Re: SB: Passive solar SB designs

["Trkstr" <trkstr@hotmail.com>]

In my younger days I wanted to live in a glass bubble, to always have any
available light around me and to stop the rain/storms/wind etc.....  perfect
climate.

Now I have been thinking a double wall construction of bales.....with an
atrium thingy between the walls with all artificial 'natural' lighting.
Windows on the inner wall open all the time, no windows on the outer wall
except in a few special places, or security cameras.

If you want to see the sun you go outside.  No heating/cooling problems,
just lots of power consumption!  Got to  keep the desert on the south, the
oceans on the E and W, and the winter-lands of N maintained.  Hmmmmmmm, I
like it!

I can put an outhouse in each weather area for the views.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Keith Rowe" <keithrowe@ezpost.com>
To: "Straw Bale list" <strawbale@crest.org>
Sent: Friday, September 27, 2002 12:49 AM
Subject: SB: SB: Passive solar SB designs


> At the risk of being tarred and feathered, or in this case, stucco-ed and
> strawed, I'd like to add my two cents to a question that was never really
> asked, but that maybe should be.
>
> We talk of "passive solar design" in our structures, and Chris wisely has
> sought information on it, as we did when my wife and I designed our SB
home
> a few years back. My question is this: Is there ever really a net energy
> GAIN, over the course of a year, by using the concept of windows to heat
our
> homes?
>
> The obvious answer is yes, but is it that simple? I happen to live in a
> 'passive solar SB house', in the wilds of Canada, designed in part by an
> architect, and engineer with experience in the field of energy efficiency.
> After two years here I have a few observations.
>
> 1)Windows are a huge sucker of energy, or at least they are at my
latitude.
> My windows are very high energy, fixed design with low e's and argon and
> three panes and little gnomes inside them that tell the bad 'coldies' to
> stay the heck out of the house, and they cost me a pretty penny even
though
> I built the frames myself. But do the math. On a SUNNY December the 21st I
> get about 2 1/2 hours of energy coming in of any beneficial amount from
the
> sun, but for 24 hours of that day I have energy being sucked out of a big,
> R-6 surface in an otherwise R-40 house.(don't start arguing with me about
> the ins and outs of R values and how inaccurate they are, I'm just making
a
> point) I'd be floored if that equation came out in my favor.
>
> 2) We do need windows, because they give us views and light and such which
> makes life worth living, so I think, at least in Canada, we need to look
at
> windows and say: "Well, we know they suck heat from the house, lets design
> things so the LEAST amount of energy is lost." as opposed to: "Wow! If I
buy
> good windows and face them all south, I can kiss the evil energy companies
> goodbye!"
>
> 3) A look at fenestration(a big fancy word that means 'the study of
windows
> and how they work, and using big words make me feel important') tells us
> that as we go up in R value, we go down in transmitted radiant energy that
> passes through the window. So we're fighting a losing battle in trying to
> bring in the good stuff while keeping out the bad stuff.
>
> So ultimately, I say we use windows for light and views, orient as many
> south as possible, keep them off the north side, accept that they will
take
> away energy, and move on to more important things, like  trying to figure
> out how to spend more time with our kids, or why the dropped slice always
> lands peanut butter side down...
>
> Those are my thoughts, not yours.
> Keith
>
> P.S. I think I've figured out a truly efficient design, but I don't think
> it's exactly passive...
>
> 1) Make a house with a big central pillar, on which it rotates, and tilts
> with the sun as it tracks across the sky, so the light is coming in the
one
> wall of windows the whole day.
> 2) Screw, nail, or glue down all objects in the home so they don't slide
> when the floor tilts. Practice balancing on this ever changing plane
> 3) Paint the inside of your house black to absorb ALL the heat from the
sun.
> 4) Build huge blocks of solid styrofoam and as soon as your 'spidey
senses'
> tell you there is no longer an energy gain, run around the house and place
> them carefully in the window cavities to seal them up.
> 5) Get up before dawn,which will be a different time each day, and run
> around taking out the styrofoam blocks. Find an appropriate place for them
> so all your guests that come to visit you in your black, tilting, rotating
> straw bale house won't trip over them.
> 6) Wind the big huge spring that moves the house around.
> 7) Have a nice life.
>
> K
>
>
>
>
>
>
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