Comments on: Forbes Park: An Exemplary Sustainable Community http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/18/forbes-park-by-urban-design-and-redevelopment/ Future-forward design for the world you inhabit Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:06:50 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: olgahttp://www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/18/forbes-park-by-urban-design-and-redevelopment/comment-page-1/#comment-95844 olga Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:07:58 +0000 http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/18/forbes-park-by-urban-design-and-redevelopment/#comment-95844 i've lived off the grid before with only thermal mass and a wood stove, and you're right bj, the thermal mass alone wouldn't be enough. i have however been to the forbes website and they will primarily be using radiant floor heating which will be more than adequate to heat the place efficiently. the passive heating will be a nice supplement. i’ve lived off the grid before with only thermal mass and a wood stove, and you’re right bj, the thermal mass alone wouldn’t be enough. i have however been to the forbes website and they will primarily be using radiant floor heating which will be more than adequate to heat the place efficiently. the passive heating will be a nice supplement.

]]> By: BJhttp://www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/18/forbes-park-by-urban-design-and-redevelopment/comment-page-1/#comment-95731 BJ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:48:28 +0000 http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/08/18/forbes-park-by-urban-design-and-redevelopment/#comment-95731 Shared electric cars and wind turbines are great but from what I can see the units themselves are likely to be much more expensive to heat than they need to be. Thermal mass alone will not make the buildings comfortable. If it's isolated inside the living space that's great but when that mass is exposed to the outside environment it's effectively a giant heat exchanger.They talk a lot about it but don't say anything about insulating the envelope. They even talk about using steel framed windows. Those steel frames can be cold enough to grow frost inside in the winter even if they are double glazed. I already live in a hundred year old factory building with 3.5 foot thick brick walls. When the average temp is 10 degrees outside, and I'm trying to maintain 70 inside, that brick wall is averaging out to 40 degrees! Shared electric cars and wind turbines are great but from what I can see the units themselves are likely to be much more expensive to heat than they need to be. Thermal mass alone will not make the buildings comfortable. If it’s isolated inside the living space that’s great but when that mass is exposed to the outside environment it’s effectively a giant heat exchanger.

They talk a lot about it but don’t say anything about insulating the envelope. They even talk about using steel framed windows. Those steel frames can be cold enough to grow frost inside in the winter even if they are double glazed. I already live in a hundred year old factory building with 3.5 foot thick brick walls. When the average temp is 10 degrees outside, and I’m trying to maintain 70 inside, that brick wall is averaging out to 40 degrees!

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