To energy heel truss or to not energy heel truss??? – GreenBuildingAdvisor

Hi everyone,

Building a “Pretty Good House” in Climate Zone 5. Attic is specified at R-60 blown cellulose, with a 6:12 roof and currently a 22″ raised/energy heel.

Builder suggested eliminating the raised heel to save money, saying almost the entire attic would still be R-60 and only the perimeter near the exterior walls would have reduced insulation.

My concern is that the wall/ceiling/roof intersection seems like one of the worst places to reduce insulation depth.

The current quote already includes the raised-heel trusses, so this would just be an additional savings.

Would you:

• Keep the 22″ heel?
• Reduce it to a smaller raised heel?
• Skip it and accept the tapered insulation near the eaves?

Also, with a 6:12 roof, roughly how far inward would it take to reach full R-60 with a conventional heel?

Thanks!