildingscienceconsulting.com/resources/presentations/NAHB/20...

If the rest of the house is built with highly efficient SIPs it would be a shame to go with a potentially compromised roof/attic stack up. The long term plan may trump the short term savings (especially if the savings aren't great.)

dana