DuPont and Owens-Corning advocate using a wall the companies are calling the “Extended Plate and Beam” (EPB) wall: Essentially, the top and bottom plates, and the window and door rough openings, are framed with 2x6s, while the wall studs are framed with 2x4s. The 2-inch difference is filled with rigid foam before the wall is sheathed with OSB, and the 2×4 cavities filled with fiberglass. As Matt and Mark explain, it’s an effort to use conventional materials to frame-up an R-23 wall. The wall can be framed on the deck and sheathed, much like a standard wall. But in this case you are including the foam, which provides a thermal break for a majority of the framing, before the wall is lifted into place, saving time on the installation.
A “Conventional” High-R Wall
Matt Risinger and Mark LaLiberte team up at the 2016 IBS to examine a partnership between Tyvek and Owens-Corning to create a high-R wall using conventional off-the-shelf materials.
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