A NATURALLY COOLED FLORIDA HOUSE
(Page 4 of 4)
Because the north Florida
dwelling was primarily designed to provide passive cooling
rather than heating,
the people at Mad Dog chose not to insulate the concrete
mass. Instead, they merely poured their floor slab over a
bed of gravel and waterproofing, installed footing drains,
then tilted up the previously poured-and-tensioned wall
panels and positioned them in perimeter slots that had been
cast into the foundation.
The "box" thus created was held together with steel corner
brackets, and laterally supported by a series of stout
cables which are strung between interlocking top plates on
the rear wall and concrete "deadmen" sunk in the ground
behind the structure. All the bulkhead surfaces were
covered with a continuous layer of "Tu-Tuf" flexible lining
material . . . then the house was bermed as described
previously.
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And, rather than covering the building's top
with a layer of earth (which would have required a whole
slew of additional engineering computations and upped the
materials expense), the designers merely installed
oversized roof trusses, and built a conventional—but
well-insulated—asphalt-shingled "lid" . . . accepting
what they feel are only minor thermal losses as a result.
ENERGY SAVINGS AT STANDARD PRICES
The bottom line, though, is cost . . . and this
1,750-square-foot dwelling was constructed for about $35
per square foot, which is a good price even for aboveground
houses in today's market.
After living in it for nearly a full year, the owner states
that the home works even better than she expected . . .
thanks largely to the fact that she thoroughly understands
how it functions, and willingly takes an active part in
matching its capabilities to the fluctuations of the
weather.
Of course, one of the beauties of this particular home is
that it works well in either a passive or an active
mode.
So, although an occupant who's insensitive to its design
would be penalized by higher utility costs, one who works
with the passive systems will enjoy considerable
savings . . . and a comfortable passage through the
seasons, as well!
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