Construction Feature Overview

On this screen you can review and fine-tune the construction feature groups that the program automatically created based on your dwelling info and construction profile inputs. For relatively simple homes you may only need a single group of construction features for each section (ie. windows, doors, ceilings, etc.) and you may be able to accept most or all of the suggested defaults. For larger homes you can create multiple groups of construction features and then associate construction features to specific components, for example if a home has some walls with brick exterior finish and other walls with vinyl siding.

Construction feature options in CoolCalc Manual J are derived directly from ACCA tables. Not all possible constructions are covered in ACCA tables so if you don't see the exact option you are looking for, selecting a substantially similar option is usually acceptable.

Newer homes may have better R-values than the available selections from ACCA tables. As R-values increase, the energy efficiency benefit between R-values becomes relatively smaller so using the nearest available R-value is acceptable in most scenarios. CoolCalc Manual J does not yet implement custom R-values (MJ8 appendixes 12 and 13), if you believe the construction features of the home are substantially different than the available options in CoolCalc, please follow ACCA procedures in MJ8 appendixes 12 and 13.