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Solstice House Jeff Ray ray371@comcast.net |
Solstice House is a 2800 sqft passive-solar concrete home with an atrium, half basement and attached garage. It is designed on 4ft squares with two wings, one 16x64 (bedrooms) and the other 36x52.
The anchor of the design is a 20-24"-thick cavity wall, a double-concrete block wall filled with 4" of vermiculite. The heating and cooling strategy is based on the immense thermal mass of the interior walls and floor (the floor is the joist-block system).
This design uses inexpensive material in a simple way but is very labor intensive. I would only recommend it to someone willing to physically "frame" their own house (labor costs would be very high). For example the 64'x12' North wall requires 1782 blocks, the 6 external pilasters require another 648 blocks. Include 85 bags of mortar and 10.6 tons of sand and you get the idea of the physical challange of this construction method.
Solar position is taken into account to keep winter sun in and summer sun out. The house is well ventilated to combat moisture build-up. (click on thumbnails for full size layout)
Note mudrooms and air-locks on all three entrances. The main entrance mudroom cuts through the berm to enter into the atrium. An exercise room and stairwell serve as airlocks for the other two doorways. The cavity wall comprises the exterior wall, the internal load-bearing wall along the trough edge is 8" concrete block This wall also serves as a trombe wall during the heating season. Two x two foot columns on 12' centers support a steel support beam on the south side of the atrium.
Ten by twelve foot external pilasters on 12ft centers anchor both the berm walls and support the shed roof. The north, west and half of the east walls have an earth berm that extend up 2ft short of the roof line.
The centerpiece of this very simple design is a 20x32 atrium with a cold water 2'w4'd (1160gallon) insulated trough. During the cooling season a ground water loop delivers 58F water to a chiller that drops it down to 54F. The open pond dehumidifies the atrium down to a dew point of approximately 55F. During the winter season the pond is heated up to near 70F with the hydronic radiant floor system. A fountain humidifies the air. The atrium serves as a green house during the winter months to furnish fresh herbs and peppers, perhaps even some citrus.
Cavity Wall
Thermal Mass in the Walls
The cavity wall has an exterior wythe (outer wall) of 12" filled and reinforced concrete block. There is a 4" hollow cavity and then a 4" concrete block interior wyeth. The two walls are tied together with metal ties on alternating courses on 4ft centers. The cavity is filled with vermiculite to produce a R-20 value, the 4" interior wyeth is filled with vermiculite to increase the wall to an R-23. Besides the very love U-value the wall is also sound and fire proof. The pilasters use 8" filled block to counter the berm and help support the shed roof. I plan to parge and seal the wall before applying MS sheeting (see link below).
MS Sheeting (Waterproofing)
Block Joist Floor/Hydronic Heating
Thermal Mass in the Floor
The floor is also made of concrete block, laid on its side on steel joists (see link below). The block is grouted and topped with a stained-concrete floor. A hydronic radiant heat system is snaked through the hollow cavities in the block to heat the house (no buried hoses!).
The Block Joist Floor
This Designer Showcase section of the OurCoolHouse.com website is maintained by a group of independant contributors. The opinions presented on these pages are not necessarily those of Phil Malone. If you would like to contribute your own design, please contact Phil at Ideas@OurCoolHouse.com.
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