An Energy Efficient Small House from Team B

Small is Beautiful: First Shots of Team C's New House

Heat Transfer Through Windows occurs by Conduction, Convection And Radiation

Our task, if we want to be energy efficient, is to cut down on heat transfer through windows. There are three ways that heat transfer occurs: Conduction, Convection and Radiation. Window engineers use the physics knowledge of heat transfer to develop window technology that cuts down on heat transfer. Dr Peff Puff and Heat Team A sent us a site that has great windows for sale that cut down on all three types of heat transfer. They use the heavy gas Argon instead of air in the window cavity. This cuts down on convection. They have a special low e coating that reflects heat back into the house but allows heat pass in from the sun. They have spacial insulated spacers that cut down on conduction of heat through the frame.

House Design Ideas from Dr Daman (at the beginning of the project)

I have been going through my files and I found this communication from Dr Daman. It put some good ideas together into a house plan. I wanted to post this and wondered where Dr Daman had gone with these ideas? I would be very interested to know how they turned out. They sounded very good. I found a house that sort of fit the description Dr Daman gave so I have included it for illustration from www.pace-cleanenergy.org/.../past tours.htm

"By Using half submerged (underground) homes you can insulate the house much better and make it more energy efficient. Also using the large window panes to preserve and collect heat, using this with solar panels above you could heat or cool your house all year round if facing the proper direction. Also using an A-frame shape with the large window, the heat that would regularly go through the roof could be ventilated back down to create an alround heat. This could work because a flat roof spreads the heat all over the roof making it hard too collect but an A-frame can concentrate this heat to a specific area. " Dr Daman

This illustration showing how Thermal Chimneys work is from the green builder reference but there is a better picture showing how the chimney would be constructed at that same web site.

Thermal Chimneys
A thermal chimney is a device which is used to cool down the inside area of the house in summer. This is used when the air is hot and humid.

The thermal chimney is built in the form of a narrow passage to the roof, like a chimney. it has a black metal absorber, which is on the inside the chimney, behind a glazed front that is on the outside of the house and is able to reach high temperatures. This surface can be insulated from the house. The chimney must be able to terminate above the roof level of the house so that air will be drawn out through it.

There is also a rotating metal scoop at the top which opens opposite the wind, this will allow heated air to exhaust without being too overcome by prevailing wind.
The cost of a Thermal Chimney depends on the elements of the chimney its self. There is a layer of insulation on the inside wall and a glazed or 'window' surface on the outer wall. The only things that will cost are the insulation and the glazing and the black metal of the chimney. We would be insulating anyway so the only extra cost is the glazing, the metal and the rotating turbine.

To understand why the metal would be painted black please read the post about absorption by different colours by HEAT Team A

To understand why hot air rises check out Dr Noot and Team B's post on the behaviour of air when heated.

A post on convection currents should be coming up soon!
www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/PassSolGuide3.html

House Size Issues - Should people live in large houses?

Recently I checked other Blogs for discussions about House Size
I didn't find any comments from people defending living large
Here are some comments that answer the question:

Should we live in Large Houses?

"your house size reflects your green footprint - bigger house, bigger waster of resources - more power needed, increase in infrastructure needed to service these ridiculous houses, more applicances, more bathrooms so more water wastage, more heat/cooling required

- people who live in these giant houses should feel bad - you are part of the larger problems the world is facing today and in the future.

Small houses are far more effective at keeping warm/cool depending on the season, use less resources, easier and cheaper to service and maintain, and most of all allow far more space for other houses."

"I can't believe the size of some houses that people are building.Who seriously needs 5 bathrooms, and 6 bedrooms? (unless you have a large family, but we all know the average family size is pretty small these days).I think it is pure greed. Yes, we would all like a nice big house, but there is such a thing as too big.Plus, you have to clean it! I could not be bothered dusting rooms that were never used. What's the point?!I think it is also forcing people to stay indoors. People are opting for larger houses with court-yards, rather than a smaller house with a big backyard. It's no wonder we are becoming obese."

"Smaller is definitely better. Big houses is symptomatic of the selfishness of our society (big diets, big cars, big electricity bills, big environmental crisis!).Having travelled through Europe and living in Asia for a couple of years, I really appreciate the lifestyle of living in high density residential areas. The lively atmosphere and sense of community are uplifting and makes you enjoy being outside."

"Smaller houses are better. McMansions are related to the 'Forget the quality, feel the width' mentality. Thes houses are no doubt luxurious, but also energy & space inefficient.Thing is, it won't change. People are always going to take more than they need."

"I think councils should more closely regulate the size of houses. And if they won't, the state or fed govt should do something about it. Clearly a waste. My wife and i are planning to build a new home in the next year or so, the size of the house is a big issue for us, we cannot agree.""big houses, in my experience are for greedy, selfish and misguided people"

Please add your comment: Should we live in large houses?

Dr Noot's Particle Theory Diagram

This diagram was drawn by Dr Noot using paint. Dr Noot had trouble making it bigger so he has posted it as it is. If you click on it, you will see a larger version. The diagram explains the transfer of heat through copper to the butter in terms of the particle theory of matter in The Butter Melting experiment posted earlier on the blog by Dr Noot. The warm water means that the water particles have high kinetic energy. they are moving fast. They bump into the copper particles and transfer kinetic energy to them. then the kinetic energy is transferred along the copper particles by a kind of domino effect until the energy reaches the butter. The butter particles get kinetic energy and start to move faster. the butter melts.

Helpful Tips on Windows for Passive Solar Heating

If we want to use passive solar heating in our houses we need to choose the right windows.

Looking at the diagram here (from www.nfbuilders.com/r2000/default.asp?page=windows) we want high solar gain in winter so that we get the energy from the sun to help us heat the house. We also want to reduce as much as possible the loss of heat back out through the windows in winter by the processes of radiation, convection and conduction. Argon gas helps cut down on the transfer of heat out by convection because convection currents do not form as easily in argon as in air. Argon filled windows also cut down on conduction because argon does not conduct heat as well as air. We also need to cut down as much as we possibly can on infiltration around the edges of the windows and we can get windows we special foam insulation spacers for that.
Heat Team A found a great site http://www.windows4u.ca/w_cas.html
If you scroll down this site you can see an awesome graphic of the different types of windows

In summer we would need to cover the windows with drapes or blinds so that the house does not get too hot.

Build Smaller Houses

Q: How do I help the planet?
A: Build smaller houses.

"The most obvious way to conserve land, energy, and building resources, especially wood, is to build smaller houses. A smaller house uses less materials, and causes less pollution, at every stage...

"The Small House Society" has a web site

/www.resourcesforlife.com/groups/smallhousesociety/

Small houses can be beautiful too as you can see from the design here in the picture of the interior of a small house in Finland

Author/architect Esa Piironen has written a book called "Small Houses in Finland" and this picture is from that book. Finland has a climate similar to Canadian climates and to conserve energy architects there design very stylish houses

2007 House Size/ newspaper article

We found this old newspaper clipping and really this is an old issue! We disbanded a couple of years ago when average house size decreased to 1,000 square feet out of necessity. What's going on? Have we woken Sleeping Beauty? Are these House Designs for Real?
"The Citizens Against Living Large"

Read this article from 2007

Brian Hutchinson, National PostPublished: Saturday, March 31, 2007

"Canadians are living in houses bigger than ever, even though our families are shrinking. In this, the first of a three-part series, the National Post examines the driving desire for more Space And The Backlash Against Living Large.
Danny Evans was raised in postwar Vancouver, in a tiny, cottage style house, with his mother and father and a cluster of siblings. "We barely had room to move," he recalls. "But we didn't consider it a hardship. It was just normal."
Danny's house was 800 sq. feet