[Cob] small house plans

[qi4u at yahoo.com]

I forgot to say, http://thermalattic.com/, another site of Laren's shows plastic bottles of water in a separate insulation envelope. There are something like 8 ways to use the thermal attic for heating and cooling. The idea is to put 2L PET soda bottles on shelves. I am guessing 3,000 for the the very little house Laren designed, but that is to give an idea, not to give you an exact number. 2L bottles have a better surface are to thermal storage ratio then a 55 gal drum.
The thermal attic design shows a glass wall in a conventionally built wood framed house. The idea is that the sun space is a low thermal storage area that is outside the living space insulation envelope, that heats air that goes up to the thermal storage, so air is the thermal transport media, and so it doesn't get broken, need pipes, pumps, pH adjustment, it is just air so it is similar to passive heating, but a little more complex and a little more controllable because it is in its own thermal insulation envelope that can be controlled.

I think Laren installed an exterior door in the ceiling so that he could shut it or open it. He has built many houses like this in extreme climates like michigan. If lots of insulation is used, solar heat can be the primary heating system.

Shody