Yellow pine energy storage
Old school pine has the property of "thermal inertia," a phenomenon where the solid wood stored energy during the day, and released it during the night.
Southern Yellow Pine was extensively used for building throughout the United States (Colonies) during the 1700’s and 1800’s. It is one of the hardest of the pines, so it was good for flooring when pine forests were extensive before hardwoods became popular.
The material is also a good high-tech (natural-tech) insulator. According to Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, who is focusing himself on super energy-efficient housing,
The Southern Yellow Pine has a resin inside that melts and freezes at 71 degrees F., a very comfortable temperature for humans. The chemical actions of melting and freezing work to balance the temperature. If it’s a hot day, some small amount of the resin melts (it takes a huge amount of energy to melt a tiny amount) and the melting process pulls heat from the surroundings, from the home. When it gets colder at night, the resin-wood emits heat as it freezes. ecorazzi.com
Yellow Pine is a renewable resource. More pines are planted than harvested each year. Unlike foams and plastics, it degrades and doesn't emit chemicals that are as toxic when burned.
Enertia® Building System, solid wood walls replace siding, framing, insulation, and paneling. An air flow and access channel, or Envelope, runs around the building, just inside the walls - creating a miniature biosphere. Here solar heated air circulates, pumping and boosting geothermal energy from beneath the house, storing it in the massive wood walls. Thermal inertia causes the house to "float" between the cycles of night and day, and even between the seasons.
del holmin · September 10, 2007 9:31 PM
will softend water hurt yellow pines?
We have a lawn sprinkeling system that the association
has hooked up so the water has all the iron removed
I think it will kill the trees as i saw it happen on a golf course.
paul kuehnel · September 13, 2007 9:32 AM
My guess is that there is a high iron content in the water that is showing up as rust on sidewalks and building.
I'm not sure of where you are writing from but, of course a solution is to use native plants that don't need artificial watering and or just let lawns go dormant in dry seasons.
It depends on what they are using to remove the iron,in a traditional home water softening, as you are referring to it, the system adds salts to the water which build up in the soil and isn't good for plants.
There are other ways to remove iron from water that people use for irrigation that then backwash the iron saturated water in concentrated form somewhere other than the irrigation system. These systems aren't so great for where it's being discharged.
If you know what type of system they are using I would be happy to do a little research.
Of course the best type of irrigation system is what comes from the sky in it's natural habitat. That is why cactus thrives in Tucson, and trees do well in Boston.
Margie · September 24, 2007 11:42 AM
Does using brick, stone or other natural siding effect the insulation value?
paul kuehnel · September 25, 2007 12:18 AM
Masonry products increase the insulation value of a home over wood frame construction by nature of their thermal mass that can moderate temperature swings.
When we think of insulation, fiberglass and foam with an "R-value" come to mind. The amount of dead air trapped in these closed spaces from spun wool, blown foam, or double glass panes keeps heat from transferring. Just as air moving fast in your heating system transfers heat.
The dead air space in your walls provided by insulation is only part of the equation that cuts heating/cooling costs.
The most efficient building material in the desert Southwest is a couple feet of Adobe which has a very low R-value. However, in places where temperature can vary 50 degrees day/night, the Adobe provides a great deal of thermal lag and dampening of the extremes. The dense surface heats up slowly by day and takes time to cool down at night.
The masons that built my 100+ year old brick row house in Emigsville, built an airspace between two courses of brick as a method of dead air space insulation. The brick walls are structural and thick. The modern layer of insulation, I put on the inside between the studding, doesn't have to work as hard during days of temperature extremes. High mass walls work best to enhance insulation factors in temperature climates that are moderate with extreme temperature swings within 24 hours in places like New Mexico and Colorado.
The amount of insulation in a home doesn't paint an accurate picture of total home efficiency. You have to take in the whole picture of construction and how it relates to exposure in the context of a particular climate to maximize efficiency.