By Zoe Rader

This blog post was originally published on the Phius website. You can read the original here.

As part of our continued effort to support Phius project teams, especially those with limited experience, we are thrilled to announce the official launch of the Phius Project Details Library. The development of the Project Details Library was driven by Phius Alliance members and supported by the Phius Alliance. 

The library will grow in number and variety as details from more Phius Certified projects are added. In this blog post, we will be answering the following questions about the newly released Project Details Library:

• What is it?

• Why did Phius create it?

• Why are these details important?

• Where can it be found?

• How can people use it?

Why did Phius create the Project Details Library?

The Projects Details Library was born from requests by Phius Alliance members seeking examples from successful Phius Certified projects, and Phius and the Alliance worked together to bring it to fruition.

Whether teams are looking to design their first Phius project or their fifty-first, the Project Details Library offers examples of various types of details, such as foundation-to-wall details, window header details, wall-to-roof details, and many more.

Why are these details important?

Because of the extreme air tightness of Phius projects, the implementation, placement, and amount of the various control layers (air, thermal, vapor, and water) are imperative in avoiding hygrothermal risks. Similarly, it is always preferred to avoid thermal bridges when designing the connections of the assemblies in a project (wall-to-roof, wall-to-foundation, etc.). Not every risk can be mitigated for every project, but the Project Details Library has laid out examples of details and connections that can be used as starting points in avoiding hygrothermal and thermal bridge risks.

Where can the Project Details Library be found?

From the Phius.org homepage, click “Certifications” in the header menu, then choose “Find a Project.” The Details Library is accessible via the toggle button on the Certified Project Database as shown below: 

How can project teams use the Project Details Library?

Once teams have navigated to the Project Details Library, details can be filtered in a variety of ways, including by: Building Detail, Construction Type, Insulation, Project Type, Building Function, and ASHRAE Climate Zones. These filter types can be found on the left side of the screen, as shown below:

A core feature of the Project Details Library is that each detail has its own page where hatch and color-coded material views can be found, along with a comparison of air, thermal, vapor, and water control layers. Each detail is also directly linked to its respective project in the Phius Certified Project Database.

Thank You, Project Teams!

Thank you to the project teams who have allowed Phius to showcase their details and projects, enabling us to provide other teams with such a beneficial tool. Thank you to the Phius certification staff who sifted through dozens of projects to find some great examples and rework  these architectural drawings into a valuable educational tool.

Plans for Future Details

There can never be too many good details, right? Though we are beyond excited about the current 13 details that are now live in the Project Details Library, we plan to expand the current listings to feature more projects and details! Any details added in the future will only be accessible to Phius Alliance members, so join today for full access!

If you have a project that is Certified under any of our Phius building standards and have details that you think worked well for building to and achieving Phius Certification, please let us know via the Phius Project Details Library Interest Form. A member of our certification team will contact you with next steps.