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Earthing as insulation system?? #26074 03/28/11 01:24 AM
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Ken Heath Offline OP
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I wonder if have anyone thought about maybe using earth as insulation system for Timber Frame?? I have looked into SIPs and find it to be more expensive than it was few years at $5 to $8 per SQFT. I looked into spraying foam but there is too many stuff out there that it is just too various. When I was posting entry in my facebook, a guy suggested me to consider earth so I googled it up and told him I am not sure about it?? He sent me a link and it kinda got me very curious. http://www.calearth.org The only thing that is uncertain to me would be whether the roofing of TF can actually support this type of insulation?? Maybe as a siding then SIPs or spray foam insulation for roofing??

What is your take???

Re: Earthing as insulation system?? #26076 03/28/11 09:13 AM
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Cecile en Don Wa Offline
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Hello,
The ceiling of my first workshop I built this way, so that was not the roof exactly. The form it took was individual arches spanning the space between the beams of a woven matrix using 5 mm thin strips of wood 30 mm wide. I filled these spaces in with the clay mix from above even with the top of the beams and laid the floor planks. Then plastered from underneath with another clay mix. The arch makes it self-supporting. Of course it leaves a varying insulation value across the arch where it is thicker along the beams and thinner at the pinnacle. Overall it worked well for me and was an enjoyable work technique. The book, A Pattern Language explains it well enough.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Re: Earthing as insulation system?? #26078 03/28/11 01:33 PM
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D L Bahler Offline
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Ken,

Yes people have thought about it, Icelander's have done it for over 1000 years, and many traditional infill systems from Europe involve earth and/or clay. It should be noted though, earth provides thermal mass much more readily than it insulates. Icelanders, for example, build their earth walls 3 feet (or more) thick to achieve the necessary insulation needed for their winters, and lack of wood to heat with.

I suggest you look at the traditional houses of Norway, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands where turf roofs are quite common, and they have over the past 1000+ years developed a dependable and durable system for building such roofs.

I also suggest you look into the traditional turf roofs, rather than the modern 'green roof' systems, mostly because these do things that the modern system claims to be impossible, look for example at the pitches of some Icelandic turf roofs which are much steeper than the green roof people say is possible, yet in many cases these fine examples have stood like that since the Middle Ages.

frá Íslandi (Iceland):


Fra Norge (Norway):

Fra Færøerne (Faroe Islands):

Last edited by D L Bahler; 03/28/11 01:34 PM.

Was de eine ilchtet isch fr angeri villech nid so klar.
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Re: Earthing as insulation system?? #26080 03/28/11 04:34 PM
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Ken Heath Offline OP
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I guess the big question I have is how much of earthing would be needed in hot and humid weather here in eastern NC and with that, how much load would that put on the rafters? Is soil "rammed" down before applying "grass" on it? I imagine that grass was grow to help prevent erosion during the rain.

Any thought on earthing siding? I honestly would not mind adobe style on the side out of TF structure after TF has been raised because I like adobe house design myself but I'm not sure how it can handle humid weather since its more favorable in dry area such as AZ, NM, and southwest states. I read that AZ and NM has less restriction on self built adobe home using earthing since its pretty common down there while in other part such as CA and TX, permit is required. The one seen at calearthorg website is more arrtactive to me (exterior part).

Thanks!

Re: Earthing as insulation system?? #26096 03/29/11 07:43 PM
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D L Bahler Offline
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It's been a while since I looked...

In a Scandinavian style roof, birch bark is the true watershed roof. The purpose of the turf, then, is largely to hold down and preserve the bark, while also providing a significant amount of insulation.

The turf on top is not soil, but is sod. In case you don't know, sod is grass cut from a field complete with the underlying root structure. It will contain a large amount of soil.

How thick you put it on depends on your climate. The turf needs to be thick enough to allow the grass to survive during the driest periods your roof would be subject to. In Norway, the roof covering is 2 layers of 3" sod, the first layer grass-down to help protect and shed water away from the bark, the second layer grass-up so that the grass can grow. Eventually the 2 layers will grow together.

Modern materials can be used in lieu of birch bark, which can make the roof last longer. The traditional lifespan of such a roof was said to be 30 years, which was dependent on the lifespan of the bark.

special care must be taken at the eaves and along the gables to help keep the sod in place, while still allowing suitable drainage.

In Iceland, things were done a little different.

The building would often times be a simple timber or post frame structure, which was covered almost entirely with turf, in later times wooden gables were left exposed and decorated.

here the birch bark is placed between layers of turf, if used at all.

Also, the walls consist of two thick layers of turf, with a filling of stone between them to provide drainage as well as stone underneath them for drainage.

Last edited by D L Bahler; 03/29/11 07:49 PM.

Was de eine ilchtet isch fr angeri villech nid so klar.
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