Ecohouse

Ecohouse

Language: English

Pages: 536

ISBN: 0415526779

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


Sue Roaf is famed for her approach to design and her awareness of energy efficiency. Here she reveals the concepts, structures and techniques that lie behind the realization of her ideals. By using her own house as a case study, Roaf guides the reader through the ideas for energy-efficient design or 'eco-design'.

Now in its fourth edition, the bestselling Ecohouse continues to be both a technical guide and an inspiration for thousands of architects, designers and eco-builders all over the world.

Ecohouse provides design information about the latest low-impact materials and technologies, showcasing the newest and best ‘green’ solutions. Revised and updated, this edition also includes new case studies inspiring readers with more real-life examples of how to make an ecohouse work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rising convectively around it collects under the ceiling, so heating the concrete floor above. A ‘skirt’ dropped from the ceiling ‘dams’ the heat causing it to move away from the fire on the undammed side. The flue passes up through the concrete wall above and heats the adjacent sections of the wall by conduction. sun. The really clever trick is the kitchen flue, which is funnelled under the winter living room to optimise the value of the scarce fuel resources to the inhabitants by being used

cold bridges should be avoided: • They cost the building owner money because they are an effective path for heat out of the building or, in hot countries, heat into the building, so requiring more money to be spent on the heating or cooling of buildings. • They can cause serious discomfort in buildings by creating cold (or hot) walls, windows or areas in a room. • They cause condensation. Because, when the outdoor air temperature is lower than the indoors, the cold bridges are colder than the

construction, where the air barrier is usually formed by the plasterboard upper ceiling, has numerous factors associated with it that make delivering an airtight envelope harder. There are likely to be spotlights fitted in the ceiling, and also a loft hatch, where there can be a 1–40 ratio between the leakage associated with good and bad products and installations – some obviously being very leaky. Opting for a prefabricated loft hatch does not eliminate this risk – on occasion these have been

hot or cold people do something about it. They may put on or take off clothes, they may change places within a room or move from one room to another. They may open a window, close a door or take a cold or hot drink. In extremes they may change buildings or even move to a different region with a more pleasing climate. They adapt their circumstances. It is only at the very extremes that people die of heat or cold. One of the key strategies they adopt in adapting the building to improve the indoor

nail out of the wood, or if screws were used, then there will be an indentation in the surface of the swollen wallboard. 4 Measure moisture. If you don’t have a moisture meter to detect the relative saturation of the floor or walls then test for softness. Water damage to wallboards will leave them soft even after it has dried out. To check for this, first find a portion that you know is undamaged, to determine how soft the normal wall board in your house is. Firmly pressing your thumbnail in soft

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