[Greenbuilding] Heat pump vs radiant

[Alan Abrams]

Genarro--

for the past day I have been trying to assimilate three concepts:  passive
house, earthship, and new york.  I am able to imagine any pair together,
but I am having difficulty fitting all three between my ears at one time.

It's because I can't imagine a more difficult wall system to adapt to high
levels of insulation, air tightness, and indoor air quality than earth
packed tires--and that, in a demanding climate.

by the same token, I stayed in a classic Michael Reynolds earthship B&B a
few years ago.  The ship had touched down in the high desert west of Taos.
 It was late October, and I watched as the snow line crept down the slopes
of nearby Sangre de Cristos over the course of the week.  We were just
getting touched with frost in the morning, but the interior of the
ship--completely uninsulated--was cozy warm.  The Dobsons claimed that
little if any supplemental heat was required throughout the winter.  It
should be noted that the walls, which undulated as the adobe plaster wove
its way over the different sized tires, was uniquely beautiful.  The
surface was punctuated by pinpoints of light from countless wine bottles
embedded in the walls (Professor Dobson had a prodigious capacity for wine
himself, as we learned during the evenings he shared with us).

but southwestern sun at 7000' above sea level is a different star than the
one that shines east of the Appalachians.  The point being, I think there
is something to be said for most any mass wall approach where there is
sufficient insolation--but that to try to use approach here--particularly a
tire wall system--seems on the face of it like putting socks on a rooster.


More generally, it is to suggest that an esoteric approach works best in a
functional context.  But I know you are a careful thinker, and must have
considered all this already.  So I am interested in learning more about
your rationale.

AA



I

On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 2:59 PM, Gennaro Brooks-Church - Eco Brooklyn <
info at ecobrooklyn.com> wrote:

> It is being built on a horse farm so we will not be invading any natural
> habitats. Just farmed fields.
>
> Gennaro Brooks-Church
> Director, Eco Brooklyn Inc.
> Cell: 1 347 244 3016 USA
> www.EcoBrooklyn.com
> 22 2nd St; Brooklyn, NY 11231
>
>
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