<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Art brought up a lively subject -- the magic stuff that happens at the surface of clay during swings of temperature and humidity.  I devised and ran an experiment on this a few years ago, but got mixed results, and so far as I know the quasi-phase change thing still hasn't been properly studied.  We have buckets of anecdotal knowledge about earth walls keeping folks comfortable, but not enough hard science numbers.  John Straube glanced over my shoulder once or twice while I devised this test, but it's no fault of his that we didn't manage to tease out the clarity we sought.</div><div><br></div><div>The test is called "Thermal Buffering of Clay" and can be downloaded <a href="http://www.ecobuildnetwork.org/library/building-materials/cat_view/7-materials/2-earth/16-miscellaneous-earth">here</a>.</div><div><br></div>While I'm at it, I should add that "here" is the collaborative natural building library that many of us have talked about.  It is launched, and certainly needs more work, but please check it out, download anything you find, and upload any cool papers, tests, video links or other resources you think the community could use.<div><br></div><div><b>More on that soon . . .</b></div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.ecobuildnetwork.org/library/building-materials/cat_view/7-materials/2-earth/16-miscellaneous-earth"><img height="235" width="235" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" id="58a2a3e6-0ab0-4cc0-951d-90c0d4025350" src="cid:309E386C-74C2-4A04-B301-6639C573C253"></a><br><div apple-content-edited="true">
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/div></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-size: 12px; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<br><div><div>On May 13, 2013, at 10:20 AM, Art Ludwig/ Oasis <<a href="mailto:oasis@oasisdesign.net">oasis@oasisdesign.net</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>Speaking of undocumented phenomena, (I haven't been reading all these posts to the bottom, so please forgive me if this was already mentioned) earthen walls functions partially as a phase change material.  In cooling conditions moisture in the wall will change from gas to water, releasing considerable heat per unit of water (more than five times that needed to heat the same quantity of water from 0 to 100°C), whereas in warming conditions the reverse occurs. In other words, a breathable earthen wall will have more temperature moderating effect than one which was sealed against passage of moisture. The magnitude of this effect would be a function of several variables, but I can imagine conditions in which it could be significant. Note that this apart from the moderating effect on room humidity, which would also have an effect on perceived temperature.</div><div><br></div>Ianto Evans shared with me his evolving view that mass is more important that insulation, based on his observation at Cobville that mass buildings with minimal or no insulation, lots of air infiltration, and minimal heating somehow managed to remain fairly comfortable all winter.<div><br></div><div>In our climate here I've noticed that buildings with no insulation and earthen walls as thin as 3" behave like mass buildings, particularly one we have that is coupled to uninsulated earth. It's been close to 100° the past few days and this building is still last Saturday's cool temperature inside. </div><div><br></div><div>A practical effect of the apparent disconnect between observed experience and energy calcs in our area is the (so I hear) difficultly of cob buildings to meet title 24 energy compliance, even though they seem to require the least mechanical intervention to maintain comfort in reality land…</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><div>On May 13, 2013, at 9:49 AM, John Swearingen <<a href="mailto:jswearingen@skillful-means.com">jswearingen@skillful-means.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">Another undocumented phenomenon would be the "Hypothalamus Effect"<font color="#0e2233" face="Open Sans, arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.399999618530273px;line-height:23px">, </span></font>the tendency for people to put on a sweater in response to slow cooling, rather than rushing to turn on the heat in the face of a more abrupt drop in temperature. They they go to bed without having called for heat, saving some Btu's along the way..</div>

<div class="gmail_extra"><br><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>GSBN mailing list<br><a href="mailto:GSBN@sustainablesources.com">GSBN@sustainablesources.com</a><br>http://sustainablesources.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/GSBN<br></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>