Wall panels are the staple of our prefab panel offering, and are involved in all of our prefab packages.

Collective Carpentry wall panels are always designed with high performance building principles of energy efficiency, durability, health, comfort, and embodied carbon in mind.  They typically far exceed requirements from local building regulations, and always take into account local climate factors, client desires for insulation performance, and optimization for the prefabrication process.

While we remain flexible to collaborating on the wall panel design, and in building any custom wall panel that meets our standards for the above high performance building principles, we have also found two main approaches to be the most successful, cost-effective, and efficient wall panels we can design, prefabricate, and install.

1. The Passive House Wall (PH Wall)

The Passive House wall uses an open framed structural wall followed by an airtight (seams taped) plywood layer and a cavity of densepacked cellulose encapsulated by 9 ½”, 11 ⅞”, 14”, or 16” I-joists, and finished with a reinforced, airtight, monolithic, vapour open housewrap, and a layer of ¾” to 1 ½” rainscreen strapping.  

In this wall, the structure sits on the outside edge of the building’s footprint, while the I-joist is an “outrigger” that hangs outward from the building.  This wall is efficient to build, and ideal for both our installers as well as the trades that follow for the ability to place hold-downs and plumbing/electrical in a fully open cavity without affecting the primary airtight layer during the installation of those items.

Inboard to outboard:

  • 2×4 or 2×6 framed structural wall on 16” or 24″ centers (batt insulation optional, on-site, and by others, R-14 or R-20)
  • 1/2″ or 5/8″ plywood, taped airtight (primary air and vapour control layer, and for racking strength)
  • 9 1/2″, 11 7/8″, 14” or 16” I-joists, with densepack cellulose (thermal bridge-free continuous insulation layer), R-35, R-44, R-52, or R-59
  • Optional – 5/8″ exterior gypsum board sheathing (for particularly fire-prone areas or buildings in close proximity to neighboring structures)
  • Pro Clima Mento 1000 airtight monolithic WRB (secondary airtightness, weather protection) / Pro Clima Mento Plus airtight reinforced monolithic WRB (to hold cellulose), taped airtight
  • 3/4″ – 1 1/2″ vertical rainscreen strapping (& optional ¾” to 1 ½” horizontal rainscreen strapping)

Total R-value: R-35 to R-80 (depending on joist thickness and interior site-applied insulation used)

Typical finished wall R-value: R-55 (nominal)

While our wall panels are designed with windows, exterior finishes, interior services, and interior finishes in mind, these items are not included in Collective Carpentry wall panels and are installed on site by others, with the exception of windows and doors which are sometimes installed on site by the CC install team, on a case by case basis.  ¾” plywood bucks and approved headers and additional structure for windows and doors are always installed in the shop, integrated into airtight layers, and included in CC wall packages.  All window rough openings are prepared with cedar sill shims and a peel and stick sill pan treatment.

2. The High Performance Wall (HP Wall)

The High Performance wall has a more moderate amount of exterior insulation (5.5″, R20) when compared with the Passive House wall.  optimizes the structural design and material use and offers a lower total R-value with similar advantages in continuous insulation and panel installation as the I-joist wall.  With a horizontal 2×6 outrigger insulated with densepack cellulose and an open 2×6 structural wall, the insulation value once the interior service wall is insulated reaches R-40.   The assembly is finished with a reinforced, airtight, monolithic, vapour open housewrap, and a layer (or two) of ¾” to 1 ½” rainscreen strapping.   

Inboard to outboard:

  • 2×6 framed structural wall on 24″ centers (batt insulation optional, on-site, and by others, R-20)
  • 1/2″ plywood, taped airtight (primary air and vapour control layer)
  • 5 1/2″ horizontal exo layer, with densepack cellulose (thermal bridge-free continuous insulation layer), R-20
  • Optional – 5/8″ exterior gypsum board sheathing (for particularly fire-prone areas or buildings in close proximity to neighboring structures)
  • Pro Clima Mento 1000 airtight monolithic WRB (secondary airtightness, weather protection) / Pro Clima Mento Plus airtight reinforced monolithic WRB (to hold cellulose), taped airtight
  • 3/4″ – 1 1/2″ vertical rainscreen strapping (& optional ¾” to 1 ½” horizontal rainscreen strapping)

Total R-value: R-40  (nominal)

While our wall panels are designed with windows, exterior finishes, interior services, and interior finishes in mind, these items are not included in Collective Carpentry wall panels and are installed on site by others, with the exception of windows and doors which are sometimes installed on site by the CC install team, on a case by case basis.  ¾” plywood bucks and approved headers and additional structure for windows and doors are always installed in the shop, integrated into airtight layers, and included in CC wall packages.  All window rough openings are prepared with cedar sill shims and a peel and stick sill pan treatment.

3. The Net Zero Wall (NZ Wall)

The Net Zero wall uses an open framed structural wall followed by an airtight (seams taped) plywood layer and a continous layer of 1.5″ mineral wool insulation, and finished with an airtight, monolithic, vapour open housewrap, and a layer of ¾” to 1 ½” rainscreen strapping.  

In this wall, the structure sits on the outside edge of the building’s footprint, while the continuous insulation and rainscreen strapping project out from the foundation.  This wall is efficient to build, and ideal for both our installers as well as the trades that follow for the ability to place hold-downs and plumbing/electrical in a fully open cavity without affecting the primary airtight layer during the installation of those items.

Inboard to outboard:

  • 2×6 framed structural wall on 16” or 24″ centers (batt insulation optional, on-site, and by others, R-14 or R-20)
  • 1/2″ or 5/8″ plywood, taped airtight (primary air and vapour control layer, and for racking strength)
  • 1 1/2″ mineral wool continous insulation (R-16)
  • Pro Clima Mento 1000 airtight monolithic WRB (secondary airtightness, weather protection), taped airtight
  • 3/4″ – 1 1/2″ vertical rainscreen strapping (& optional ¾” to 1 ½” horizontal rainscreen strapping)

Total R-value: R-26 

While our wall panels are designed with windows, exterior finishes, interior services, and interior finishes in mind, these items are not included in Collective Carpentry wall panels and are installed on site by others, with the exception of windows and doors which are sometimes installed on site by the CC install team, on a case by case basis.  Structurally engineered headers and additional structure for windows and doors are always installed in the shop, integrated into airtight layers, and included in CC wall packages.  All window rough openings are prepared with cedar sill shims and a peel and stick sill pan treatment.

Interested in diving into more details?  Click here to request a set of standard details for our panel systems showing assembly bulidups and typical connections both within and outside of our typical scope.