Build a better house

[freebeard]

https://bmenz.com/lifestyle/5-most-modern-cities-in-the-world

This one has a lot right about it.

• hexagon-panelized construction
• houseboat hull
• 7-frequency, edge zenith dome.
• 3 cells fused together

It is used in the article to help establish that Rotterdam is the most modern city in the world.

[stovie]

One of the things I was wanting to do on existing houses if I could, is to remove the siding, add a 2x2 every 16" down the wall and re sheet it with plywood then reside the house. Then go and run a couple pipes through the ground, and pipe that air into each bay on the outside to have the cooler air cool the house down?!?

[gone-ot]

Who/what are you wanting to keep cool? The building or the contents?

Might be better/easier to pipe that underground-cooled air directly into/through the house.

[stovie]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

Who/what are you wanting to keep cool? The building or the contents?

Might be better/easier to pipe that underground-cooled air directly into/through the house.

What I'm aiming for is to reduce heat transfer during the summer into the house from the outside!! In southern Utah my house is usually about 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit to the outside temperature, so I'm thinking that cooling that 2" space around the outside would possibly be more efficient then the whole house!! The temperature got to 115 this year, so my house would get to between 95-100 with no swamp cooler!!

[Fat Charlie]

What you're suggesting sounds more like a solar heating scheme. Awnings, plantings, or other ways of getting the wall shaded are cheaper and less complicated. Throw "building wall shade" into Google images for ideas that don't involve building more walls.

[stovie]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

What you're suggesting sounds more like a solar heating scheme. Awnings, plantings, or other ways of getting the wall shaded are cheaper and less complicated. Throw "building wall shade" into Google images for ideas that don't involve building more walls.

What I'm actually trying to do is a bit different!! If I can set up the 2" space around the outside of a 900 sqft house I should only need to let 275sqft of air through an "earth tube" to make it so the walls don't come into contact with air temps higher then 68 degrees(ground temp in my area at ten feet!!)

Also, I'm looking to do it on homes that already need renovation work!!

[freebeard]

I've thought about doing the same thing for the roof; except without the earth tubes. Compare the areas and orientations (and overhangs).

...I should only need to let 275sqft of air through an "earth tube" to make it so the walls don't come into contact with air temps higher then 68 degrees...

I was told there'd be no math.

Have you thought about what powers the subsystem? There'd be lots of skin friction and corners. Just distributing the airflow evenly from the end of the earth tube to each and every wall cavity looks like a headache.

[acparker]

Stovie, You will need a radiant barrier, backed with insulation, in addition to your second wall/rainscreen.

When I put on my second story addition, I used 2"x6"s with a hybrid foam (1" to 1.5" sprayed on the inside of the exterior sheathing) and high-density blown-in fiberglass insulation (to fill the rest of the cavity). I wrapped the exterior with an aluminized radiant vapor barrier then I put on 1"x2" furring strips on 16" centers to attach the exterior siding. The second story was cantilevered all the way around. I put a strip of soffit vent under the air gap. Heat from the gap exhausts to a similar gap under the roof deck, then out the ridge vent.

With that arrangement, I keep the whole house cool with the same high efficiency window-mount swamp cooler that cooled the original space. I do need to boost the flow for the cool air to reach the second story.

In Ivins, your walls (except the south and west facing wall) would be the least of your concern. Most of your solar heat gain comes through the roof. A whole house radiant barrier with an air gap and a second skin, properly vented, can nearly eliminate solar heat gain (not counting the windows, which is another subject). Add decent insulation and you protect your interior from the exterior ambient air temperature.

I don't know if you can avoid using at least a swamp cooler to stay comfortable in 100+ days. You might be able to do something more "passive", i.e. using a solar chimney to pull air through pads in the basement.

Earth tubes can be pricey to install and I would caution that you might have some pathogenic fungus issues to deal with in Washington County, specifically, Coccidioides immitis, which is endemic to the area. If you want to go with some sort of low-grade geothermal, a liquid to air system might be cheaper to install and safer to use, but would need a pump and fan. You could use it to pre-condition the intake air to your cooler or heater.

You could just move to Cedar City or Veyo (or Brian Head), at least for the summer, and save the bother.

[stovie]

Free beard-utilizing the earth tubes is pretty simple when the house has a crawl space!! You just run the tube to the crawl space then drill 2" holes through the side into each bay!! I'm looking into ways to do slab on grade homes, I think I'd bury a a 275-500 gallon tank underground and run salt water throw some copper tubes running across the top of the wall?!?

Acparker- if I do earth tubes I'm planning on utilizing the dirt I dug out for making them!! Kind of like a rammed earth wall, but using 20% concrete for strength(and maybe some salt rock to inhibit roots growing through it?!?) that should drastically reduce the overall cost!! At my parents house we're needing to replace the plywood on the whole thing, so instead I'm planing on running some 2x2's up every 2' and cutting holes over the soffit toilet air through there!! I had a thermometer up there and it got to about 160 when it was 105 outside!!

[freebeard]

...and cutting holes over the soffit toilet air through there!! I had a thermometer up there....

Phrasing?

The crawlspace air is potentially reeking of Radon gas.

There's nothing magical about 1x2 sleepers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_envelope_house

See also Buckminster Fuller's Chilling Domes

acparker's solution is genius.

May I suggest a water-to-water-to air heat exchanger? If I was building that's what I would do:

Drill a ~8-10" hole 20ft deep.
Sink a ~8-10" capped PVC pipe maybe 18ft long with a box on top for maintenance
Insert a copper pipe double helix secondary water pipe into the PVC
Put the water-to-air equipment wherever convenient.

Drilling a hole is easier than cut and fill trenching. The PVC is a passive tank. The copper pipe contains the working fluid. I saw this proposed in Pop Mechanix, minus the obvious improvment of the double helix.