Johanson

Many types of thermal mass will absorb moisture out of the air. Many homes will absorb up to 1000s of gallons seasonally. ICF have a very limited ability to absorb water. Higher air flow for the first month takes care of the curing time, it is setting the HRV system to party for that time frame.

Not a big issue. I am not a big ICF fan but do not see short term humidity as an issue.

Brian

Understanding the climate, lot and home dynamics and variables and using them to engineer a solution which is the most economical solution to luxury living with as low of energy consumption as possible is the whole point.

I applaud your commitment to that.

Standardized materials, make money for the advertiser, media, harvester, manufacture, packager, warehouse , trucker, shipper, wholesaler, seller, contractor and tax collector.

And non-standard materials make more for the "consultant", right, Brian?

A small time consultant with low overhead can have a small markup compared to some companies with large advertising budgets.  Even if the building costs are the same as conventional, using consultants can often save more on energy costs, especially if the consultant does the work also.  I know the homes that I contribute to save more energy than the tract built homes because I have seen the energy bills.

Since I retired from teaching, I donate my time to interesting projects.   Hint:  If someone wants to build an unusual or energy saving home in the Southeast, then contact me.  No charge for my time.  This is my way of staying busy and my way of giving back.  I fully understand that consultants that have not retired must earn a living.  So I am not knocking ZEHBOSS.

ICFHybrid and Alton,

The goals are to deliver the lowest initial cost, lowest maintenance cost, lowest life time cost, most energy efficient and highest quality product to the new home owner. I saw a study showing that 84% of a standard buildings cost is maintenance and occupancy costs over the life of a building.

Spending a few thousand on integrated design up front saves $100,000s in life time costs. Working with someone that understands and has the above goals for the project will normally not increase initial cost. You will shift a small amount of the initial cost into design, logic, thinking, engineering and focusing on meeting the needs of the client.

Standardized buildings and products make everything look, feel and work the same. This process normally gives you the lowest quality product that meets code at the highest possible profit for middle men and the big corporations involved.

Removing the non-value added components of the supply stream nets a substantial reduction in overall material costs, increases utilization of local labor and materials at a reduced net cost to the client in a more sustainable system where everyone in the local community benefits. The clients community is enriched instead of wasting money and energy on shipping, excess processing, excess handling, foreign imports etc.

I charge similar costs per hour to that of a contractor. The difference is that investment in utilizing my time has a huge return of your investment comparatively. It is an investment in future monetary gain over a standardized build process.
Take the time to compare the long term financial gain of a well-executed integrated design to a standard home and you will find that you have to be a pretty dense to accept a standard product. It is similar to the difference of giving money to the federal government for social security compared to putting that money into a compounding interest system. The latter returns 3 or 4 time as much over your life time and elevates people out of poverty at no negative costs. The price of entry is embracing positive change and not holding on to the status quo. Find the solutions that free the individual and improve their lives instead of enriching government of mass corporations.

Brian

you will find that you have to be a pretty dense to accept a standard product.

What do "standard" homes represent....90%?...95% of the homes out there?

I think I have asked this before, but do you have a portfolio of the homes you have built in this manner and some documentation as to how they fit these principles?

ICF Hybird,

Please do not quote me out of context it is beneath you. The point of what I said is that if you do a financial analysis of two projects and one returns an ROI of 1 and the other gives you an ROI of 3, both guaranteed, then you intentionally pick the 1, given the choice and understanding, you would be less than brilliant. That is hard to argue.

Unfortunately the current professionals in our business do not give the most intelligent alternatives as offerings to their clients as a rule. They only offer the easy status quo.

This is a pet peeve of mine. Professional engineers, architects, builders, contractors, and legislators are responsible for the energy and pollution state the earth is currently in. If people acted responsibly with their heart in the best interest of the world and clients we would not currently have the financial, pollution, sustainability problems we are facing today.

We have examples of buildings that could self-heat and cool since 1976 at no additional cost of construction.

All the technology needed has been there. As a group we have chosen to ignore the solution to our problems because of special interests. Ignoring the problem makes you part of the problem.

This is mankind’s excuse for deforestation, air pollution, the holocaust, water pollution, boarder control, the current rise of Muslim extremism, the national debt, high taxation, most wars, and all the important issues facing mankind.

If we had adopted proper building standards in 1976 we as a nation would use 40% less energy today and every home owner would be at least $100,000 richer today. The Middle East would have less than ½ the wealth we have transferred to them which has sponsored most of the terrorism in the world. All long term gains for everybody would be better.

This is the problem with our heavily advertised, dumb downed and politicized crony capitalist system.

I normally do not like to rant, but let’s be real. I have never made a dime from this forum. My motives are to help people understand that the solutions already exist and all you have to do is grab the reins and ride. Stop looking for reasons not to solve the problems. Think out of the box. Playing in our current sandbox is how we got here.

Brian

This is the problem with our heavily advertised, dumb downed and politicized crony capitalist system.

I think you ARE the politician(s) you want to rant about because you consistently say one thing and then, do another.

I have never made a dime from this forum.

That would be remarkable as you are very often the first one to try and get a poster who is considering spending money, to contact you outside this forum, whether it be by phone, e-mail, website or other. This forum has few guidelines, but respecting them would be a good start towards making your stated "motives" more believable. This is a fine and valuable forum, probably supported by the resources generated from some other capitalist endeavor. The least you could do as a businessman is to support it financially. That would go for others, too, as I have yet to see someone direct a potential client to their advertising contained herein.

The funny thing is that I hardly disagree with much of what you say; it's just when you make it all about ZEHBOSS that you begin to look like the politician or salesman, who we all know have a great need to make everyone believe that they have THE answer.

I am the representative "customer" that everyone on here is trying to get. I and the other homeowners know who and when someone is trying to sell us something. We do not need or want other "professionals" deciding who and how they provide us information. We are smart enough to ferret out the "salesmen" from those that are here to provide info. Zeboss has something to offer and instead of bickering, either ask a real question (not one to try to trip someone up) that will give us more information or get out of the conversation. You are not doing yourself any favors with these kind of posts.

What I posted was my opinion and mine alone. I was not speaking for you or anyone else regardless of how "representative" you consider yourself.

Would it be smart to build pipes or coils into the wall and run water through for cooling in the summer?

Depending on specifics like humidity, how much cooling is needed, and various costs, it could be. Fans help reduce condensation. Such ground water could also be reused for evaporative cooling on the outside of the building or for a ground source heat pump.

I am looking forward to reading the book Brian. Any idea when it will be done?

Have you ever built any thermal mass structures outside of a house? I have been daydreaming about some kind of wood fired thermal mass structure that would incorporate an outdoor grill/barbecue, bread/pizza oven and a way to heat water for my home's radiant floor system, and even integrate a greenhouse sharing the warmth from the thermal mass and adding heat back to the thermal mass in the summer and when it is sunny. This is in zone6a Finger Lakes of NY State.

-Rosalinda

Rosalinda,

I have designed self-heated green houses, cabins, and homes through 8000 square square foot retreats. All are self-heated, cooled, off grid, solar PV, solar dehumidification, net-zero, high thermal mass, net-zero energy and costs that do not exceed the cost of a custom built home in the area it is.

We have built in a COB based pizza oven into a home per request of a client. We have also built custom wood gasification, bio diesel systems for creating backup electricity generation systems, full home automation using low cost industrial controls, custom LED and bioluminescent lighting systems, motion controlled interfaces and security systems. We are practical engineers and pride ourselves in being able to deliver anything a client wants to do efficiently and effectively. We often help people become self-sufficient and off the grid.

Authoring is trying to put your soul and purpose into pages. That schedule depends on when I am content with it. I have a working outline and most of the chapters worked out. Each review finds me rewriting parts of the manuscript. I have several technical and non-technical proof readers that are reviewing parts of the manuscript. Completion dates are hard to specify. It depends on how much time I can devote to it and how long my reviewers and engineering checkers take. I also have non-technical people that are reviewing to make sure it is easily read by non-engineers.

Brian

Have to note as a long-writer (L-W)
IC is free
of extraneous info, and but kindly:

-As to not many out there?

SOLAR AGE MAGAZINE in the 80's had buzillions of readers of the upstate NY home "off the lines".
OK most might be storage systems now from the elders of the early 80's , but those 50% tax cred (oil profit windfal, claimed) routed out 10,'s of 1,000's of thinkers.
Pantek in (Dayton) (54-deg ground water constant 18ft and deeper)
Oxford OH in 1980 had 1700 sq ft vaulted- upper-mezz-to-bedroom (like 2200 sqft)
 homes running on 2kw of a 3 stage 6 kw x 1/6 hp relay-splitter-added -mobile home furnace on 3H 2C stat. Customer was happy witha floor fan and 6000 window 1/2 ton A/C then...
All back-up in lieu of when the 2)  10'x3'solar air 3-screen- (filtered) roof-panels did not burn one out~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Closing front door would pop half-in frame back door loose !
board-foam-board 6" floors, 4"walls, 8" vaulted ceiling-roofing, controlled vent release.

My 'L-W':

46 deg wells usually on map in Canada, etc.
But we have seen 60 in winter in Col OH at 53 deg mark
and 57 in NE OH in 52 deg wells for 98% of' em..at 52, all seem consistent at 18 ft depths .

What's a cool note: ?: I can not detect a 1/2 of a degree variation from Cincinnati to Pitts to Toledo to Cleve OH in these known well temps to GeoThermal source usage, -to-date! {recorded 33 years running }
 -Neither has the natural resources mapped-lines-drawn been "adjusted" since then for ground temps in the USA.
POINT (for "docJ")
Live 18 feet deep or bring that Earth Temp up to you !
HObbitatForHumanity-GeoT use of insolation.

OLD TETCO DIRECT WATER COOLING chart shows a 3-ton chilled water coil on about 700 cfm and 2 gpm of 47 deg well water source (65 watts/gpm) reasonably dehumidifies a little and 5gpm like any similar A/C for 2 tons total nearing .73 s/t... but any COIL CO has instant remarks if you give 'em 46 / 4 gpm / asking 3-row HX air coil / 500-700 cfm.  Dana1 may have an s/T to shoot for if he new ambient and lifestyle conditions. COOL is to dehumidify with ANY CFM 'cause the coil doesn't freeze in 46 deg water source.
Seen
even with a tranny cooler
 and a small rfg fan by it, was for a wine-cooling, hum-controlled environment (there 1 gpm @ 52)... 4"FOAM WALLS 420 sq ft.

Brian:

Get me on the book list.
I acquired a lot of data too.

Outline formats are my best (reducing authoring).

R:
Nice about home !
a point of if you know facilities that could benefit, too:
DIY/ or installers-
Non Loop-  GeoThermal Heat Pump that 100% recovers A/C heat HW,  can be used part-time WITHOUT the ECL Earth Coupled Loop (gle0.
Larger applications are anything that can benefit from DeHum and A/C or chilling ~ 3/4 ratio to Heat production on the other side of a compressor.
I.E.)
Facilities calculated to 1/3 or 1/5 of peaks-needed, a little more HW storage, and an off-the-shelf PRIORITY HW water:water coil in a forced-air GT Heat Pump, but just not adding the loop unless total contract including related equipment 'supplements' are worth the GT or Solar, then, Hybrid additions, becoming the main contract.
4Zone board OEM built-in can also handle 4H and 3C and DeHum/ etc HW and AUX HW as needs change/ or are designed.

JP

Ask away J:
Please.

and I am the Performance Guaranteed rep which enables you to take a list of Q's unferreted to the 'salespeople'
or
just read a guarantee and we benefit each other

(yes I drive dealers to supporting claims and related dizziness, - patience prevailing )

hey?
More life-style or internal gains equipment in HVAC-HW space? (est. Sensible/Total cooling for better)