While building our cottage we learned the value of mechanical ventilation. As it turns out, the thing is practically airtight. If we leave it entirely closed up for more than a few days, the air inside gets stale and musty. Thankfully, it's small enough that leaving a window cracked solves the issue. In the workshop, we've decided to address air exchange systematically with an energy efficient HRV, or heat recovery ventilation system.

During our strawbale building workshop, Andrew and the participants left a hole in the building where we'd planned to install the HRV.

This weekend, we finally tackled the project of closing up the wall and installing ductwork.

Once everything was closed up, we mixed plaster and covered the finished wall, hydronic heat tube box, and several random unplastered parts of the building. So many weird areas to fix! All in all, it turned out nicely.