[Greenbuilding] suggestions for energy efficient shower material

[Bill Huber]

Luxury option might be to build a double-skinned enclosure with water  
channel in between the layers. Your hot supply water could pass  
through that and heat up the walls nicely before coming out of the  
shower head. As long as you have a drainwater heat-recovery system,  
you won't have to feel too bad about the extra water it takes to  
stabilize the temperature.

Cheapo option (besides a top lid) might be to make a wrap-around  
shower curtain out of reflective space blanket material. If it gets  
too "grotty", just chuck it (or use under your  next floor slab  
project).

Bill



> From: Don Jennings <dfjennings at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Greenbuilding] suggestions for energy efficient shower
> 	material
> To: greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
> Message-ID:
> 	<22ce67f0902190750x12fbf355s57ee1c5a38ffb7b7 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Last winter I tried partially enclosing our shower as suggested here:
>
> http://www.sunfrost.com/efficient_shower.html
>
> (There's a standalone unit which looks neat:
> http://www.sunfrost.com/images/home-power-shower-copy.jpg
> )
>
> It really did make a difference in the comfort level of taking a  
> shower;
> however, the aluminized bubble wrap is not aesthetically pleasing  
> and, it's
> difficult to clean. Does anyone have any suggestions for ways to  
> incorporate
> this idea with a material which is:
>
>   - low mass
>   - aesthetically pleasing (I know, beauty is in the eye of the  
> beholder)
>   - durable and easy to clean
>
> Or, maybe there's another way to approach this idea?