The chimney effect. How we hide the house from a “whimsy” environment? Think about a tram station in a rainy, windy, cold autumn day. Right after we pass the plexiglas we’ll feel warmth and comfort within the station. Basically we’ll feel the real temperature … without the wind and rain. We just use this…
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energy for free | battery from nature that looks like luxury Read about the thermal mass first. The whole thing is pretty simple. I will explain in a minute and you’ll understand it. 1) Build a house with a big south facing glazing and insulate it very well. 2) Put thermal mass inside. Let…
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Cooling it’s simple and cheap. If everything is sealed well (30/30/30 rule) then the hot air will try to escape in the upper part. By its movement in the lower part creates space. New air will be sucked in its place. Just put tubes in the earth or in the lake (not in the underground…
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energy study We “built” a 400square meter, 2 story house in our programs. We chose an extremely thick insulation. Read about the chimney effect. The house is on wooden pylons to save up the heat gained from the Sun (30 30 30 rule). We used a big south facing glazing (acrylic sheets) to achieve a…
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An insulated shutter in front of acrylic sheets combined with the chimney effect works out the best. You want to protect the house from the heat in the summer. The same shutter will keep the heat within your home in the winter nights. Don’t just put a single layer of tin insulation. Insolate it well.…
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There are various materials that can replace glass. Acrylic sheet is among the top on my list. Crystal clear view with the surroundings. 92% of light is passed through acrylic sheet. In case of mineral glass it’s only 80-90%. That means you will have a “premium” crystal clear view on your surroundings. Your senses will…
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Acrylic negatives. Everything has it flows and weaknesses. Check out acrylic sheets first. Think about your home. The place where you live now. Seriously, just stop for a second and think about your dream house. Think about your future bedroom, other rooms, living area. Think about the doors, furniture, clothes, curtains, carpets, TV, fancy equipment,…
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how to ? Read this article first (30.30.30 rule). Nowadays everything is manufactured to have a short life. The economy has to keep going. Building something that last “hundreds of years” it’s not a good “investment” in the long run. Real estate, monthly bills and expenses as well as food is a “good business”. Doors,…
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houses | castles | old buildings Measure the size of the windows. Buy the acrylic sheets to double or triple the insulation. You can easily “stick” the acrylic sheets near your existing mineral glass. Use long magnets to close the doors. Old windows with double glazing will be easy to upgrade. Just open the inner…
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Independence to the core. We claim it. Long story short. Buy a terrain without infrastructure. It will give you the advantage to negotiate. With the extra money you could buy solar panels from alibaba.com or the tesla battery. Keep in mind that zero energy houses consume less energy than normal houses, so you will need…
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The weakest point of most zero energy houses is the energy storage. The battery is expensive. The electricity produced and stored onsite is, in most countries, more expensive than the energy from the city infrastructure. However we have good news. Solar panels are quite cheap.. and the zero energy buildings consume just a fraction compared…
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Papercrete is one of the best, if not the best affordable insulations ever invented. There are different recipes for it. The recipe depends on where you want to use it and how. The rule of thumb is generally that you can go to maximum 90% paper and 10% bounding material. This bounding material (the most…
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Hempcrete is the future of building materials. In a few decades most will build with this material. Hempcrete is all natural and it’s quite strong. Hemp grows way faster than wood. It’s price will outcompete anything in the market. The only problem with is the fallowing. It’s to good. Resist time and it’s insulation properties…
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With strawbale I have to admit I have a love hate relationship. It made top 3 on my list however most of the people use it wrong. Except it’s initial price and extraordinary insulating properties everything works against it. It’s one of the riskiest materials to use. Strowbale might rotten easily, molds, mice will live…
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Shou Sugi Ban is a technique to burn wood. Initially the Japanese used cedar. Cypress, pine, douglas fir, chestnut, oak is also popular alternatives. What’s the catch? After burning it …it will be “immune” of UV rays. Insects and mold won’t attack it. It’s like a desert. Nothing to eat there. I am trying to…
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Read this article first about security. Chose from the myriad of various sensors and plant a classy hedge. Smart hedge:) Just think about the cost. It will be 1000 times more secure. Seriously, the above-mentioned article first. The hedges maintenance would cost little in the long run. It might last hundreds of years and the…
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Quite cheap to make … looks great and resist “time itself”. Read this article to make it cheaper (simplify things). Check the rock walls, the idea is the same. It’s a thermal battery.
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This type of walls in bathrooms and furniture is quite difficult to use because of the water vapors (in case of normal houses). In case you build your house after the ideas presented on this website than mold and extra heating bills won’t “occur”. Notice that working with primal materials like stone, wood, metal could…
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Like gabion walls these are quite cheap to make and resist time. Read this article to make it cheaper (simplify things). It’s a thermal battery.
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Cables and plumbing. We position most of the cables within the “chimney effect”.This way the electric current that powers the house and the cables for the sensors are safe and sheltered from the environment. It’s quite easy to reposition them in time if need be. It’s like putting the cables on the outside of the…
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