[Cob] insulation thread

[Amanda Peck]

Aha, more like a wind-break than an berm?

Been reading in permaculture books lately--seems like they recommend going 
straight up on the windward side, come down gradually on the leeward.  Gives 
you a greater distance for wind protection.

(while we're brainstorming--anybody know of any "reverse" windbreaks?  I 
want the breeze in the summer, cut the wind out in the winter--MUCH harder 
to do--but I may have just thought of one--annual plants--big sunflowers--on 
the windward side)

Which might be worth it, even if it doesn't give you ground tempering of the 
inside temperature.

If you've got a north-facing downhill site, see also the Minke Manual that 
Charmaine has volunteered to send out.   (I still haven't heard from my 
request to the publisher to put it back on line!)  It has a fair amount on 
building swales so that the hill doesn't come down on you, whether through 
erosion or an earthquake.

Or look at John Hait's PAHS (passive annual heat storage) or Don Stephens 
AGS (annualized geo-solar) ideas.  The Stephens plan seems less cumbersome, 
but they may both work better when they feed underground houses.

I'm with Bill on berms and cob.  Although maybe polyethylene sheeting on the 
outside of a cob wall--a la Mike Oehler, with at least some of his shoring, 
would make it work.  Oehler's book, the "$25 and up underground house" would 
be a good investment if you want to explore further (his design exercises 
involve putting windows on all sides of the underground house, for 
instance).


Bill wrote:

The idea of an Earth Berm is a good one for a wind break.
But Cob does not like dampness, that is why we must use
a stem wall to break the whicking of ground water.
So if the berm were placed far enough  to allow solar collection,
but in a configuration to shoot the wind up and over, then we should
see a gain in heat ...