RT @TimberDevUK: Don’t just reach for the mineral wool. Wood fibre insulation has many advantages over its synthetic rivals.

Read whole article here https://timberdevelopment.uk/wood-fibre-insulation-why-use-anything-else/

#insulation #carboncapture #netzero #thermalmass #carbon #fireresistance

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1642102600886542336

@GreeningScience Looking forward to following. I'm a female builder in my 50s focused on retrofit, extensions and new builds using natural materials. Main approach is to get insulation and ventilation sorted, and getting mass into homes so we're heating the fabric and not air. Always good to keep up with all and any research to learn more from. #sustainability #naturalbuilding #thermalmass

So rather than thinking of winter solstice as "the beginning of winter," I think of it as the time when winter's battery of cold is fully charged. And this is a helpful metaphor for #ThermalMass storage in housing design as well. Especially in climates where both heating and cooling are necessary throughout the year, well-placed mass can keep indoor spaces comfy for finicky humans with very little energy input. #GreenBuilding #PassivHaus
https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/thermal-mass

High noon in this example, when the sun is directly overhead and thus when there is the least atmosphere between the house and the sun, and the shortest distance between them as well, is analogous to a solstice. Moreso to the summer solstice as far as the heat goes, but #ThermalMass storage works both ways.

Think of a house with big windows on a sunny day. The sun heats the house, but the hottest part of the day, if you're indoors and the windows are closed, is going to in the afternoon, not when the sun is directly overhead. This is because of the #ThermalMass storage of the thermal energy from the sunshine. The materials of the house absorb it and then release it minutes or hours later.

Lots of people get thrown off by the incongruence between solstices & seasons. Is the solstice the beginning of winter? If the days are getting longer, why does it get colder? I find it helpful to conceptualize it like #ThermalMass storage.

For some reason the Australian government has a pretty good explanation of thermal mass: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/thermal-mass #PassivHaus #ThermalMass #GreenBuilding