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There are many ways to build a successful passive solar home (and even more ways not to build one). These designs and construction techniques vary from the very usual stick construction to straw bales, rammed earth, bermed and buried, cordwood and more. Each of these techniques can lead to a good passive solar house, but getting there requires careful design.
Directory for this page: Be sure to also take a look at Solar Home Design Guides and "I Did It" solar home websites by owners.
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| Passive Solar Homes Construction Guides | |
| From the Ground Up -- A primer for
Natural House Building Rachel Ware and Laurie Stone |
Home Power magazine article, issue 99 A good overview of house construction techniques with low energy content (strawbale, rammed earth, and others). Some how-to information. |
| Green
From the Ground Up - A Builders Guide David Johnson and Scott Gibson
|
 A
good and up-to-date construction oriented book on building energy efficient
and green homes.Fairly nuts and bolts coverage of what's green and energy
efficient in foundations, framing, HVAC, insulation, electrical, plumbing,
... |
| The Passive Solar Construction
Handbook Steven Winter Associates, Inc |
 A book covering many construction details used
in passive solar home designs. Hundreds of drawings showing
construction details for passive solar construction. The older edition
of this book is usually available at Amazon.com used books at a not quite so
staggering price. |
|
Best Practices Manuals Solar homes work much, much, much better with an outer shell that is well insulated and does not leak cold air in. This is probably the most important element of getting a solar home to work well. |
|
| Building America Best Practices
Series Building America -- Department of Energy
V1 - Hot-Humid Climates (pdf) From Building America: www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/building_america/ |
 These
up-to-date and detailed manuals provide "best practices" for each
climate.Covers site layout, layout of windows for passive solar, insulation, infiltration control, furnace and AC, ... |
| Insulation Guides -- Building
a well insulated and Tight Shell for Your Home The DOE-EERE Insulation Guide Series:
|
 This
is a good and up-to-date series of guides from DOE-EERE site for building an
outer shell on your home that minimizes heat transfer.I guess my one bit of advice would be to go a bit further than they recommend for your climate, because experience shows that in a while (as fuel prices climb) they will be recommending higher levels.
Other DOE-EERE publications here: |
|
Durability by Design, Department of Housing and Urban Development, May, 2002 http://www.pathnet.org/si.asp?id=308
|
 Making
homes last a long time with little maintenance minimizes the large
expenditure of resources, energy, and carbon that go into building a home.This 87 page book provides a lot of construction details for maximizing life and minimizing maintenance. |
|
Advanced Air Sealing, Oikos http://www.oikos.com/library/airsealing/index.html
|
 This
is quite a detailed and helpful guide on how to seal various joints and
penetrations.Some of these techniques can only be used during construction, so its really important to watch all the sealing details during construction.
|
|
Super Insulation Super insulated lower energy use for heating and cooling by using: 1) air tight construction, 2) high levels of insulation, and 3) limited window area with efficient windows. Heat recovery ventilation systems (HRVs) are often used to ensure good ventilation with little heat lost. These techniques can be combined with with solar passive gain through south facing windows to further reduce heating bills. The next few sections on this page describe different construction techniques that can be used to implement a Superinsulated home. |
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Riverdale NetZero Project One of Canada's First 12 NetZero Energy Homes http://www.riverdalenetzero.ca/ Detailed presentation including description of design and construction detail (10 MB)
|
 Very
impressive net zero home in Edmonton, Alberta. A raft of energy
efficient and renewable energy features integrated into a well thought out
overall design.Doubly impressive when you consider how challenging the Edmonton climate is. |
|
http://www.airfoilinc.com/reading/files/fargo.pdf
|
An account of 5 large, super-insulated homes built in the mid 80's.
Energy use is reported for each house. Some of the choices on construction and heating system might be made differently today, it certainly shows the energy saving and cost saving benefits of super-insulation. |
| The Superinsulated Home Book, J. D. Nisson and Gautam Dutt
|
 This
very good 1985 book provides a great deal of actual construction detail for
Superinsulated homes. Detailed construction techniques covering several types of double wall construction, Larsen Trusses, ventilation, air tightness, and exhaustive treatment of vapor barriers. While some of the information is a bit out of date, and some newer techniques (e.g. SIPS) are not covered, the book still stands out for the level of construction detail it provides on the techniques it does cover. 310 pages 8.5 by 11 format. Out of print, but available at places like Bookfinder.com or Amazon.com used books. |
| Gregory
Lehman: Houses www.gregorylehman.com/houses/duplex.php
|
 A
very nice super insulated home in Indiana. Incorporates R70 cathedral
ceilings, R31 walls using cellulose + rigid foam.The south face has two of our thermosyphon collectors integrated into the wall with full insulation behind the collectors. A great illustration of how a combination of reasonable size, cost effective super insulation and solar heating can make for a very low energy use home at a very reasonable price. |
| The Kosmer
Solar House Project http://www.solarhouseproject.com/index.html Additional pictures:
|
 This
home has low heating costs in spite of its very large size due to a design
that provides very high insulation levels, solar passive gain through high
quality windows, and a high efficiency heating plant. The house is
insulted with with 4 inches of polyurethane insulation board that is outside
the sheathing.The house uses a well insulated 1 ft thick slab for heat storage with air circulated to even temperatures. The attic is within the thermal envelope to provide additional living or storage space. Quite a few interesting ideas, and a long track record. |
|
Design and Construction of Low Energy Houses in Saskatchewan, Building Practice Note, Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada, 1982 |
 In
the 80's Saskatchewan was a leader in the development of super insulated
homes. This 8 page pdf gives some of the design details on these homes and some cross section diagrams of the construction.
If anyone knows of more information on these Saskatchewan homes, please let me know ... |
| New Hampshire Super Insulated Home
|
 Fairly
detailed description of a very efficient, super insulated home in New
Hampshire.The home uses a combination of high insulation levels, exceptional sealing, passive and active solar, and very efficient appliances to very very low energy use. |
| Neopor
Insulation
BASF Neopor pages: Prefab Wall Panels:
|
 Neopor
is a variation on EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) Insulation (EPS is the foam
coffee cup material). It was developed by BASF, and has graphite added
to improve its performance.It has an R value of 5 US per inch, which is 20% more than standard EPS, and about equal to Extruded Polystyrene Foam (XPS) (the pink and blue stuff). Applications include use as an external insulation on walls, Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs), and the very interesting prefabricated wall panel shown in the picture that uses thermally broken steel studs to make a SIP like prefabricated wall panel, but without the OSB face sheets. It looks like it may be OK for applications where it is exposed to the weather? |
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Energy Efficient Stick Frame Construction Methods to improve the energy efficiency of ordinary stick construction without greatly increasing the cost. |
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Gimme Shelter Mark Klein, James McKnight, Ray Reser, Dave Shantz How to get articles from Home Power ...
Search HP archives for issue 46 |
 Home
Power Magazine article, issue 46Good article on building techniques for cold climate (8000 deg-days) solar heated homes. |
| Gimme Shelter Construction
Technique, Amherst, Wi Mark Klein and Jim McKnight, Energy Efficient Home Construction Workshop
NEW: Quite a bit more detail here:
|
 Gimme
Shelter Construction has developed some carefully thought out variations on
conventional stick frame construction that give a very energy efficient cold
climate home
with minimal added cost.Based on a MREA workshop given at the 2006 MREA Energy Fair. |
|
Mooney Wall
|
 A
simple, high R value, low thermal bridging, and high infiltration
resistance wall.Suitable for new construction or retrofit. |
|
Save Energy With Rigid-Foam Insulation, Rick Arnold, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 181, Sept 2006 How to get
articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
 Very
good Fine Homebuilding article describing how to use rigid foam insulation
board over sheathing to get a high R value wall with little thermal
bridging. This seems like a good, simple, and cost effective way to
get a high R value wall.Lots of construction detail. |
|
Double Wall Construction Two stud walls separated by a break allows for much insulation and no thermal bridging -- R values of 40 or more are possible. |
|
| The Superinsulated Home Book, J. D. Nisson and Gautam Dutt
|
This
very good 1985 book provides a great deal of actual construction detail for
Superinsulated homes. Detailed construction techniques covering several types of double wall construction, Larsen Trusses, ventilation, air tightness, and exhaustive treatment of vapor barriers. While some of the information is a bit out of date, and some newer techniques (e.g. SIPS) are not covered, the book still stands out for the level of construction detail it provides on the techniques it does cover. 310 pages 8.5 by 11 format. Out of print, but available at places like Bookfinder.com or Amazon.com used books. |
|
Energy Saving Details, Kip park, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 92, Jan 1995 How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
 Fine
Homebuilding Magazine article on a demonstration home built in Manitoba
Canada.Lots of interesting energy efficiency construction details. Double R46 walls with excellent air sealing, R11 windows, grey water heat recovery, and a unique HRV system. |
| SIPs -- Structural Insulated Panels | |
|
SIPs Panel House Demonstrates Building Innovations http://www.oikos.com/esb/35/demo.html
|
 Energy
Source Builder Newsletter, issue 35, 1994.Article on building with SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) to make a well insulated and VERY tight home. With some actual measurements of heat loss and air infilatration. |
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Side-bySide Study Proves SIP Advantages, Dr. Tony Shaw, Brook University http://www.thermapan.com/pdf/whitepaper.pdf
|
 Study
of two side-by-side homes, one with SIP walls, and one with fiberglass batt
insulated walls. Thermal imaging, in wall sensors, and infiltration tests were used to compare insulation effectiveness. It would have been nice to see the comparison to cellulose insulated walls, which I think would have done better, but maybe not as well as SIPs? |
|
WIPweb www.sipweb.com/learningcenter/default.asp
|
 A
good SIP site. Much reference material and many articles on SIPs. |
|
Innovative Insulated Panels Steve Maxwell, Mother Earth News, Oct/Nov 2005
|
 Good
MEN article on using using SIPs.Includes some construction techniques and performance compared to conventional walls. |
|
SIPs: Are They Right for Your Next Project?, John Ross, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 188, July 2007 |
 Good
article in Fine Homebuilding Magazine on building with SIPs.
A good overview of the pros and cons of SIPs, as well as a good bit of construction detail. |
|
Builder Al Rossetto's Super Efficient Vermont Home www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/...
|
 This
is a modest sized and very energy efficient home in Vermont built by Al
Rossetto. The envelope uses SIPs for wall
and roof, ICF foundation, and triple glazed windows.Solar heat is stored in a sand bed heat storage unit under the slab. The house gets a 95.3 out of 100 HERS score. Click on the pictures for a bit more detail -- I've asked Al if he can provide more design/construction detail on the house. |
|
SIPs in Modular Homes
|
 Modular
home constructed using SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels), and including
other energy efficient features uses about half the energy of a conventional
modular home. The higher insulation levels and much lower air
infiltration reduces measured energy consumption by half on this test home. |
|
ArgiBoard http://www.agriboard.com/index.htm
ORNL test of Agriboard R value:
|
 Agriboard
is a SIP that uses compressed straw for the core instead of the usual foam
insulation board.Compared to conventional SIPs, it appears to have greater strength, higher fire resistance, and more thermal mass, but less R value for a given thickness. The panels can be either 4 or 8 inches thick. The use of straw for the core and engineered lumber should reduce CO2 emissions compared to conventional construction. |
|
Enercept, Inc -- Superinsulated Building Systems
Some useful SIP installation and tech material: |
 One
of a large number of SIP suppliers.Some very useful material at the Technical Data link, including a 93 page construction manual for SIPs. |
| Larsen Truss | |
|
A Cost Effective Larsen Truss Design
|
 Robert
Riversong details his modified Larsen Truss design. With this modified
design, Robert is able to build Superinsulated homes with R40 walls and R60
ceilings at a price per sqft that is only about 5% over conventional
construction.
The design also makes more use of local, sustainable materials. |
|
A Deep Energy Retrofit
The details include a 30 page description of he design and construction process, a photo gallery, and a detailed thermal analysis spreadsheet. |
 This is the most carefully thought out energy retrofit I have seen. Gordon and Sue took a drafty 1963 brick schoolhouse with almost no insulation and converted into a home with a heating bill that is 6% of a similar size code built home in their area. Features include: R40 Larsen Truss walls, triple glazed R6 super windows, glazing revamped for passive solar heating, a new solarium, a hand crafted masonry heater, and much more. In addition to a very good thermal envelope. Like most good designs, this one is simple and robust without a lot of gadgetry. |
|
Energy Efficient Timber Frame Home Using Larsen Trusses http://www.greenfret.com/house/house.html
|
 A
Timber Frame home with 12 inch cellulose insulated Larsen trusses. The
owner/designer feels the Larsen trusses provide the same insulation as 10
inch SIPS at less cost and are a more sustainable approach. |
|
Bill's Larsen Truss Retrofit
|
 This
is a very nicely done retrofit of a Larsen Truss to the 2nd floor of this
two story house.
The truss adds an amazing R60 to the wall. |
| Straw Bale Construction | |
|
Building One House: A Handbook for Strawbale Construction,
Nathaniel Corum Red Feather Development Group, 2004
|
 A
very good book on building a straw bale home. Very hands on.
Detailed step-by-step instructions for every part of the construction
process. Written based on the experience of the Red Feather
Development Group in building many straw bales homes. It includes
those time saving short cuts you learn only after doing a job the hard way a few times.Did I mention that I really like this book? Table of Contents and a couple pictures ... You can order the book at the Red Feather website |
|
Build It With Bales -- A Step-by-Step Guide to Straw-Bale Construction -
Version Two, Matts Myhrman and S. O. MacDonald
|
 A
very good hands-on book on strawbale home construction. The first half of book covers all the aspects of planning and getting ready to build. A "build it as you go approach is" covered that allows building and paying for a small home as you go, and providing for later expansion. A very good book for owner-builders on a modest budget. The 2nd half of the book covers various strawbale construction techniques in good detail. A very good all-around book. Amazon.com has some sample pages and some good reader reviews. |
|
Information Guide to Straw Bale Building
www.strawbalefutures.org.uk/pdf/strawbaleguide.pdf From Amazon Nails website: |
 This
a very good free guide to straw bale construction from the UK. It
covers just about every aspect of straw bale building and provides a great
deal of construction detail. There even some sketch plans for straw
bale homes. Highly recommended.This website has lots of additional information on straw bale construction -- projects, links, publications. |
|
Book: The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes,
|
The book describes a number of
 example
strawbale homes that really show the how beautiful and creative this type of
construction can be. This is not a "how-to" book, but a book that
shows the wide variety of styles you can build in strawbale. Many of
the homes are small and affordable, including ones that could be built on a
pay-as-you-go basis. |
|
A House of Straw, Carolyn Roberts http://www.ahouseofstraw.com/index.htm Construction photo gallery (good):
|
 Very
interesting website and book provides a detailed account of how Carolyn
built this very nice strawbale house. Lots of good material on this
website.The photo gallery provides a lot of construction detail.
Total cost of the 1200 sqft house was about $50,000 with a mix of owner and
hired out labor. |
|
Want to see a strawbale home near you?? The Strawbale Building Registry http://sbregistry.greenbuilder.com/search.straw
|
 About
1200 strawbale homes and businesses around the world that you can arrange to
see.A description and contact information is provided for each structure. The list appears to be well maintained. T |
|
The Last Straw
|
A well thought of quarterly journal on Strawbale construction dating back to
1993. Back issues and CD available. |
|
Building With Awareness http://www.buildingwithawareness.com/index.html
|
 This
site is all about building the 800 sqft strawbale home pictured to the left.
Some information on planning, construction of the home. Also, a good
cost breakdown and a Q&A section. The home includes passive solar
heating, rainwater catchment, solar electricity, and a lot of effort to use
materials and techniques that reduce impact.It would be nice if the site provided more detail on some of the subjects, but a DVD and guide book are available from the site that are said to provide a lot of detail. |
|
The Bathhouse, Joe Schwartz and Ben Root, Home Power Magazine |
 Home
Power Magazine, issue 63, 64This is a really nice pair of articles on designing and building a strawbale bathhouse facility (including Turd Tower.) Lots of good planning, design, and construction detail. |
|
The Beauty of BALES, Mother Earth News,
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 185.Article on building strawbale homes. Covers many of the issues on strawbale home design and construction. Examples of several strawbale houses. |
|
Building With Straw Bales Athena Bill Stenn
|
|
| Meeting Design Goals with
Strawbales Laura Struempler |
Home Power magazine, issue 100 Overview of construction of strawbale house with some design information. |
|
Extensive Picture Collection for Straw Bale Home in Plozevet www.ecopanneaux.com/galerie/martin/
|
 Very
extensive photo album of straw bale home in Plozevet, France. |
|
The Straw Bale Building Association -- Workshop Pictures
www.strawbalebuildingassociation.org.uk/g17.html
|
 A
pretty detailed set of pictures with descriptions showing the construction
of a Strawbale home in the UK.More information on the used tire foundation used in these pictures from the Huff 'n' Puff Strawbale site. |
|
Earth Garden Strawbale Information Pages http://www.earthgarden.com.au/strawbale/strawhome.html
|
 A
collection of interesting articles on Strawbale construction in Australia.Some innovative concepts (like the tire foundation in this picture, fire testing, ...
|
|
An Unusual Strawbale Construction Technique http://geopathfinder.com/9535.html
|
 This
super insulated, solar and wood heated home uses an unusual Strawbale wall
construction.Quite a bit of how-to detail. |
|
Huff 'n' Puff Strawbale Workshop Site http://www.glassford.com.au/Index.htm
|
 Huff
'n' Puff runs workshops on Strawbale construction. There website has
lots of good, practical construction detail on Strawbale construction,
including some design ideas I've not seen elsewhere. |
|
Harvest Build http://www.harvestbuild.com/index.html
|
 An
interesting, informative, and humorous site on natural building techniques. |
|
Stucco Sprayer Plans http://www.johnkingsley.ca/strawbale/index.html How-To from seller of stucco sprayers:
|
 A
stucco (mud) sprayer is said to make spraying the stucco for strawbale or
the bonding for dry stack blocks much faster and less tiring.Here are some plans to make one that look pretty simple. |
|
Moisture in Strawbale Walls
|
Some moisture measurements within completed Strawbale walls. |
| Engineered lumber "I" studs | |
| The Steijger Solar
House Home page for the house: ------ Details on wall system used in this house:
|
 A
very interesting solar home in the UK. Features include super insulation, passive solar design with an attached sunspace, heat recovery ventilation, efficient wood heating, 1300 gallon rain water tank, and a 1KW solar electric system. All packaged in a very open and appealing floor plan. The walls are nearly 10 inches thick and use engineered "I" beams with thin webs for studs -- this provides very high R values and low thermal bridging compared to conventional studs. Blown in cellulose is used for insulation. The total energy use is about 4000 KWH per year -- about 1/4 of this is supplied by the current PV rig, with more planned. Many pictures are provided. The house is located in Sheffield/Nottingham/Derby triangle. |
| e-co lab -- ecological
construction laboratory Urbana, IL
More information on Passivhaus Institute: |
 e-co
lab takes on energy efficient home projects in the Urbana, IL area.These homes are built to the German Passivhaus Design Standard, and use as little as one tenth of the energy of standard homes. Some of the project examples they show use engineered wood "I" beams for wall studs (as in the example above). These beams provide sufficient depth for high R value walls (R56) and also greatly reduce thermal bridging compared solid wood studs. This seems like a very promising construction technique. |
| Dry Stack Concrete Block | |
|
The Van Geet Off-Grid Home: An Integrated Approach to Energy Savings Van Geet Home (1.8 MB pdf) This home uses dry stack concrete block walls with 5 inches of rigid
foam insulation and stucco on the outside of the dry stack walls. |
 A
detailed (70 page) description of a passive solar energy home design west of
Denver at 9300ft elevation. This is a Building America research home,
and much effort was put into making the design efficient without making it
too expensive. An about 70% energy saving over conventional
construction was achieved without any heroic measures. MUCH detail is
given on the design process, and some simple metrics are presented that
could be used by anyone designing a solar home. |
|
Earth-Sheltered Houses, Rob Roy http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/
|
 This
is a very good new book on constructing earth-sheltered homes using
dry stack block. I attended a workshop by the author at the MREA and was impressed by his knowledge on design and building earth-sheltered homes, and by his interest in owner built homes -- he knows his stuff. |
|
Dry Stack Wall Procedure from Quikrete
|
 A
procedure for building a dry stack wall from the Quikrete website.
(note: the Quickrete site has many "how-to" pdfs for using their product) |
|
Construction With Surface Bonding U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 374 Construction With Surface Bonding (1MB pdf)
|
 A
detailed 1975 manual on constructing dry stack walls with surface bonding
coating. |
|
The Natural Home Building Source www.thenaturalhome.com/drystackblock.htm
|
 Some
useful material on dry stack concrete block wall construction here.I don't care for the way they run down other forms of energy efficient construction on this site, and some of the statements along that line are simply not true. While I think their basic design is probably sound, I would use the information on this site with caution. |
|
Dry Stacked Construction Handbook, Lynn Graves
http://www.drystacked.com/jumpstart.html
|
 A
promising looking book on Dry Stack Concrete construction.It appears to still be a few days away from being available. Many photos of dry stack construction on this page: |
|
Stucco Sprayer Plans http://www.johnkingsley.ca/strawbale/index.html How-To from seller of stucco sprayers:
|
A
stucco (mud) sprayer is said to make spraying the stucco for strawbale or
the bonding for dry stack blocks much faster and less tiring. Here are some plans to make one that look pretty simple. |
|
Exterior Insulation and Finish System (EFIS) Robert Thomas EFIS site --
provides several helpful downloads on EFIS (the FAQ is very good), industry
information, and EFIS suppliers. EFIS suppliers -- Each of these sites provide quite a bit of design and
installation detail |
 EFIS
provides a way to insulate on the outside of dry stack concrete (or other)
structures. This places the insulation outside the thermal mass, where
it can be effective in smoothing out temperature variations, and in
absorbing solar gain through windows (see entries above).The links in the left panel provide information on the various EFIS systems, and details on how they are installed. EFIS offers a wide variety of outside finishes for different looks. EFIS systems could also be used to retrofit insulation to existing structures. There have been moisture and mold problems with some EFIS installations, so be sure that you select a EFIS contractor with a proven track record in your area. |
| Earth Sheltered -- Made With Earth -- Earthbag | |
|
Malcolm Wells http://www.malcolmwells.com/index.html
|
 Malcolm
Wells is known as the father of underground architecture.The home page says: "This site is dedicated to the promotion and discussion of: * underground buildings, * earth-sheltered architecture, * eco-friendly design, and * energy-efficient houses ... particularly the ideas of pioneer architect Malcolm Wells." |
| Earthships
|
Michael Reynolds Earthship design has: passive solar heating, solar water
heating, rain water harvesting, solar electric, grey water recycling, and
black water treatment. It also makes use of rejected and
recycled materials. It not only does all of these things, but it
appears to do all of them well. |
|
Earth-Sheltered Houses, Rob Roy http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/
|
This
is a very good new book on constructing earth-sheltered homes using
dry stack block. I attended a workshop by the author at the MREA and was impressed by his knowledge on design and building earth-sheltered homes, and by his interest in owner built homes -- he knows his stuff. |
|
Slipfrom Construction ...
|
 Doug
Kalmer has been living in his passive solar, earth sheltered home since the
mide 80's.The house uses slipform construction. This method is well suited to owner-builders, and results in a wall that is strong, beautiful, and energy efficient. See all of Doug's solar projects ... |
|
Rammed Earth Homebuilding David Easton
|
 Mother
Earth News, Issue 155, April/May 1996An extensive article on rammed earth house construction – quite a bit of detail. Adapted from the book: The Rammed Earth House, David Easton, 1996 |
|
Building With Earth Dan Chiras http://www.motherearthnews.com
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 191An overview of adobe, cob, rammed earth, and earth bag home construction. A start at understanding these techniques for home built from earth materials. |
|
Earthbag Building, Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer
|
 If
you are interested in learning about building with Earthbags, this is the
book.It covers the pro/con of Earthbag compared to other earth building
techniques, and then goes into a VERY detailed how to go about building an
Earthbag building from the foundation up. |
|
Down to Earth Homes Dan Chiras Mother Earth News
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 196A fine article by Dan Chiras on earth sheltered homes. Covers the various styles of earth sheltered home, why earth sheltered homes work, and provides a lot of good construction advice. All from the man who lives in one, and the author of “The Solar House”. |
|
Passive Annual Heat Storage John Hait
Some pictures of an Earth Tube installation:
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 91 Jan/Feb 1985An article describing a scheme for passive solar heat storage on an annual basis. The scheme uses a large "bubble" of dirt around the house that has a good thermal connection with the walls of the living area, but is isolated from the surrounding dirt by insulation and waterproofing. Over time the temperature of the dirt bubble can be brought up to a comfortable temperature that varies only a few degrees over the year. More information and a book on this scheme is available here: Here is a review of John Hait's Passive Annual Storage book by by Nick Pine. |
|
Green Roofs: an Introduction with Pretty Pictures http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/902
www.greenroofs.org/
www.thegreenroofcentre.co.uk/pages/DIY%20Leaflet.pdf
www.greenroofs.com/archives/gf_aug06.htm
www.groundwork-sheffield.org.uk/upload/documents/document48.pdf |
 An
interesting introduction to green roofs and their advantages.There is a lot of interest in this area, and green roofs do provide a nice combination of practical advantages and aesthetic appeal. From an energy point of view, the lower roof temperatures in the summer
appear to be the primary benefit, but there is also some winter benefit.
|
|
PAHS Example in Virginia http://paccs.fugadeideas.org/tom/index.shtml
|
 Description
of a Passive Annual Storage (PAHS) home in Virginia.Much more window area than the Hait home above. |
| Sand Bed Heat Storage | |
|
Homes Using Sand-Beds for Solar Heat
Storage ...
|
 Here
is a collection of papers and articles describing solar heated homes that
use concrete slabs with underlying sand beds for heat storage. |
| Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) | |
|
Thermal performance of ICF walls -- the effect of wall thermal mass on the
effective R value
Another recent paper on actual R values for ICF's
|
 ORNL
study of the benefits of incorporating thermal mass in walls, and comparing
different layerings of thermal mass and insulation. |
|
Installation, Design and Specifications for ICF Construction from arxx http://www.arxxbuild.com/technical/
|
 arxx
is a manufacturer of one type of ICF system. They provide very
extensive design and installation information (including a 240 pg
installation manual). Some independent test results for insulation
value, fire rating, sound absorption, are also provided.The nominal R value for ICF walls is in the R20 area, but for many climates, the thermal mass makes it behave like a conventional construction wall with a higher R value. Having insulation inside of the thermal mass is not as good as having the thermal mass on the inside -- see other products below. |
|
Royal Building Systems Insulation on the Outside Only ICF http://www.rbsdirect.com/build.htm Design and building guides Builder comments: |
 Another
flavor of ICF that puts the concrete's thermal mass to the inside with no
insulation between the concrete and the interior of the building. The
ORNL studies listed below show this to be a better arrangement than the
standard ICF arrangement of concrete between two layers of insulation. |
|
Thermo Mass System (Dow T-Mass) Thermo Mass Building Insulation
System -- some
Pictures of construction sequence for several projects -- look at project
gallery:
The DOW site has a little info (not much): |
 Another
form of ICF with concrete on the inside and the outside and insulation in
the middle. The two layers of concrete are connected to each other
with glass fiber connecting rods so that they act as a single structural
unit. The fiber rods are said to be an insignificant
 thermal bridge
through the foam. The foam can be either Polystyrene or
Polyisocyanurate (which would be seem to offer a much higher R value).Supposed to be available with more than 2 inches of Styrofoam between (which would seem like a good path). |
| One Year in A Foam House |
 A
fairly detailed description of a house built using Thermasteel SIP
(Structural Insulated Panels) walls and an ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms)
foundation. |
|
A Fast Foundation for an Addition, Rick Arnold, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 170, May 2005 How to get
articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
 A
very good, hands-on article from Fine Homebuilding on how to use Insulated
Concrete Forms (ICFs).Good detailed instructions on how to plan, install,
and pour walls with ICFs. |
| Dome Homes | |
|
Super Insulated Dome Home Dome home insuated to R60:
Construction pictures:
|
 Good
description of a 46 ft diameter super insulated dome home built using the
Natural Space Domes system (see next entry).Nice detailed set of construction pictures
and notes. |
|
Natural Space Domes http://www.naturalspacesdomes.com/
|
 This
company sells components for dome homes, and various levels of kits to build
dome homes. The system appears to be well thought out, and allows lots
of room for insulation.Quite of bit of reference information on the site. The Bear Creek Dome example gives lots of construction detail. |
|
Mountain View Dome
Construction Details:
|
 Very
complete description of a home built from 8 joined domes. The construction starts with an inflatable dome form, then insulation is sprayed on inside surface of the form, then rebar and shotcrete are added to inside to make a structural wall. The outside is finished with coats of spray on flexible membrane followed by stucco. The site provides a very complete and very well organized description of the full construction process including structure and systems. A very interesting way to build a house. |
|
Prefab Homes Prefab homes offer the promise of constructing well designed and high quality homes under carefully controlled conditions. |
|
|
PowerPOD Prefabricated Homes www.powerhouse-enterprises.com
|
 An
interesting small prefabricated home featuring some passive solar, energy
efficient construction, rain water collection and options for solar heated
water and electricity. |
| Papercrete | |
|
Papercrete Construction oikos.com/library/papercrete/sandshouse.html www.papercrete.com/papercrete.html
www.northcoast.com/~tms/papercrete.html
|
  PaperCrete is a building material made from a mixture of recycled paper, sandy dirt, and a little cement. It has an R value of 2.8 per inch, good strength, and is lightweight and inexpensive. 
While PaperCrete has been around quite a while, it has just started to be
used for home construction, so this is for adventurous experimenters. |
| Pumice-Crete | |
|
Pumice-Crete
http://www.pumicecrete.com/Pumice-Uses.htm
|
 A
lean mix of Portland Cement and pumice (a light volcanic rock) make a low
density "concrete" that has insulating value and thermal mass and sufficient
structural strength for residential walls. Walls are typically 15
inches thick to provide strength, insulation, and thermal mass. |
| Rastra | |
|
Building with Rastra
|
Rastra
is a wall building material that is made from recycled polystyrene (coffee
cup foam). The cavities are filled with rebar and concrete for
strength.
 |
|
Building a House of Insulated Concrete Block, Fred Leadbeater, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 132, July 2000 How to get
articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
 A
good Fine Homebuilding article on building a home in SW Montana using Rastra
block.Lots of good construction detail included. Note the sidebar on R values for this type of wall construction. |
| Log Walls | |
|
Thermal Efficiency of Log Walls R values of log walls measured
conventionally: Good article on mass effect on R value: ORNL testing on massive walls: |
There is an ongoing debate about the thermal efficiency of log walls. Everyone agrees that the R values as measured by standard R value tests for log walls are low. But, the claim is made by people favoring log construction that the thermal mass of log walls makes them perform as well as low mass walls with higher R values. There is some truth to this under certain conditions, but the conditions are limited. You should read the references to the left carefully and make sure that you are in a climate and setting where the extra mass of log walls will be a genuine benefit, else you may be disappointed with the thermal performance and comfort of a log home. |
|
Small Homes One of the best ways to reduce energy consumption in homes is to make them smaller. |
|
|
"A Tiny Home To Call Your Own" Patricia Foreman and Andy Lee
|
 This
is a really fine book on all aspects of "tiny homes". It covers tiny
home plans, lifestyles, Do-It-Yourself, clutter control, tiny home
communities, and provides many stories from people who built a tiny home and
live in it. |
| Affordable Passive Solar Planbook
for North Carolina Appalachian State University
|
 A
plan book of affordable passive solar homes from Appalachian State
University. Sizes range from 900 to 1300 sqft, and all include passive
features such as south glazing with overhangs for summer overheat
protection, thermal mass floor slabs, carefully thought out wall and ceiling
details to reduce heat loss and allow good insulation. The modest size
of these house, coupled with using only the most cost effective solar and
energy saving features makes these homes both very energy efficient and very
affordable. Good job ASU!I'd think about adding or making provisions for solar water heating, and, perhaps a whole house fan for summer cooling if you have cool nights. Each house has a downloadable full plan set available -- all free. |
|
Country Plans -- Small Home, Cottage and Cabin Plans http://www.countryplans.com/plans.html
|
 Some
nice plans for small homes, including a very nice 1500 sqft Solar Farmhouse
plan.Quite a bit of good information on the site. |
|
Micro-Compact Home Institute for Architecture and Product Design http://microcompacthome.com/index.php
|
 "The
micro compact home [m-ch] is a lightweight, modular and mobile minimal
dwelling for one or two people. Its compact dimensions of 2.6m cube adapt it
to a variety of sites and circumstances, and its functioning spaces of
sleeping, working - dining, cooking, and hygiene make it suitable for
everyday use."Amazing what can be done in 72 sqft. |
|
The World of the Microhouse Rev. Bill Kaysing
|
 Mother
Earth News, Issue 149, April/May 1995Quite an interesting article on building very small (as in 100 sqft) and very cheap (as in $1000). The article provides quite a bit of construction detail and quite a lot on the philosophy and benefits of living small. |
|
Living Outside the Box The Shelter: Simple living techniques: |
 David
describes their simple 8 by 16 ft home in Arizona that uses a combination of
open plan, lots of light, and outside spaces that make it great place to
live.Lots of other simple, low impact living techniques covered on this website. |
|
Rough Home Building David S. Warren
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 143 April/May 1994Nice article on building a small cabin/house by hand. Not so much a solar home, but a solar home could be done in this way. |
|
Tiny Homes and Small Homes www.tinyhousecompany.com/index.html
|
 A
web site dedicated to tiny and small homes. Some very nice pictures
and plans. |
|
A “Thermal Envelope” Trailer Caroline Wareham .
|
 Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 85 Jan/Feb 1984Quite an interesting concept. A large sunspace completely surrounds a trailer. The trailer provides ready made plumbing, kitchen etc. while the sunspace provides expanding living space and heat |
|
The ECO-CABIN www.theweebsite.com/ecocabin/thebook.htm
Starplates -- a similar scheme
|
 Plans
for a cabin based in the shape of icosahedron."This shape was chosen for a dwelling because of its simplicity of design, economy, case of construction, great structural strength and maximum utilization of a minimal amount of materials. It has an advantage over 'pure' domes in that placement of windows, doors, and skylights is more conventional. Owing to its simplicity, most of the major components (foundation, floor, and struts) may be prefabricated. " The web sit provides detailed instructions on how to build one. Some thought could be given to incorporating some solar passive heating/cooling features. |
| Construction Details | |
|
Installing Windows with Foam Sheathing on a Wood-Frame Wall Building America -- USDOE |
 Using
rigid foam sheathing on the outside of a wood frame house reduces thermal
bridging due to wall studs. This paper details how to install windows
correctly for this type of construction. |
|
Duct Losses Hurt Forced Air Heating System Performance, Oikos Green Building
Source http://oikos.com/esb/28/duct_losses.html If you are building a hose with forced air heat, make certain that supply and return ducts are carefully sealed with duct mastic, and insulated. Best thing is to run the ducts through conditioned spaces. |
 Good
article describing findings on forced air duct systems showing that a 30%
loss in heating and cooling efficiency due to duct leaks and poor duct
insulation is typical. Five bucks for a can of duct mastic and a half a days work could save you a lot on heating fuel and green house gas emissions. See the sealing guides in this section or the Harley book for how to do the sealing. One report from a person who seals ducts states that duct leakage on existing homes can usually be reduced to 5% (the CA requirement) by 1) sealing all accessible ducts in attics and crawls, and 2) sealing all air outlets by removing grills and reaching in. |
|
"Home Run" Plumbing
|
 Home
run plumbing systems run small diameter PEX tubing to each fixture from a
central location. Result is less installation labor, less waiting for
hot water at fixture, and significant energy saving.Planning the plumbing system to shorten the runs for the manifold to the fixtures also pays big dividends in not wasting hot water. |
|
HVAC Ducts in Conditioned Space
|
 Heating
and cooling ducts running through attics and crawl spaces typically lose
about 15 to 30% of the heat or "coolth" they carry to these unconditioned
areas. By including the furnace and ducts in the conditioned space, and larger energy saving can be achieved. |
|
Retrofitting Energy efficiency This section shows some ways in which the thermal envelope on an existing house can be made much more efficient. These are methods that will result in large improvements in thermal efficiency, but are also large projects -- for more conventional energy improvement for existing homes, see the Conservation section. |
|
|
Mooney Wall
|
A
way to retrofit a high R value, low thermal bridging, and high infiltration
resistance wall.
|
|
Remodeling for Energy Efficiency, Betsy Pettit, Fine Home Building Magazine May 2008, issue 194
How to get articles
from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
 This
is a good article in the May 2008 issue of Fine Home Building magazine that
describes 3 really serious home remodels that include really serious
increases in insulation levels.By insulating basements and changing the insulation line to be along the roof line, living space increases were also achieved. |
|
Save Energy With Rigid-Foam Insulation, Rick Arnold, Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 181, Sept 2006 How to get
articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
Very
good Fine Homebuilding article describing how to use rigid foam insulation
board over sheathing to get a high R value wall with little thermal
bridging. This seems like a good, simple, and cost effective way to
get a high R value wall. Lots of construction detail. |
|
A Cost Effective Larsen Truss Design
The Larsen Truss was originally developed for retrofitting high R value walls to existing homes, and is still good for that. |
Robert
Riversong details his modified Larsen Truss design. With this modified
design, Robert is able to build Superinsulated homes with R40 walls and R60
ceilings at a price per sqft that is only about 5% over conventional
construction.
The design also makes more use of local, sustainable materials. |
A
good, detailed 1996 article on building with strawbales. Covers most of
the pros and cons and construction issues.