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Viewing 15 posts - 541 through 555 (of 983 total)
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  • Nick Grant
    Participant

      Steve has neatly summarised the 2 options. Turns out the slab is quite a span (10m) so looks like the thermalite support option is the way to go. The German book calls it a warm foot which is nice.

      Same detail under any load bearing internal walls.

      Nick

      Nick Grant
      Participant

        Hi John

        Did I show you this book?

        http://www.amazon.co.uk/Passivhaus-bauteilkatalog-Okologisch-Bewertete-Konstruktionen-Constructions/dp/3211297634/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220271029&sr=8-1

        It has a few solutions.

        Ideal is to use a detail that puts the insulation under the slab otherwise easy solution is insulate on top of it so that it overlaps the wall. Not ideal for moisture or thermal mass.

        The Silver Standard Guidance on the CLP website (Volume 4) has a masonry detail (fig 5 that could be adapted).

        My preference is the much discussed structural slab floating on insulation, come and have a look at ours next time you are down.

        Nick

        in reply to: MVHR frost protection using electric resistance #35474
        Nick Grant
        Participant

          Mark

          1. Suggest you have a look in PHPP and play with turning frost protection on and off. You will see what it estimates the electricity use to be I doubt it makes a huge difference in UK climate.

          2. The person who told me is on holiday but I think some systems use the exhaust air to defrost by changing flow direction or something.

          3. Unlikely to be a standby consumption as will either be controlled by the same circuit that does everything else or would/could be a simple stat.

          Nick

          in reply to: Re: Re: Foundations Passiv House #35472
          Nick Grant
          Participant

            Peter

            Agree with David and Mark plus I wouldn't bother using fill between insulation and slab for extra thermal mass in the floor (David may correct me).

            Nick

            in reply to: Composting toilets #35473
            Nick Grant
            Participant

              Hi Malcolm

              The article is about active surfaces that use light to oxidise and so kill germs end presumably break down organic dirt. I can see the advantage for glass which gets exposed to high levels of solar radiation and which might be a large area and difficult to get to. Hard to see this being a benefit for loos, basins etc which get mucky very quickly and can't rely on gentle oxidation and rainfall to clean them.

              The other aspect touched on in the article is a super smooth glaze finish and this is available although I am told is not without problems. Some manufacturers use a coating that can wear off whist others use special glaze technology with minimal porosity.

              Something I should know more about but don't.

              Re Aquatron however, this is not a compost toilet but a composting system fed by normal loos. For actual compost loos there is the possibility of shaping the pedestal or bench so that it is almost impossible to foul.

              For sanitary ware cleaning in general it is possible to get away with very few chemicals, one of the most effective being water although there are concerns about its safety:

              http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

              🙂

              (Thanks for the link Judith)

              in reply to: Re: Re: Foundations Passiv House #35468
              Nick Grant
              Participant

                Peter

                Did you mean to say sub base on top of the insulation, surely under?

                Obviously need some steel in the concrete and structural calcs from an engineer, standard stuff.

                There are other discussions about this on the forum, I can remember posting a drawing of our foundations which are also our finished floor. Both ideas (slab found with insulation all round and polished concrete floor) were David Olivier's idea, from the days before forums!

                Nick

                in reply to: Airtightness Vs Breathability #35390
                Nick Grant
                Participant

                  Thanks Mark

                  I'm hoping Alan or David can provide definitive comment on the physics but if the numbers are right then this does seem a satisfactory explanation.

                  1. As anyone who has witnessed a blower door test will know, 50 Pa air pressure difference is a lot and certainly way above average. I think the average air infiltration is around 5-7% of that measured at 50Pa.

                  2. What is the desired rate of moisture diffusion relative to the desired level of airtightness? I'm guessing it is a lot less but that depends on the vapour control on the warm side.

                  Nick

                  in reply to: PHPP beginner #35462
                  Nick Grant
                  Participant

                    Dave

                    expect you have found it by now but BRE PH forum is at:

                    http://www.passivhaus.org.uk/ click on forum and register.

                    You raise lots of wider issues that are, as you say, more philosophical or strategic and probably better discussed in another thread. Recurrent one is the 'how far is it sensible to go' at the individual household level.

                    Any other PHPP questions??

                    Nick

                    in reply to: PHPP beginner #35460
                    Nick Grant
                    Participant

                      Dave

                      You will have to decide which forum is best for PH questions, do try the BRE one.

                      Nick

                      Nick Grant
                      Participant

                        John

                        As the proposal is ground rather than borehole source, surely that would be a problem with such a high heat demand?

                        in reply to: Istafibre quilt #35453
                        Nick Grant
                        Participant

                          Ellen

                          I don't know about this product but just want to mention that 'Natural' does not guarantee benign and that 'chemical' is a very misleading word for manufacturers to use in the context of health or environmental claims.

                          For example some strong chemical solvents are quite harmless in the right dose, water for example whereas many people live in fear of a terrorists armed with castor bean extract for which there is no known antidote.

                          Even the strongest advocates of natural insulation will point out that there are more natural allergens than unnatural ones.

                          So it will help if you know what chemicals you are sensitive to.

                          Nick

                          in reply to: Re: Re: copper for valley gutter #35442
                          Nick Grant
                          Participant

                            Looks like nice stuff

                            anyone used it?

                            not sure about their insulation claim!

                            Nick

                            in reply to: Re: Re: Conference 2009 #35448
                            Nick Grant
                            Participant

                              I don't have a problem with joint conferences as an extra but would like to keep the annual conference AECB focused.

                              Fine to market to RIBA members and get them to join and attend as per Tahir's post.

                              Why would they attend but not want to be members? Could understand if membership was £300.

                              Nick

                              in reply to: Re: Re: Conference 2009 #35447
                              Nick Grant
                              Participant

                                I like the idea of Brighton if we can find a suitable venue.

                                Nick

                                in reply to: Re: Re: copper for valley gutter #35438
                                Nick Grant
                                Participant

                                  Alan

                                  How about some sort of membrane? EPDM? Contractor or DIY?

                                  Otherwise interested to hear anyone's solutions for expansion/joints.

                                  Nick

                                Viewing 15 posts - 541 through 555 (of 983 total)