Cob verify?

[Speireag Alden]

Sgrìobh Mike:

> Perhaps the comparison of a cave was not a good one, but the concept is the
> same. To really discuss this, we have to talk about the composition of cob.
> For it is not merely mud. The clay and straw have certain insulative
> qualities that surpass alot of modern-day building materials.

    Mike, I'm sure that you write the above with the best intentions, but I 
certainly hope that anyone who is reading this list does not invest 
significant financial resources or chunks of time if he is building in 
accordance with the belief which you have stated above.  Cob has nifty 
properties, but it's no more insulative than any other dense clay.  There's 
nowhere near enough straw in it to provide significant insulation.  The 
clay is just clay, and will insulate as well as any dry dirt, which isn't a 
lot.  Cob works in certain situations (previously discussed) because it has 
a lot of mass.  It also lends itself to low-tech, rounded, expressive 
architecture.  In no way does its value as insulation come anywhere near 
modern-day insulation.

    I invite any who has actually lived in a cob building (and understands 
the difference between insulation and thermal mass) to tell me differently, 
and why.

-Speireag.
0>>>>>>(---------------------
Speireag Alden, aka Joshua Macdonald Alden
Joshua.M.Alden.91 at alum.dartmouth.org
Usually found somewhere in the wilds of New Hampshire.
Nach sgrìobhaidh thugam 'sa Gàidhlig?