I've always been curious about whether there was a thermal break at the base of bales that sit on gravel, and so when we got our hands on an IR scope, I trained it on the base to see if I could find anything. Nada. Admittedly, it's a mild environment (Napa Valley in winter is not severe), but we couldn't detect anything. Seven inches of wood apparently does a lot.<div>
<br></div><div>I've been concerned about some of the volcanic rocks in regard to getting soggy and then losing all their insulation value. They will certainly help when dry, but they might hold moisture at the bottom of bale. Then again, it shouldn't be wet there.</div>
<div><br></div><div>John "Cinder-Cone Head" Swearingen<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 3:56 AM, Kelly Lerner <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:klerner@one-world-design.com">klerner@one-world-design.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"><div style="word-wrap:break-word">My (late) two cent's worth to add to RT's thoughts on EPS under bales.<div>
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<div>I agree that EPS is overkill in terms of insulation and has the added problems of possibly creating moisture issues and is loaded with fire retardant (in addition to the issues of global warming potential, susceptibility to insect attack, high embodied energy, etc). </div>
<div><br></div><div>I'm moving towards using compacted perlite as under-slab insulation in Spokane, WA. I wonder if you have any natural, mineral based material like perlite or pumice locally available? If so, you might want to check it out. Just a thought. We used a cavity brick wall filled with pumice-like coal slag as an insulated wall at the base of strawbale walls in northern China. Not perfect, but locally available and a good moisture resistant wall base under strawbale walls. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Thanks for sharing so much of your process. Huge gift to the SB community!</div><div><br></div><div><div><div>On Jan 27, 2011, at 11:22 PM, RT wrote:</div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:00:03 -0500, <<a href="mailto:gsbn-request@greenbuilder.com" target="_blank">gsbn-request@greenbuilder.com</a>> wrote:><br>
<blockquote type="cite">Message: 1<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:21:17 +1000<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">"Chris Newton" wrote:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">
Re: Fw: Emerald update<br></blockquote><br><blockquote type="cite"> Currently we plan to replace [all of the flood-damaged bales] with engineered high density expanded polystyrene foam blocks.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">
<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Of course we are really interested in any other greener product out there that will meet the needs, we have a few months up our sleeve to explore and experiment.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">
<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">I guess we are now looking at replacing 2 layers of bales around the whole building. I hear conversations between Lance and Col about supporting the upper bales in various ways while the damaged bales are removed, and having to put a new capillary layer on top of the expanding foam.<br>
</blockquote>[snip]<br><br>(for full text of message/thread, see<br> <a href="http://greenbuilder.com/pipermail/gsbn/2011q1/001252.html" target="_blank">http://greenbuilder.com/pipermail/gsbn/2011q1/001252.html</a> )<br>
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Kelly Lerner, Architect</div><div>One World Design Architecture</div><div>509-838-8812</div><div><a href="http://www.one-world-design.com" target="_blank">www.one-world-design.com</a></div><div><br></div><div>Have you read Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House? Available in Bookstores across the Universe. </div>
<div><a href="http://www.naturalremodeling.com" target="_blank">www.naturalremodeling.com</a></div><div><br></div></span><br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><font face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif"><span style="font-size:x-small"><font color="#666666">John Swearingen<br>Skillful Means Design & Construction<br>2550 9th Street Suite 209A<br>
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