[Robotgroup] Residential Geothermal HVAC and Solar Energy..?

[Michael Boswell]

When we built our house 15 years ago I applies a few simple design
principles that have served me very well.

1. Super insulation: All exterior walls are 12" thick. Made with two
standard 2x4 walls spaced 3 inches apart. Then filled with standard
fiberglass bat insulation. The double walls prevent energy transfer through
the lumber. 
2. NO (I repeat NO) East or West facing openings.  No Windows, No doors only
Walls. Solar heat gain is easy to avoid. To do this, the house needs to be
oriented exactly on the North/East/South/West grid. Be sure to compensate
for magnetic declination.
3. All East, West and Roof faces had an extra Infrared Barrier added. At
various times, I used some high tech foil, Heavy Duty kitchen Aluminum foil,
4x8 plywood with aluminum facing on one side. Remember that you need 3/4"
air gap (either side) for the IR barrier to work properly
4. Roof overhangs on South side were extended to provide shade to the south
facing windows except for about 3 months in the middle of the winter. 
5. Use Compact Florescent lamps in about 90% of all locations. You save
three times with CF. First with the lower cost of electricity to provide
light. Second you don't have to pay for electricity to remove the heat
generated by the horrible incandescent lamps. Third, you save your own labor
by not having to replace them anywhere near as often as an incandescent.

Less important but still good things we did

6. Double pane thermally broke windows. 
7. Small entry hall with two doors (Think airlock)
8. No more than two rooms between the North and South walls with doors lined
up to allow good cross ventilation
9. Ceiling fans, lots of ceiling fans. We have 18 fans that are often on.
This includes the 5 that are on the full length screen porch that runs the
length of the South side of the house. 


Lots of other details but these are the big hitters and all are simple low
tech passive techniques

Michael Boswell
Austin End Of the Line Kite Team - Kite #4
http://Austineol.com
Picture Gallery at http://www.pbase.com/mboswell


-----Original Message-----
From: robotgroup-bounces at puremagic.com
[mailto:robotgroup-bounces at puremagic.com] On Behalf Of Andre Lamothe
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 5:31 PM
To: The Robot Group Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Robotgroup] Residential Geothermal HVAC and Solar Energy..?

"The city does collect newsprint and cardboard as part of the
residential curbside recycling each week."

Which city do you live in austin? I was told by 3 sources starting with the 
company on the side of the truck, the city, and the garbage company that 
ONLY plastics, paper containers where recycleable, they won't take cardboard

boxes or anything large like that, even if you break them down. You can 
sneak a pizza box in once in a while etc. But, the curbside guys don't want 
paper or cardboard in general, they will take it in container form or you 
might be able to slide it in, but the policy as far as the guys running 
steiner's garbage and recycling was no paper.

Andre'

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Def Egge" <robodigest at innervate.com>
To: "The Robot Group Mailing List" <robotgroup at puremagic.com>
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 1:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Robotgroup] Residential Geothermal HVAC and Solar Energy..?


At 13:04  2008-05-19, you wrote:
-=-=-=-=-= begin quoted message =-=-=-=-=-

[trimmed]

 >I have been recycling for years, CA is years ahead of texas
 >in this respect. Austin doesn't even recycle paper which is
 >a crime.

[trimmed]

-=-=-=-=-= end quoted message =-=-=-=-=-

The city does collect newsprint and cardboard as part of the
residential curbside recycling each week.

If your needs run to printer / photocopy paper, many of the AISD
campuses have "Anything that tears" dumspters in their parking
lots.  The public is welcome to use them.

Since I cannot twirl a dead cat by its tail without hitting one of
the 100+ AISD campuses, it is convenient for me.  I also have the
paper recycling - standard and secure / shredded - at St. Edward's
University.

If it suits your needs, securely box or bundle your paper (so that
papers are not capable of blowing out of the boxes nor out of the bed
of my truck) and bring it to one of our Thursday evening meetings.


-- 

All the best....

Mike

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