[Greenbuilding] Year-round thermal comfort & insulation

[Reuben Deumling]

I like insulation: the more the better as far as I'm concerned. For keeping
the cold out (speaking colloquially) I've found that careful attention to
air sealing and insulation pays huge dividends. But for keeping the summer
heat out, I'm finding that the same insulation does a far less admirable
job. Stretches of direct sun not only manage to heat up the room/house, it
feels like the insulation then does a good job of holding that just-gained
heat in. While cool nights with the windows open typically solves the
problem in our relatively mild PNW climate I'm still perplexed why the
seasonal symmetry I (naively) expected is not evident.
The walls in question have two parallel but isolated sets of studs and as
much dense packed cellulose as I my Forec 2 insulation blower can force
into the nooks and crannies. Thermal mass (such as a brick or stone wall)
would I think do a much better job producing comfortably cool summer
evenings, but would not accomplish much in the winter. Are there hybrid
wall assemblies I'm not aware for? What am I missing?

Planned remedies: learn to make exterior shutters, plant more trees.

Thanks!
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