The idea is to find a site which allows for a private but open outdoor area to the south, shielded by the house whose "back" is turned to the road and the north winds.
The glass explains much of the reasoning.
The functions of glass windows/doors...
| good | bad |
| View the beautiful outdoors | Can reveal unsightly things |
| Provides an entry/exit | Lessens indoor privacy |
| Allows sunlight inside | |
| Allows in solar heat energy | Heat is sometimes unwanted (summer) |
| Can be opened for fresh air | Has very poor insulating properties |
Another concept I'm looking in to is placing an earth berm toward the north of the house. Since I'm not concerned with windows on that side, and earth is a readily & freely available material, walling the house with it could add significantly to the insulation and privacy.
2 comments:
Almost exclusively on one side for sure- You might want to start toying with floor plans as you go in that nealry all building codes require adequately sized windows in bedrooms for egress in an emergency. FWIW, I am looking at using dry stack concrete block with structural surface coating in my thinking so far so that I can do much of the work myself and for the thermal mass. I looked at ICF but dont like the cost and that they are insulated on the interior as well as exterior-- I want exterior insulation only to maximize the thermal mass interaction with the interior space.
Good point about emergency egress. Thanks. I would love to hear more about your project.. it sounds like we think alike, as I have been looking at blocks for outer walls as well - particularly AAC blocks.
Since no substance has both great insulation and thermal mass, the question is really whether to have the structure supported by the insulation or the thermal mass.
I've seen structural cement walls with insulation wrapped around the outside, and I've seen structural insulated outer walls with the thermal mass in the interior.
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