perhaps one could buil a solid adobe wall (as a heat sink ) on the
south side of the house, with a solar wall in front of it, then build
the other sides with super-insulating papercrete - Clyde--- In
papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "John Annesley" <John@...> wrote:
>
> My fascination with paper adobe / papercrete has always been with
making a dense mix
> because insulation is only a part of the equation which leads to
energy conservation and
> comfortable living. Slurryguy is quite right in that insulation only
evens out temperature
> swings, or perhaps more to the point- a good jacket keeps you warm
in winter so long as
> your body is producing heat. Stop producing heat and gues what,
pretty soon you get cold
> even if you have a whole lot of insulation. The idea behind thermal
mass is to collect heat
> or coolness and store it, and having good insulation on the outside
of thermal mass
> insulates that thermal mass. A down jacket is a good example of an
insulation barrier on
> the outside of that which you're trying to keep warm- you. It makes
basic sense when you
> apply it to a person. Same thing applies to houses-- put the
insulation on the outside if
> you want to insulate the structure from the outside temperatures,
period. Putting it inside
> the wall and then having a brick wall outside of that is pitting
thermal dynamics and the
> laws of nature against your wallet when it comes time to pay the
heating and cooling bills.
>
> Quick notes about paper adobe when the volume of paper and the
volume of adobe are
> roughly equal in the mix: it makes a dense block, has a lot of mass
and holds nails and
> screws almost as well as wood but it doesn't burn or smolder. Adding
lime reduces the
> possibility of mold growth if the material stays wet somewhere down
the line during the
> life of the structure, and also increases insect resistance. (Boric
acid would also help with
> this.) Then adding an insulating jacket of lightweight papercrete
or paperadobe would
> insulate the thermal mass and produce an energy efficient house. A
house composed of
> insulative blocks can only be energy efficient without thermal mass
in temperate climates.
> Remember, adobe homes in the desert are much cooler than wooden
houses filled with
> insulation because they have slab or earthen floors tapping the heat
sink of the earth,
> which is much cooler than the mid-day air temperature, and the dense
adobe walls take a
> long while to conduct the heat energy of the sun toward the inside
of the living space, and
> those same walls are conducting coolness outward, creating a very
nice temperature in hot
> climates. Such a structure with an insulating jacket becomes a truly
efficient house. Even in
> cold climates, so long as you dig below the frost line, the
temperature of the dirt or rock is
> a fairly constant 55 degrees everywhere in the world. Tap into that
and build a home with
> a lot of thermal mass and insulate it on the outside and you've got
winter licked. So often I
> read about folks putting insulation between the floor and the ground
and I wonder what
> planet they think they're on, except that sure- going barefoot might
be more comfortable
> if you insulate your floor that way, but its going to cost you in
terms of the viability of your
> house being able to regulate temperature without smacking your
pocket book upside your
> head for the life of the house.
>
> I could be wrong, but I'm going to assume that something without
paper in it would make
> a better thermal mass building component, because the paper is going
to act to some
> degree as an insulator. So maybe dense paperadobe isn't ideal in
terms of its thermal
> mass characteristics. I do like the fact that dense paperadobe holds
nails, screws, etc. and
> when hit with a sledge hammer only dents isntead of shattering like
a brick or concrete
> block of the same dimensions. As pointed out in other posts, you
don't have to build your
> walls out of thermal mass to use thermal mass effectively: you can
have barrels of water, a
> trombe wall, a geothermal exchange heat pump, etc...
>
> The thing to remember is that you need insulation on the outside of
the house, which is
> where papercrete shines because that's what papercrete is: a
building material that's also
> excellent insulation. You still need thermal mass unless you're fine
with the traditional
> wooden-framed house concept of building an insulative box into which
you pump heat
> and cooling.
>
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