There are many ways to build a successful passive solar home (and even more ways not to build one). These designs and construction techniques vary from the very usual stick construction to straw bales, rammed earth, bermed and buried, cordwood and more. Each of these techniques can lead to a good passive solar house, but getting there requires careful design.
Directory for this page: Be sure to also take a look at Solar Home Design Guides and "I Did It" solar home websites by owners.
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Passive Solar Homes Construction Guides | |
From the Ground Up -- A
primer for Natural House Building Rachel Ware and Laurie Stone |
Home Power magazine article,
issue 99
A good overview of house construction techniques with low energy content (strawbale, rammed earth, and others). Some how-to information. |
Green
From the Ground Up - A Builders Guide David Johnson and Scott Gibson
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![]() Fairly nuts and bolts coverage of what's green and energy
efficient in foundations, framing, HVAC, insulation, electrical,
plumbing, ... |
Fine Homebuilding Archive
How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
![]() They now offer all of the articles from 1981 through 2009 on a single DVD. Quite a good resource if you are building or remodeling. The DVD is very well done. |
The Passive Solar
Construction Handbook
Steven Winter Associates, Inc |
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Best Practices Manuals Solar homes work much, much, much better with an outer shell that is well insulated and does not leak cold air in. This is probably the most important element of getting a solar home to work well. |
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Building America Best
Practices Series
Building America -- Department of Energy
V1 - Hot-Humid Climates (pdf) From Building America: www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/building_america/ |
![]() Covers site layout, layout of windows for passive solar, insulation, infiltration control, furnace and AC, ... |
Insulation Guides --
Building a well insulated and Tight Shell for Your Home The DOE-EERE Insulation Guide Series:
|
![]() I guess my one bit of advice would be to go a bit further than they recommend for your climate, because experience shows that in a while (as fuel prices climb) they will be recommending higher levels.
Other DOE-EERE publications here: |
Durability
by Design, Department of Housing and Urban Development, May, 2002 http://www.pathnet.org/si.asp?id=308
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![]() This 87 page book provides a lot of construction details for maximizing life and minimizing maintenance. |
Advanced Air Sealing, Oikos http://www.oikos.com/library/airsealing/index.html
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![]() Some of these techniques can only be used during construction, so its really important to watch all the sealing details during construction.
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Super Insulation Super insulated lower energy use for heating and cooling by using: 1) air tight construction, 2) high levels of insulation, and 3) limited window area with efficient windows. Heat recovery ventilation systems (HRVs) are often used to ensure good ventilation with little heat lost. These techniques can be combined with with solar passive gain through south facing windows to further reduce heating bills. The next few sections on this page describe different construction techniques that can be used to implement a Superinsulated home. |
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Massachusetts Zero Energy Challenge Winning Home | ![]() It uses a combination of a very good thermal envelope, solar passive and active heating, solar water heating, and a PV powered heat pump to achieve this performance. All the details... |
Riverdale NetZero Project One of Canada's First 12 NetZero Energy Homes http://www.riverdalenetzero.ca/ Detailed presentation including description of design and construction detail (10 MB)
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![]() Doubly impressive when you consider how challenging the Edmonton climate is. |
http://www.airfoilinc.com/reading/files/fargo.pdf
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An account of 5 large,
super-insulated homes built in the mid 80's. Energy use is
reported for each house.
Some of the choices on construction and heating system might be made differently today, it certainly shows the energy saving and cost saving benefits of super-insulation. |
The Superinsulated Home
Book, J. D. Nisson and Gautam Dutt
|
![]() Detailed construction techniques covering several types of double wall construction, Larsen Trusses, ventilation, air tightness, and exhaustive treatment of vapor barriers. While some of the information is a bit out of date, and some newer techniques (e.g. SIPS) are not covered, the book still stands out for the level of construction detail it provides on the techniques it does cover. 310 pages 8.5 by 11 format. Out of print, but available at places like Bookfinder.com or Amazon.com used books. |
Gregory
Lehman: Houses
www.gregorylehman.com/houses/duplex.php
|
![]() The south face has two of our thermosyphon collectors integrated into the wall with full insulation behind the collectors. A great illustration of how a combination of reasonable size, cost effective super insulation and solar heating can make for a very low energy use home at a very reasonable price. |
The
Kosmer Solar House Project
http://www.solarhouseproject.com/index.html Additional pictures:
|
![]() The house uses a well insulated 1 ft thick slab for heat storage with air circulated to even temperatures. The attic is within the thermal envelope to provide additional living or storage space. Quite a few interesting ideas, and a long track record. |
Design and Construction of Low Energy Houses in Saskatchewan, Building Practice Note, Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada, 1982 |
![]() This 8 page pdf gives some of the design details on these homes and some cross section diagrams of the construction.
If anyone knows of more information on these Saskatchewan homes, please let me know ... |
New Hampshire Super
Insulated Home
|
![]() The home uses a combination of high insulation levels, exceptional sealing, passive and active solar, and very efficient appliances to very very low energy use. |
Neopor
Insulation
BASF Neopor pages: Prefab Wall Panels:
|
![]() It has an R value of 5 US per inch, which is 20% more than standard EPS, and about equal to Extruded Polystyrene Foam (XPS) (the pink and blue stuff). Applications include use as an external insulation on walls, Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs), and the very interesting prefabricated wall panel shown in the picture that uses thermally broken steel studs to make a SIP like prefabricated wall panel, but without the OSB face sheets. It looks like it may be OK for applications where it is exposed to the weather? |
Energy Efficient Stick Frame Construction Methods to improve the energy efficiency of ordinary stick construction without greatly increasing the cost. |
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Innovative, energy efficient, cost effective Montana solar home Many framing innovations including an inside-out Mooney Wall, continuous headers, monolithic ICF and footings crawl, integrated Low Thermal Mass Sunspace, ... |
A treasure trove of applied innovative ideas.
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Gimme
Shelter Construction Technique, Amherst, Wi Mark Klein and Jim McKnight, Energy Efficient Home Construction Workshop
NEW: Quite a bit more detail here:
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![]() Based on a MREA workshop given at the 2006 MREA Energy Fair. |
The CLAM
Passive House www.clam-ptreyes.org/clam-homes/passive-house |
![]() Many innovative techniques were used to provide high insulation levels and very good air sealing without incurring high costs. The video at the link provides quite a lot of detail on how the house was constructed -- it is well worth watching -- many good details. The 4 solar thermal collectors on the roof are designed to satisfy nearly all of the homes space and water heating needs. |
Mooney Wall
|
![]() Suitable for new construction or retrofit. |
Save Energy With Rigid-Foam
Insulation, Rick Arnold, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 181, Sept 2006 How to
get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
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![]() Lots of construction detail. |
Double Wall Construction Two stud walls separated by a break allows for much insulation and no thermal bridging -- R values of 40 or more are possible. |
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The Superinsulated Home
Book, J. D. Nisson and Gautam Dutt
|
![]() Detailed construction techniques covering several types of double wall construction, Larsen Trusses, ventilation, air tightness, and exhaustive treatment of vapor barriers. While some of the information is a bit out of date, and some newer techniques (e.g. SIPS) are not covered, the book still stands out for the level of construction detail it provides on the techniques it does cover. 310 pages 8.5 by 11 format. Out of print, but available at places like Bookfinder.com or Amazon.com used books. |
Energy Saving Details, Kip park, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 92, Jan 1995 How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
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![]() Lots of interesting energy efficiency construction details. Double R46 walls with excellent air sealing, R11 windows, grey water heat recovery, and a unique HRV system. |
SIPs -- Structural Insulated Panels | |
SIPs Panel House Demonstrates Building Innovations http://www.oikos.com/esb/35/demo.html
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![]() Article on building with SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) to make a well insulated and VERY tight home. With some actual measurements of heat loss and air infilatration. |
Side-bySide
Study Proves SIP Advantages, Dr. Tony Shaw, Brook University http://www.thermapan.com/pdf/whitepaper.pdf
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![]() Thermal imaging, in wall sensors, and infiltration tests were used to compare insulation effectiveness. It would have been nice to see the comparison to cellulose insulated walls, which I think would have done better, but maybe not as well as SIPs? |
WIPweb www.sipweb.com/learningcenter/default.asp
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Innovative
Insulated Panels Steve Maxwell, Mother Earth News, Oct/Nov 2005 Finding Mother Earth News articles...
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![]() Includes some construction techniques and performance compared to conventional walls. |
SIPs: Are They Right for
Your Next Project?, John Ross, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 188, July 2007 |
![]() A good overview of the pros and cons of SIPs, as well as a good bit of construction detail. |
Builder
Al Rossetto's Super Efficient Vermont Home
www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/...
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![]() ![]() Solar heat is stored in a sand bed heat storage unit under the slab. The house gets a 95.3 out of 100 HERS score. Click on the pictures for a bit more detail -- I've asked Al if he can provide more design/construction detail on the house. |
SIPs in Modular Homes
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ArgiBoard
http://www.agriboard.com/index.htm
ORNL test of Agriboard R value:
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![]() Compared to conventional SIPs, it appears to have greater strength, higher fire resistance, and more thermal mass, but less R value for a given thickness. The panels can be either 4 or 8 inches thick. The use of straw for the core and engineered lumber should reduce CO2 emissions compared to conventional construction. |
Enercept, Inc --
Superinsulated Building Systems
Some useful SIP installation and tech material: |
![]() Some very useful material at the Technical Data link, including a 93 page construction manual for SIPs. |
Larsen Truss | |
A Cost Effective Larsen
Truss Design
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![]() The design also makes more use of local, sustainable materials. |
A
Deep Energy Retrofit
The details include a 30 page description of he design and construction process, a photo gallery, and a detailed thermal analysis spreadsheet. |
![]() This is the most carefully thought out energy retrofit I have seen. Gordon and Sue took a drafty 1963 brick schoolhouse with almost no insulation and converted into a home with a heating bill that is 6% of a similar size code built home in their area. Features include: R40 Larsen Truss walls, triple glazed R6 super windows, glazing revamped for passive solar heating, a new solarium, a hand crafted masonry heater, and much more. In addition to a very good thermal envelope. Like most good designs, this one is simple and robust without a lot of gadgetry. |
Energy Efficient Timber
Frame Home Using Larsen Trusses
http://www.greenfret.com/house/house.html
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Bill's
Larsen Truss Retrofit
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![]() The truss adds an amazing R60 to the wall. |
Straw Bale Construction | |
Building One House: A
Handbook for Strawbale Construction, Nathaniel Corum
Red Feather Development Group, 2004
|
![]() Did I mention that I really like this book? Table of Contents and a couple pictures ... You can order the book at the Red Feather website |
Build It With Bales -- A
Step-by-Step Guide to Straw-Bale Construction - Version Two, Matts Myhrman and S. O. MacDonald
|
![]() The first half of book covers all the aspects of planning and getting ready to build. A "build it as you go approach is" covered that allows building and paying for a small home as you go, and providing for later expansion. A very good book for owner-builders on a modest budget. The 2nd half of the book covers various strawbale construction techniques in good detail. A very good all-around book. Amazon.com has some sample pages and some good reader reviews. |
A Unique Straw Bale Arch Home Design -- Good for Owner Builds...
|
It uses prebuilt arches that are spaced one strawbale apart so
that the bales can be stacked from floor to The design has a number of unique features that make it energy efficient, sustainable, good for owner builds, and a good solar design. |
Information Guide to Straw
Bale Building
www.strawbalefutures.org.uk/pdf/strawbaleguide.pdf From Amazon Nails website: |
![]() This website has lots of additional information on straw bale construction -- projects, links, publications. |
Book: The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes,
|
The book describes a number
of ![]() |
A
House of Straw, Carolyn Roberts http://www.ahouseofstraw.com/index.htm Construction photo gallery (good):
|
![]() The photo gallery provides a lot of construction detail. Total
cost of the 1200 sqft house was about $50,000 with a mix of owner
and hired out labor. |
Want to see a strawbale
home near you??
The Strawbale Building Registry http://sbregistry.greenbuilder.com/search.straw
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![]() A description and contact information is provided for each structure. The list appears to be well maintained. T |
The Last Straw
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A well thought of quarterly
journal on Strawbale construction dating back to 1993. Back issues and CD available. |
Building With Awareness
http://www.buildingwithawareness.com/index.html
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![]() It would be nice if the site provided more detail on some of the subjects, but a DVD and guide book are available from the site that are said to provide a lot of detail. |
StrawBale.com | ![]() I had a chance to review the set of 3 DVDs they offer on straw bale construction -- my thoughts here... |
Cedar
Ridge Farm http://cedar-ridge-farm.blogspot.com |
![]() ![]() Lots of construction details is included. |
The Bathhouse, Joe Schwartz and Ben Root, Home Power Magazine |
![]() This is a really nice pair of articles on designing and building a strawbale bathhouse facility (including Turd Tower.) Lots of good planning, design, and construction detail. |
The Beauty of BALES, Mother Earth News,
|
![]() Article on building strawbale homes. Covers many of the issues on strawbale home design and construction. Examples of several strawbale houses. |
Building With Straw Bales Athena Bill Stenn
|
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Meeting Design Goals with
Strawbales Laura Struempler |
Home Power magazine, issue
100
Overview of construction of strawbale house with some design information. |
Earth Garden Strawbale
Information Pages
http://www.earthgarden.com.au/strawbale/strawhome.html
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![]() Some innovative concepts (like the tire foundation in this picture, fire testing, ...
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An Unusual Strawbale Construction Technique from
GeoPathfinder...
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![]() Quite a bit of how-to detail. |
Huff 'n' Puff Strawbale
Workshop Site
http://www.glassford.com.au/Index.htm
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Harvest Build
http://www.harvestbuild.com/index.html
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Stucco Sprayer Plans
http://www.johnkingsley.ca/strawbale/index.html Some how-to info and videos from a sprayer maker: |
![]() Here are some plans to make one that look pretty simple. |
Moisture
in Strawbale Walls
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Some moisture measurements within completed Strawbale walls. |
Engineered lumber "I" studs | |
The Steijger
Solar House
Home page for the house: ------ Details on wall system used in this house:
|
![]() Features include super insulation, passive solar design with an attached sunspace, heat recovery ventilation, efficient wood heating, 1300 gallon rain water tank, and a 1KW solar electric system. All packaged in a very open and appealing floor plan. The walls are nearly 10 inches thick and use engineered "I" beams with thin webs for studs -- this provides very high R values and low thermal bridging compared to conventional studs. Blown in cellulose is used for insulation. The total energy use is about 4000 KWH per year -- about 1/4 of this is supplied by the current PV rig, with more planned. Many pictures are provided. The house is located in Sheffield/Nottingham/Derby triangle. |
e-co lab --
ecological construction laboratory Urbana, IL
More information on Passivhaus Institute: |
![]() These homes are built to the German Passivhaus Design Standard, and use as little as one tenth of the energy of standard homes. Some of the project examples they show use engineered wood "I" beams for wall studs (as in the example above). These beams provide sufficient depth for high R value walls (R56) and also greatly reduce thermal bridging compared solid wood studs. This seems like a very promising construction technique. |
Dry Stack Concrete Block | |
The Van Geet Off-Grid Home:
An Integrated Approach to Energy Savings
Van Geet Home (1.8 MB pdf) This home uses dry stack concrete block walls with 5 inches of
rigid foam insulation and stucco on the outside of the dry stack
walls. |
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Earth-Sheltered Houses, Rob
Roy
http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/
|
![]() I attended a workshop by the author at the MREA and was impressed by his knowledge on design and building earth-sheltered homes, and by his interest in owner built homes -- he knows his stuff. |
Dry Stack Wall Procedure
from Quikrete
|
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(note: the Quickrete site has many "how-to" pdfs for using their product) |
Construction With Surface
Bonding U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 374 Construction With Surface Bonding (1MB pdf)
|
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The Natural Home Building
Source
www.thenaturalhome.com/drystackblock.htm
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![]() I don't care for the way they run down other forms of energy efficient construction on this site, and some of the statements along that line are simply not true. While I think their basic design is probably sound, I would use the information on this site with caution. |
Dry Stacked Construction
Handbook, Lynn Graves
http://www.drystacked.com/jumpstart.html
|
![]() It appears to still be a few days away from being available. Many photos of dry stack construction on this page: |
Stucco Sprayer Plans
http://www.johnkingsley.ca/strawbale/index.html How-To from seller of stucco sprayers:
|
![]() Here are some plans to make one that look pretty simple. |
Exterior Insulation and
Finish System (EFIS)
Robert Thomas EFIS site -- provides several helpful downloads on
EFIS (the FAQ is very good), industry information, and EFIS
suppliers. EFIS suppliers -- Each of these sites provide quite a bit of
design and installation detail |
![]() The links in the left panel provide information on the various EFIS systems, and details on how they are installed. EFIS offers a wide variety of outside finishes for different looks. EFIS systems could also be used to retrofit insulation to existing structures. There have been moisture and mold problems with some EFIS installations, so be sure that you select a EFIS contractor with a proven track record in your area. |
Earth Sheltered -- Made With Earth -- Earthbag -- Rammed Earth ... | |
Malcolm Wells
http://www.malcolmwells.com/index.html
|
![]() The home page says: "This site is dedicated to the promotion and discussion of: * underground buildings, * earth-sheltered architecture, * eco-friendly design, and * energy-efficient houses ... particularly the ideas of pioneer architect Malcolm Wells." |
Earthships
|
![]() Michael Reynolds Earthship design has: passive solar heating,
solar water heating, rain water harvesting, solar electric, grey
water recycling, and black water treatment. It also makes use of
rejected and recycled materials. It not only does all of these
things, but it appears to do all of them well. |
Earth-Sheltered Houses, Rob
Roy
http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/
|
![]() I attended a workshop by the author at the MREA and was impressed by his knowledge on design and building earth-sheltered homes, and by his interest in owner built homes -- he knows his stuff. |
Cristian's
Earth Sheltered Passive Solar Home in Romania
20 pages of pictures, plans, and design & construction details... |
![]() ![]() Cristian's home also includes an extensive earth tube system, rain harvesting, solar hot water, carefully designed wood heating, and provisions for a future PV system. Its a fine design and a great story as well. |
Slipfrom Construction ...
|
![]() The house uses slipform construction. This method is well suited to owner-builders, and results in a wall that is strong, beautiful, and energy efficient. See all of Doug's solar projects ... |
Rammed Earth Homebuilding David Easton Finding Mother Earth News articles...
|
![]() An extensive article on rammed earth house construction – quite a bit of detail. Adapted from the book: The Rammed Earth House, David Easton, 1996 |
Building With Earth Dan Chiras Finding Mother Earth News articles...
|
![]() An overview of adobe, cob, rammed earth, and earth bag home construction. A start at understanding these techniques for home built from earth materials. |
Sirewall
-- An insulated rammed earth wall
Sirewall... |
![]() High insulation levels can be achieved. The results can be very
attractive. |
Down to Earth Homes Dan Chiras Mother Earth News |
![]() A fine article by Dan Chiras on earth sheltered homes. Covers the various styles of earth sheltered home, why earth sheltered homes work, and provides a lot of good construction advice. All from the man who lives in one, and the author of “The Solar House”. |
Detailed
Account of Earth Bermed Home Project
|
![]() Lots of construction detail -- covers everything from footings to kitchen counter tops -- quite a story. |
Passive Annual Heat Storage John Hait Finding Mother Earth News articles...
Some pictures of an Earth Tube installation:
|
![]() An article describing a scheme for passive solar heat storage on an annual basis. The scheme uses a large "bubble" of dirt around the house that has a good thermal connection with the walls of the living area, but is isolated from the surrounding dirt by insulation and waterproofing. Over time the temperature of the dirt bubble can be brought up to a comfortable temperature that varies only a few degrees over the year. More information and a book on this scheme is available here: Here is a review of John Hait's Passive Annual Storage book by by Nick Pine. |
Green Roofs: an
Introduction with Pretty Pictures
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/902
www.greenroofs.org/
www.thegreenroofcentre.co.uk/pages/DIY%20Leaflet.pdf
www.greenroofs.com/archives/gf_aug06.htm
www.groundwork-sheffield.org.uk/upload/documents/document48.pdf |
![]() There is a lot of interest in this area, and green roofs do provide a nice combination of practical advantages and aesthetic appeal. From an energy point of view, the lower roof temperatures in the
summer appear to be the primary benefit, but there is also some
winter benefit.
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PAHS Example in Virginia http://paccs.fugadeideas.org/tom/index.shtml
|
![]() Much more window area than the Hait home above. |
Earthbag Building | |
Earthbag
Building, Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer
|
![]() It covers the pro/con of Earthbag compared to other earth
building techniques, and then goes into a VERY detailed how to go
about building an Earthbag building from the foundation up. |
Earthbag Building | ![]() An extensive resource list for earthbag construction. Plus an active blog on earthbag construction. This is really earthbag central! Note that earthbags may not provide an energy efficient approach in all climates, so be sure to do your homework in this. |
Low
Thermal Mass Sunspaces for Home Space Heating (and
many other things) Low thermal mass sunspaces provide an exceptional combination of advantages: very efficient space heating for the home they are attached to, added living space that can be used for a wide variety of purposes, a wide range of cost effective designs, and they can also look great (a plus for HOAs and spouses). |
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Low Thermal Mass
Sunspace Section All the details on Low Thermal Mass Sunspace advantages, performance, design and examples... |
![]() At the same time they provide added living space that is good for a wide variety of activities. The sunspaces can also add to the aesthetic appeal and value of the home. The new section on low thermal mass sunspaces provides design and performance data, heat output and efficiency tests, and several detailed examples of low thermal mass sunspaces that work well. |
Sand Bed Heat Storage These homes use a concrete slab floor with a thick, insulated layer of sand under the slab for solar heat storage. Solar thermal collectors heat water which is transferred to the sand via PEX coils in the sand. There is not a lot out there on the design or performance of these homes -- if you have more information, please let me know. |
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Northern MN Sandbed Storage Passive Solar Home... | ![]() The owners are quite pleased with it. Details here... |
Technical Evaluation of a Solar
Heating System having Conventional Hydronic Solar Collectors and
a Radiant Slab, Robert j. Starr, Jon G. McGowan, Brain P McNiff,
http://www.radiantsolar.com/pdf/DOEREPORT.pdf
From the www.radiantsolar.com site. A 1980's report on a sand bed storage home. |
![]() This is the only case of carefully documented performance I've been able to find. Please let me know if you see more. |
Extensive Tour of a 1996 Deep Sandbed Storage Home in Michigan... |
The solar thermal collectors on the south roof begin charging the sandbed storage in August, and the house is able to utilize this heat through a good part of the winter (into Feb). The design accomplishes more seasonal heat storage than most sandbed homes because the sandbed is quite deep (about 8 ft). This allows more storage and since the heat charging tubes are near the bottom of the sandbed, there is a long delay (a couple months) from the start of charging of the sandbed until the heat reaches the bottom of the main floor slab. If anyone knows how to contact Dale Anderson (the designer) please let me know. I would very much like to see the temperature vs depth data that was collected for the sandbed. |
Warm, Radiant Comfort in the
Sand, Bob Ramlow, Solar Today, Nov/Dec 2007 Ramlow Solar Today Sandbed Storage.... These are some thoughts of mine on the article above.... |
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Active Solar: Sure-fire success
has been boiled down to five rules, Fredric S. Langa, New Shelter, March 1983 http://www.radiantsolar.com/pdf/rodales.pdf |
![]() Note that this system has separate pipe loops through the sand bend and the slab itself, and it is said that this can be used to use the collected heat immediately (slab loop), or store it (sand bed loop) |
The Daycreek Home . http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/house_specs.htm And, a couple journal entries with some sand bed characteristics:http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/journal020703.htm http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/journal111002.htm
NEW:
Daycreek has an update on their sand bed storage system: http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/journal050509.html |
The page listed has some sub-links that provide a little bit of detail on how the home was built, and some hints on performance
The owner has done a lot of experimenting to try to optimize the performance of the sandbed.This is a home that uses sand bed storage. |
Another Way to Do Sand-Bed Heat Storage?
|
![]() The page describes a method that was tried by the MN Ag Extension to heat soil in high tunnel greenhouses. It seems to me that it might have some potential for being used as a way to heat sandbed storage for shops, or barns, or houses.
The system could be implemented for a fraction of the cost of solar water heating collector methods, and I don't see an reason it would not work as well? |
Some
Further Thoughts on Sandbed Storage Homes...
|
![]() It would be oh so nice to instrument one (or more) of these homes and get a better understanding of the performance. I''d be happy to loan data logging equipment to anyone who is in a position to do this. |
Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) | |
Thermal performance of ICF
walls -- the effect of wall thermal mass on the effective R value
Another recent paper on actual R values for ICF's
|
![]() |
One Year in A Foam House | ![]() |
A
Fast Foundation for an Addition, Rick Arnold, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 170, May 2005 How to
get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
![]() Good detailed instructions on how to plan, install, and pour
walls with ICFs. |
Installation, Design and
Specifications for ICF Construction from arxx
http://www.arxxbuild.com/technical/
|
![]() The nominal R value for ICF walls is in the R20 area, but for many climates, the thermal mass makes it behave like a conventional construction wall with a higher R value. Having insulation inside of the thermal mass is not as good as having the thermal mass on the inside -- see other products below. |
Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) with Insulation
on the Exterior The claim for ICF construction has always been a wall with a high effective R value due to the built in thermal mass of the concrete. The ICF products listed just below put all or most of the the insulation on the exterior. This allows the thermal mass of the concrete to be used more effectively. These products are more likely to actually deliver on the ICF industry claims of high effective R value. Some of the products also offer very high R value versions by adding to the thickness of the exterior side insulation. |
|
Royal Building Systems
Insulation on the Outside Only ICF
Design guides Builder comments: |
![]() |
Thermo Mass System (Dow
T-Mass)
Thermo Mass Building Insulation System -- some
Pictures of construction sequence for several projects -- look at
project gallery:
The DOW site has a little info (not much): |
![]() ![]() Supposed to be available with more than 2 inches of Styrofoam between (which would seem like a good path). |
Quad-Lock
Asymmetric ICF
Another Asymmetric ICF: |
![]() The exterior insulation allows the concrete to be more effective as thermal mass. They also offer R values about as high as you could want to go by increasing the thickness of the exterior foam insulation. |
Dome Homes | |
Super
Insulated Dome Home
Dome home insuated to R60:
Construction pictures:
|
![]() Nice detailed set of construction pictures and notes. |
Natural
Space Domes
http://www.naturalspacesdomes.com/
|
![]() Quite of bit of reference information on the site. The Bear Creek Dome example gives lots of construction detail. |
Mountain
View Dome
Construction Details:
|
![]() The construction starts with an inflatable dome form, then insulation is sprayed on inside surface of the form, then rebar and shotcrete are added to inside to make a structural wall. The outside is finished with coats of spray on flexible membrane followed by stucco. The site provides a very complete and very well organized description of the full construction process including structure and systems. A very interesting way to build a house. |
Prefab Homes Prefab homes offer the promise of constructing well designed and high quality homes under carefully controlled conditions. |
|
PowerPOD Prefabricated
Homes
www.powerhouse-enterprises.com
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Papercrete | |
Papercrete Construction
www.papercrete.com/papercrete.html |
![]() ![]() PaperCrete is a building material made from a mixture of recycled paper, sandy dirt, and a little cement. It has an R value of 2.8 per inch, good strength, and is lightweight and inexpensive. ![]() ![]() |
GreenstarBlox -- a high R value wall building block | |
GreenstarBlox --
papercrete on steroids Details... |
![]() The blocks exhibit high strength, are durable, and have very good insulating value. I think that these blocks may become a very good candidate for energy efficient owner built homes. |
Pumice-Crete | |
Pumice-Crete
http://www.pumicecrete.com/Pumice-Uses.htm
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Rastra | |
Building with Rastra
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Rastra is a wall building
material that is made from recycled polystyrene (coffee cup foam).
The cavities are filled with rebar and concrete for strength. ![]() |
Building a House of
Insulated Concrete Block, Fred Leadbeater, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 132, July 2000 How to
get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
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![]() Lots of good construction detail included. Note the sidebar on R values for this type of wall construction. |
Using Salvaged and Reclaimed Materials | |
Beetlekill Boards --
Beautiful Salvaged Wood http://bozeman-remodeling.com/... |
![]() The video is by Bozeman contractor, video maker, and environmentalist Peter Brown. Check out his video blog for other good videos. |
Phase Change Materials | |
Drywall with Phase Change
Material for Heat Storage
"ThermalCORE" phase change drywall... |
![]() Phase change materials store and release heat at a nearly constant temperature. The heat is stored or released as the material changes from a solid phase to liquid phase (or vice versa). Some thoughts on how the performance of regular and phase change drywall would compare... |
More on Phase Change Materials and Heat
Storage The Phase Change Materials Homepage http://freespace.virgin.net/m.eckert/index.htm One PCM supplier |
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Log Walls | |
Thermal Efficiency of Log
Walls
R values of log walls measured conventionally: Good article on mass effect on R value: ORNL testing on massive walls: |
There is an ongoing debate about the thermal efficiency of log walls. Everyone agrees that the R values as measured by standard R value tests for log walls are low. But, the claim is made by people favoring log construction that the thermal mass of log walls makes them perform as well as low mass walls with higher R values. There is some truth to this under certain conditions, but the conditions are limited. You should read the references to the left carefully and make sure that you are in a climate and setting where the extra mass of log walls will be a genuine benefit, else you may be disappointed with the thermal performance and comfort of a log home. |
Construction Details | |
Installing Windows with
Foam Sheathing on a Wood-Frame Wall Building America -- USDOE |
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Duct Losses Hurt Forced Air
Heating System Performance, Oikos Green Building Source
http://oikos.com/esb/28/duct_losses.html If you are building a hose with forced air heat, make certain that supply and return ducts are carefully sealed with duct mastic, and insulated. Best thing is to run the ducts through conditioned spaces. |
![]() Five bucks for a can of duct mastic and a half a days work could save you a lot on heating fuel and green house gas emissions. See the sealing guides in this section or the Harley book for how to do the sealing. One report from a person who seals ducts states that duct leakage on existing homes can usually be reduced to 5% (the CA requirement) by 1) sealing all accessible ducts in attics and crawls, and 2) sealing all air outlets by removing grills and reaching in. |
"Home
Run" Plumbing
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![]() Planning the plumbing system to shorten the runs for the manifold to the fixtures also pays big dividends in not wasting hot water. |
HVAC Ducts in Conditioned
Space
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![]() By including the furnace and ducts in the conditioned space, and larger energy saving can be achieved. |
Plumbing
Vents Using Air Admittance Valves
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![]() Seems like a good idea -- wonder why its not used more? |
Retrofitting Energy efficiency This section shows some ways in which the thermal envelope on an existing house can be made much more efficient. These are methods that will result in large improvements in thermal efficiency, but are also large projects -- for more conventional energy improvement for existing homes, see the Conservation section. |
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Mooney Wall
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Remodeling
for Energy Efficiency, Betsy Pettit, Fine Home Building Magazine May 2008, issue 194 How to
get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
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![]() By insulating basements and changing the insulation line to be along the roof line, living space increases were also achieved. |
Save Energy With Rigid-Foam
Insulation, Rick Arnold, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 181, Sept 2006 How to
get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
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![]() Lots of construction detail. |
A Cost Effective Larsen
Truss Design
The Larsen Truss was originally developed for retrofitting high R value walls to existing homes, and is still good for that. |
![]() The design also makes more use of local, sustainable materials. |