[Greenbuilding] please rant: thar she blows

Thu Apr 12 02:37:35 CDT 2007

Dear Mike,

  I was following the link, "please rant" more so than attacking the rejection building energy design strategy.  But you do make a good point, "ad homonym argument is not evidence", and I would be very interested in any evidence you might present to demonstrate that anything I might have said, is anything but fact, and would not be the least bit offensive to anyone who might fairly consider them and their implications!

  Is there any amount of insulation that might improve a rejection model's design performance beyond one of there days within the human comfort zone? How about R=100,000,000.?
  Is there any amount of energy efficiency that might improve a rejection model's design performance beyond one of three days within the human comfort zone?  How about EE= 100%?
  Is there any combination of energy efficiency and insulation might improve the durability of a non-sustainable design strategy?  How about EE=100% & R=100,000,000?

  If the answer to all of these questions are NO.  Then, I would argue you should lighten up and let me "please rant" about what the very beautiful mind and my old friend John Straube seems to have forgotten, "its all about design strategy; what we are trying to do".  While John is absolutely right, R2000 & Super-E homes are more comfortable than their older Japanese counterparts, lots more.  But this comfort comes with a price; non-sustainability, as overall building energy performance has almost nothing to do with insulation and energy efficiency. My point was that we should all hope the Japanese are never subjected to such a mediocre level of performance, as designed non-sustainability.  

  While finding my thoughts funny might be a stretch for you, I am reluctant to accept offensive, ...all things considered.

  Just a thought?

  AOF

Mike O'Brien <obrien at hevanet.com> wrote:
  Hello, Christopher--   

  I found your comments offensive. If you have criticisms, please back them up with facts. Your ad hominem argument is not evidence.

  Mike O'Brien

    On Apr 11, 2007, at 7:33 PM, Christophor Faust wrote:

    One can only hope that the Japanese never have to endure the second rate mentality that would seal a home and wrap it in a "good blanket of insulation" in the name of durability and energy efficiency.  R2000 & Super-E homes are non-sustainable junk and one can only surmise that those who advocate such dribble, have spent too much time in sealed rooms with little or no ventilation.  

    Where is that bright star of let's "solve the fundamental problem" while we can? 

    Suffering from too much cheap recirculation ventilation? 

    AOF

  John Straube <jfstraub at civmail.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
    I have worked on energy efficient houses in Japan, and the reason they heat
  only certain rooms is that their houses are incredibly air and heat leaky. A
  well insulated, airtight home will use less energy than a Japanese (and
  formerly British and New Zealand) room-by-room heater approach. When the
  Japanese consumer finds out how comfortable and cheap it is to live in a
  R2000 or Super-E house, they don't want to live in an old Japanese house. 
  Wrapping all occupied space in a good blanket of insulation is the most
  practical solution to both durability and energy efficiency

  Dr John Straube
  Associate Professor
  Dept of Civil Engineering & School of Architecture
  University of Waterloo
  www.johnstraube.ca
  Waterloo, Ont., Canada
  www.civil.uwaterloo.ca/beg

  -----Original Message-----
  From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
  [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Alan Abrams
  Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 07:56
  To: wmdorsett at sbcglobal.net; 'John Salmen'; 'Greenbuilder list'
  Subject: [Greenbuilding] please rant: thar she blows

  apartment who said how odd it was that we Muricans heat the whole space of
  our houses. Koichi explained that in Tokyo people wear coats indoors and
  drop the temperatures of their homes to the point of seeing their breath. >

  we mur'kins were once wiser; as Ishmael observed to Queequeg, misty mouthed
  and huddled in a shared bed in a decrepit Nantucket rooming house on a
  blustery winter night, "to be truly warm, some part of you must be cold."
  Lisa Heshong develops that notion in her recent delightful tract, "Thermal
  Delight."

  But insulating the basement ceiling--a theoretically sound concept--is
  subject to the practical difficulty of insulating the stairwell and adjacent
  door. As we reduce the overall footprint of the house, we fight headroom
  requirements, shaving every possible inch out of the sections of landings
  and carriages. And as often as not, we also create habitable space in our
  basements. So it still strikes me as reasonable to insulate the basement
  and capture the heat of the water heater and heating equipment. 

  Alan Abrams

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