[Greenbuilding] dry stack "natural home"

[Corwyn]

On Feb 11, 2008, at 00:42, KG wrote:

> Can anyone offer any comments or criticism of this building 
> method/design for a cold (South Dakota) winter?
>
> http://www.thenaturalhome.com/passivesolar.html
>
> Many thanks.

Some warning signs:

1) Our method works, all other methods don't.

2) Confusing K-value (conductivity) with Specific Heat or Thermal Mass.

3) Saying that an air tight house is somehow less efficient than a 
leaky one.

4) "If you ventilate (let the heated or cooled air escape) in an air 
tight, high insulation home, you lose all your comfort."  Not 
understanding that the same amount of heat leaves with the air 
regardless of the construction type.  If you ventilate, ventilate, 
ventilate, you are losing heat, heat, heat.

5) "The complete inability of strawbales and logs to store heat..."  
hyperbole aside, apparently the 2-3 inches of interior plaster has been 
lost.

6) "Embodied energy is a moot point when the finished house is more 
sustainable"  translation: our embodied energy figures stink, look over 
here instead...   All that energy adds up.  Going with the lowest sum 
is best.

7) The purlins extend from the inside, to beyond the roof overhang.  
Sure sign of someone who lives in a dry climate.

8) Putting anything to be ridiculed in quotation marks.

9) "...has always been a wise option for any home of any construction 
style anywhere in the world."  Green design is all about adapting to 
your local conditions.

10) The website is hard to read.  I know this shouldn't be a concern 
for evaluating a green building approach, but how many other people 
find bad web design correlates with bad idea design?

11) No actual R-value numbers anywhere I could find.

12) No actual thermal mass numbers anywhere I could find.

13) No energy performance number anywhere I could find.


That said, many of the ideas are reasonable.


Thank You Kindly,

Corwyn

-- 
Corwyn
Kermit didn't know the half of it...
http://www.greenfret.com/
corwyn at greenfret.com