[GSBN] Only in walls you say ? (was re: Question about SB insulation at foundation/ceiling GSBN Digest, Vol 10, Issue 32

[Graeme North]

Hi Jorge


The cork oak will grow here but is no widely grown. In New Zealand we know of linoleum, and its modern version marrmoleum, and we use cork tiles for floors.   Of course we know about corks in one end of our wine bottles, rapidly being replaced by the screw cap.  If cork trees are grown, they appear mostly in arboretums. Cork is not locally produced so it is all imported, and therefore we do not see a great deal of solid cork in quantities useful for  insulation, although it did get some use in the past for cool room insulation before lovely foams arrived.  That does mean that there is a tiny amount of demolition material around but not in useful quantities as far as I know. I have not priced new stuff but I suspect it is very expensive.



Graeme
Graeme North Architects
49 Matthew Road
RD1
Warkworth
tel/fax +64 (0)9 4259305
 
graeme at ecodesign.co.nz
www.ecodesign.co.nz


On 26/01/2012, at 9:06 AM, Van Krieken wrote:

> 
> I also agree that straw should not be used in floor insulation, at all.
> 
> A great insulation for floor its cork. Portugal is the first world producer of cork (Quercus suber), and I live in the region of the Sobreiro Montados (cork oak forests): Alentejo.
> 
> It just doesn't get rot, even if you keep it for decades under terrible humid conditions.
> 
> In 1863, the UK invented the linoleum, which was manufactured from wasted and crushed chips, thereby obtaining a fine-grained cork, which served to put them on. England also used cork ground with a mixture of rubber and gums, which was then pressed sheets, so getting to cover floors called kamptulicon. 
> 
> The black cork agglomerates were discovered by accident, around the year 1891 in New York, by John Smith, a manufacturer of lifejackets. He used the granulated cork to fill tubes placed inside the metallic vests. One night, one of these tubes, filled with granulated cork, rolled into one boiler and the next morning the manufacturer noticed that the cork into the tube had burned down and turned into a mass of dark brown color perfectly aggregate.
> That moment was a milestone in the history of Portugal, who became the largest producer and exporter worldwide, cork and its derivatives. (there is a very interesting PHD thesis about Floor Covering in Agglomerated Cork, by Ana Reis, Portugal)
> 
> Do you have this tree in USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand?
> 
> Best from Alentejo
> 
> Jorge Van Krieken
> Portugal
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 6:17 PM, RT <archilogic at yahoo.ca> wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:48:09 -0500, <GSBN-request at sustainablesources.com> wrote:
> Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:07:52 +1030
> From: "Bohdan Dorniak" <bohdan at bdcoarchitects.com.au> wrote:
> 
> Strawbales should only be used in walls
> 
> [huge big <snip>]
> 
> It'd be interesting to hear (read) the thoughts that are knocking around in the Skillful Meany's noggin in response to Bohdan's declaration (above).
> 
> For those who may not recall, John played a starring role in the creation of :
> 
>             http://www.skillful-means.com/projects/vault/lou_harrison.htm
> 
> Come to think of it, I would imagine YakWoman's noggin might have a few rattles to contribute as well:
> 
>       http://www.one-world-design.com/international.asp?pid=11&image=35
> 
> That is to say, bales would seem to lend themselves well to being used as the insulation core for thin-shell and exo-skeleton-type domed and arch structures, where the straw could be installed as a continuous layer uninterrupted by framing members.
> 
> So long as a ventilated rainscreen-type cladding were provided over top of the exterior plaster and a wet-applied plaster with temperature/shrinkage reinforcement incorporated applied to the interior to ensure an effective air barrier,  I see no reason why Bohdan's declaration could not be revised to include "roofs".
> 
> -- 
> === * ===
> Rob Tom
> Kanata, Ontario, Canada
> 
> < A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  >
> (manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "reply")
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