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<DIV>
<DIV>Mark,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You have certainly sparked a very interesting discussion on one of the more
difficult issues of strawbale construction and have found passion in very
differing points of view.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>However, I think the answer to your basic question of heat loss is that it
does not matter where the window is within the depth of the bale as heat
transfer starts on one edge of the window/bale interface, travels through the
bale around the depth of the window (as well as through the window of course)
and then out of the bale on the other side of the window frame. The insulative
value of that portion of bale is the same whether it is outer, center or
inner.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Now, a window set to the outside leaves a larger segment of the bale
exposed to interior temperatures and one set to the inside leaves a larger
segment exposed to the exterior temperatures, so that can be a factor
depending on which direction the heat is flowing i.e., in during hot
summer or out during cold winter.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Danny Buck</DIV>
<DIV>President, Daniel Buck Construction, Inc.</DIV>
<DIV>Santa Fe, NM</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>From:</B> <A title=mailto:moontrout@yahoo.com
href="mailto:moontrout@yahoo.com">nature boy</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=mailto:GSBN@sustainablesources.com
href="mailto:GSBN@sustainablesources.com">Global Straw Building Network</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A
title=mailto:Patrick@communitecture.net
href="mailto:Patrick@communitecture.net">Patrick Donaldson</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, November 19, 2012 6:25
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [GSBN] Window Detailing
Question</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">
<DIV><SPAN>Hi Folks,</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><BR><SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>Mark
Lakeman at communitecture and City Repair in Portland here. <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>We
have a </SPAN><SPAN>new bale project</SPAN><SPAN> coming in and we're thinking
in terms of some <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>passive
haus - kinda </SPAN><SPAN>design concerns</SPAN><SPAN> as well. Can anyone
please comment <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>on
the question below,</SPAN><SPAN> please?</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><BR><SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>-
So, we're thinking of bringing the windows of this building inboard to the
middle of <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>the</SPAN><SPAN>
thickness </SPAN><SPAN>of the wall, as opposed to how we normally set them at
the exterior edge <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>of
the</SPAN><SPAN> wall. </SPAN><SPAN>The idea is that we will provide more
thermal resistance through</SPAN><SPAN> the wall at <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>the
jamb, </SPAN><SPAN>head, and sill in order to transfer through more fiber
rather than just being <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>able
to nip </SPAN><SPAN>diagonally</SPAN><SPAN> through the wall around the window
frames.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><BR><SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>Is
it worth doing this in consideration of potentially increased water
infiltration issues?</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>Please
advise!</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><BR><SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>Thanks
always, <BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN>Mark</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent; FONT-STYLE: normal; FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); FONT-SIZE: 18px"><SPAN><BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(128,0,0)">Mark Lakeman</SPAN><BR
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,127)"><BR style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><SPAN
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: lucida console, sans-serif">Co-Founder
</SPAN>
<SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif"></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif"> Principal &
Design Lead </SPAN></FONT> </SPAN><BR><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: lucida console, sans-serif"><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The City Repair
Project </SPAN> </SPAN> <FONT style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"
size=5><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif">communitecture,
inc.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"><SPAN
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: lucida console, sans-serif">Portland, Oregon
</SPAN>
<SPAN
style="FONT-STYLE: italic; FONT-FAMILY: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif">Architecture
& Planning</SPAN></SPAN><BR style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"><SPAN
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: lucida console, sans-serif">503-381-5885
</SPAN>
<FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif">503-230-1293</SPAN></FONT><BR
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"></SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: lucida console, sans-serif">www.cityrepair.org </SPAN>
<FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif">www.communitecture.net</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><BR
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,127)"><BR style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"><SPAN
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)"></SPAN><SPAN
style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)"></SPAN><BR><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 14pt">
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<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<HR SIZE=1>
<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Chris Magwood
<chris@endeavourcentre.org><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> Global Straw Building Network
<GSBN@sustainablesources.com> <BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Tuesday, November 13, 2012 4:13
AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [GSBN] Can bale
buildings be air tight?<BR></FONT></DIV><BR>Hi all!<BR><BR>Maybe the question
of whether or not a bale building can be built air tight hasn't been keeping
you all awake at night, but it's caused Jen and I some long evenings of
thought and lots of detail drawings on our plans! Maybe that's just what keeps
northerners warm at night...<BR><BR>We've been honing in on good results over
the past couple of years, and this year we finally nailed it (but didn't put a
nail through it... that would have been counter-productive). We just did a
blower door test on our most recent project and ended up with a result of 0.99
ACH50. That's approaching the PassiveHaus goal of 0.6, and we realized after
the test that we hadn't covered up the open sump pit in the basement, so we
may actually get to PH levels with the final test.<BR><BR>The building has a
mix of site-built, clay plastered walls and prefabricated, lime/cement
plastered walls. We've long used a system that uses a flexible air barrier
(house-wrap type membrane) at the edges of the walls where the plaster will
meet ceiling, floor and intersecting walls. The membrane wraps down behind the
plaster by 3-4 inches. What was interesting with this building was to find
that in some areas that detail worked very well, and in others it didn't help
much at all.<BR><BR>What this tells us is that unprotected plastered edges
leak... a lot! Our first blower test helped us discover that some of these
seams were leaky. One leaky wall accounted for a shocking 74 square inches of
leakage! By eye, it just looked like the usual plaster shrinkage around
the edge of the wall, maybe 1/8 inch. But multiply that around an entire home
and it's no wonder that many bale buildings under perform in blower door
tests. You can see photos of these areas on our project blog at
http://endeavourcentre.org/2012/11/blower-door-test-1/<BR><BR>What we don't
know is why some areas stayed tight and others didn't. Our best guess is that
it can come down to quality of work. How long was the barrier tail left? How
well was the mesh installed over it? How vigorously was the plaster pushed
into the mesh? The plaster pulling away at the edge as it shrinks also seems
to cause some slight bending of the skin inward, taking it away from the
barrier.<BR><BR>One good take-away from this project is about the beauty of
clay plasters. The leaky edges of the clay plastered walls were relatively
easy to address... moisten the edges a bit and squeeze in more clay mix.
Everything bonds together and the seams went from very leaky to completely
tight!<BR><BR>Now, if anybody happens to ask if them there bale houses can be
air tight, it's possible to answer yes.<BR><BR>Cheers,<BR><BR>Chris<BR><BR>--
Chris Magwood<BR>Director, Endeavour Centre<BR><A
title=http://www.endeavourcentre.org/ href="http://www.endeavourcentre.org/"
target=_blank>www.endeavourcentre.org</A><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>GSBN
mailing list<BR><A title=mailto:GSBN@sustainablesources.com
href="mailto:GSBN@sustainablesources.com"
ymailto="mailto:GSBN@sustainablesources.com">GSBN@sustainablesources.com</A><BR>http://sustainablesources.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/GSBN<BR><BR><BR></DIV></DIV></DIV>_______________________________________________<BR>GSBN
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