Fw: Fw: Cob: Cold Sink

[Bill&Julie]

Hi Mat,,,  The article that I referred to was supposedly a
working practice that at least some of the people in Alaska use.
The building of the shed first was to create the door to
the freezer first so as not thaw the underground. This
was in Griz country so there would be no widows.
Less than 1 foot of the surface thawed...
The magazines are long gone or I could scan
pictures...

ô¿ô  bill

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew HALL(SED)" <M.Hall at shu.ac.uk>
To: <wbates at mn.rr.com>
Cc: <coblist at deatech.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 9:45 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Cob: Cold Sink


> Just a few ideas and suggestions here...
>
> If you construct a building and then start to excavate the floor from
inside you may create
> structural issues. The base of the wall distributes its load (self-weight
and live loading, eg
> wind, snow etc) to the subsoil, and this force is normally distributed at
a 45 degree angle to the
> point of contact. Problems arise when you remove some of the ground onto
which this is bearing!
> Also, lateral pressures in the soil (caused by loading) may cause it to
cave in.
>
> Perhaps it would be better to have your 'cold store' outside away from the
building and covered by
> a small outbuilding or shed, preferebaly a lightweight one.
>
> Generally speaking when you start to dig down any great depth you can
actually start to gain heat,
> albeit a small amount, from geothernmal energy. Michael Reynolds talks of
this in his earthships
> books as most of his buildings are partially buried to make use of this
heat. If you are digging
> into permafrost, however, i doubt this is feasable using hand tools.
>
> Regards
> Matthew
> ____________________________________________________________________
> Matthew Hall BSc (Hons) GradBEng
> Centre for the Built Environment
> Unit 9 Science Park
> Sheffield Hallam University
> Pond Street
> Sheffield S1 1WB
> England
>
> Tel: +44 (0) 114 225 3200
> Fax: +44 (0) 114 225 3206
> E-mail: M.Hall at shu.ac.uk
> Webpage: http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/sed/earth
>
>
>
>