BLOOMINGTON, Minn.—The EcoSmart Stud today announced that it has joined the Energy & Environmental Building Alliance, the leading trade group supporting sustainable building practices in residential construction.

“We’re proud to be part of this important trade organization, whose mission fits exactly with ours,” said Jon Pues, president of ViCa3 Ventures of Bloomington, the inventor of the EcoSmart Stud, an energy-saving innovation for home construction.

He added: “We’re excited to be in this community of construction professionals committed to finding solutions and best practices that support energy efficiency in home building.”

Since 1982, EEBA and its nationwide member community have advanced the leading edge of building science and sustainability in residential construction through education and collaboration. EEBA’s annual High Performance Home Builder Summit is a destination for contractors, suppliers, innovators and others committed to building healthy, resilient homes that reduce the carbon footprint of constructing and owning homes.

“We are thrilled that the EcoSmart Stud has joined EEBA as a sponsor,” EEBA CEO Aaron Smith said. “Their dedication to making net-zero-ready construction attainable with their innovative insulation envelope aligns seamlessly with our mission to promote excellence, resiliency and energy efficiency in building performance. We are confident in the positive impact builders will see when they adopt the EcoSmart Stud for their projects.”

The EcoSmart Stud uses a simple innovation—gaps and slots strategically carved out of the wood in traditional two-by-six or two-by-eight exterior wall studs—to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of home construction and save homeowners heating and cooling costs for the lifetime of their homes.

The gaps and slots allow insulation to fill those spaces, increasing the insulating value of exterior walls. The stud also is lighter, reducing the carbon footprint of transportation and other costs of home construction. In addition, wood carved from the stud can make other products, reducing the need to cut down more trees.

Home builders like the stud because it avoids an expensive layer of extra insulation on exterior walls. It also strengthens walls and speeds construction.

Specific benefits of the EcoSmart Stud include:

• Energy savings: The EcoSmart Stud creates an insulation rating of R-16 compared with R-7 for a standard wood stud. Higher R-value means less energy loss, which results in smaller utility bills.
• Less weight: The typical two-by-six solid wood exterior stud weighs about 15 lbs. The EcoSmart Stud weighs about 10 lbs., making it easier to handle and cheaper to ship to construction sites. This speeds construction and reduces the carbon footprint of home construction projects.
• Stronger walls: The EcoSmart Stud, when used with a combination of closed-cell spray foam and natural fiber blown-in insulation, creates an extremely resilient hybrid wall system that increases the strength of the exterior wall assembly compared with standard construction. This helps with home durability and maintenance and especially provides benefits in areas prone to severe weather or earthquakes.