Heating and Cooling With The Sun
(Page 2 of 7)
Since construction of a dwelling was Jim's primary project
(and because he scrounged much of his building material
over a long period of time), the resourceful professor
began to plan his structure long before he drove the first
nail. "When you build a house like this, you go through a
long period of information gathering and gestation before
drawing even the first few simple plans .... You've got to
have some kind of idea about just what you want to
accomplish and how your system should work.
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"The design I used incorporates a bit of commonsense
technology, some ancient architectural methods of the
Middle East, and a smattering of Southwestern American
Indian building techniques. The result is a structure
that's almost wholly passive, uses native building
materials where possible, and—this is quite important
to me—leaves an almost indiscernible impression on
the landscape."
It Works Superbly
Exactly how does Jim's home achieve his goals? First, the
concrete foundation was poured in an excavation 4' deep,
and surrounded with a low block wall that rises up to
ground level. The slab doesn't utilize a bed layer of
insulation, because—being a thermal sink—it
must be given the chance to absorb ground heat in the
winter and, by the same token, to assimilate the home's
excess interior heat in the summer. Other factors were
considered, too: The effect of occasional strong winds is
minimized by the protective natural earth berming and the
low profile of the dwelling. And, as an aesthetic plus, the
line of sight to a nearby tarmac highway is conveniently
interrupted.
But that's only part of the story . . . a natural
ventilation system (adapted from Middle Eastern home
design) is the major means of maintaining an
acceptable comfort level in the house year-round. A total
of eight unperforated, 4"-diameter, corrugated ABS plastic
drainage pipes are connected—using vent holes
previously formed in the structure's foundation—to
the sides of the octagonally shaped dwelling. From these
openings underneath the house, the tubes curve around, then
come together (a slight distance is maintained between them
to assure proper thermal conductivity) within a broad
underground channel, and run to a point about 100' away.
Jim figures the depth of this ditch—40"—to be
something of a compromise . . . between a shallower trench
(which wouldn't afford proper air tempering) and a much
deeper chasm (which would be excessively labor-intensive
for a relatively slight gain in efficiency).
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