Cob: RE: Insulation for cob

[Kelly, Sean]

Yeah!  I have a small sample of this stuff somewhere that I got at the
JPL yearly open house last year...  It's incredible!   According to the
2nd source, it is porous... would that mean one could embed it in cob
and not form a vapor barrier?  I haven't had time to look the whole of
the first site yet, but do you know of an r value off of the top of your
head?  I'm gonna check out the JPL brochure when I get a chance...
Also, is it commercially available?  I know they use it for space
missions and whatnot, but will they sell it to Joe cob?  I envision my
cob house in snow country, with a 1-2 inch sheet embedded in the middle
of a 1-2 foot wall for it's insulative properties...  I dunno, the idea
of straw bales stacked about the outside of my home just doesn't hit me
right...

-----Original Message-----
From: Max Tran [mailto:mahayoshi at netzero.net]
Sent: Friday, July 09, 1999 12:23 PM
To: avalonb at nwol.net; Kelly, Sean; coblist at deatech.com
Subject: RE: Insulation for cob


There is a material that meet most of your criteria.   It is 
called aerogel.  It is a solid that is 90-99% air.  Checkout the 
following sites below more info:

http://www.aerogels.com/
http://eande.lbl.gov/CBS/NEWSLETTER/NL8/Aerogel.html

cheers,

max


> well, THIS JUST ABOUT LEAVES THE PINK STUFF, also much
> denigrated as a 'health' hazard, both to humans and the enviroment
> 
> why doesn't some enterprizing lad (or lady) INVENT some sort of
> lightweight, NON combustible, NON toxic, inexpensive insulation for
> ceilings out of recycled materials ?????
> 
> we seem to know what all WON'T work -- what about what DOES work?
> 

________________________________________________________
NetZero - We believe in a FREE Internet.  Shouldn't you?
Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at
http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html