Build Science 101: #4 Why “Building Science”? Efficiency and Environmental Responsibility
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Matt & Steve shine a spotlight on energy efficiency and environmental responsibility within construction. It underscores the significance of aligning each project with the client's budget, with a strong emphasis on prioritizing both comfort and efficiency. The episode makes a crucial point that comfort naturally leads to efficiency, thanks to improved insulation and moisture control, which in turn reduces the reliance on power-hungry HVAC systems. Moreover, it introduces the concept of stewardship within construction, highlighting the importance of cost-effective energy conversion and retention. Additionally, the episode dispels common myths about energy efficiency, emphasizing the control of heat flow and moisture in building assemblies. Environmental responsibility is portrayed as a moral choice, urging builders to minimize their environmental debt and opt for materials with lower embodied energy. Ultimately, the episode concludes by advocating for building longevity and reduced environmental impact, encouraging these practices to become a source of pride in construction.
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The Duck Curve:
1. Use a dishwasher and clothes dryer with a timer or smart-home feature so you can power them during the day when you are away from home but have plenty of solar power.
2. Use a tank water heater and heat your hot water when the sun is up. That will provide more than enough hot water during peak energy use after sunset. Use a timer to turn on the water heater at night after peak hours to use grid power of needed.
3. Run your hardwired LED lights and USB outlets on a battery and charge the battery when the sun is up.
4. Over condition your home while the sun is up by 6 or 8 degrees. Depending on your insulation, that should get you through most or all of peak energy use after sunset.
Nicely said guys - efficiency in buildings is about not wasting energy but you also have to make sure you're using your building materials efficiently...
Glad to see "Environmental Responsibility" in the discussion.
We can build homes that we are proud to pass on to future generations.
Amen!
May be THE best video I have ever watched-please do more
more to come
I’d like the 8 hour version
We already have a 201 series in development. Will start shooting in December. 301 and 401 are already outlined. This will be multiple additional hours of Content coming soon.
In thinking about the way humans interact with the landscape and nature itself id highly recommend a book called second nature, it's fundamentally a book about gardening, though I haven't found anything better about making a better relationship with nature (repaying that dept)
Economy and Ecological stewardship in home building begins by building homes that are not MANSIONS.
Are you blaming the rich? An uninsulated shack heated by an open fire might have worse carbon emissions for heating than a well built mansion.
You really should start by blaming the poor since there are so many more. If that upsets you, grow up and then realize that if this is a problem, the environmentalists are attacking it from the wrong direction.
This series is amazing, really appreciated. Would you guys be able to recommend some advanced reading, i.e., books, studies, or experts to look into for each of these topics? Do you already have a modern building science reading list out there anywhere?
www.amazon.com/shop/mattrisinger
Lots of great books I recommend here
Excellent show. Great info!
Thank you
Wouldn't that be where the winter and summer solstice come into play regarding the angle of the sun during those times of year? The angles will differ greatly depending on the location on earth.
Building Gold! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you
Always in debt to the planet...so true... thanks for speaking the truth about the costs and thinking ethically in a big picture mode.
Loving this building science lessons.
Thank you for joining in
Every home and business should install a rain water collection and storage system along with solar panels.
Even in areas where rain is infrequent it is crazy to waste the little rain that does fall and waste it.
We need to stop planting green lawns and switch to local native plantings around homes.
It is crazy to plant lawns and build golf courses in dry desert areas. We waste too much water and electricity.
I really like this series. Thank you!
I would love .26kwh! We’re at .35-.50 depending on time of day
It's all relative
Hi, Matt, hopefully someone in your office will see this and you will make a video about it. Recently I was watching a video from Matt Ferrell who, along with his brother, discussed on their Still To Be Determined Podcast (on TH-cam) what were some of the things Matt would have changed or included in his design while building his Net Zero house. He said, “I would have liked to have used a Sunamp Thermino phase change hot water battery instead of the system he went with (the Sunamp, from Scotland, wasn’t available in North America at the time he was building but it is now - Sunamp also has a TH-cam channel). This technology seems to be pretty amazing and I’d like to hear your opinion on it.
A shade is still effective at reducing heat in a room vs having no shades.
Had a lake house with a floor to ceiling large window, the room would become unbearable if we didnt close the shade, almost 30 celcius inside and our air conditioner could not keep up. With the shade shut, it still went up in tenperature but only up to 25-26 celcius
they are reflecting a portion of the heat back out through the panes to the outside
Technically energy is moving in both directions all the time. Its because there's more energy on the hotter side then on average more energy flows in that direction as the system tends towards an equilibrium.
Basic laws of thermodynamics. With no directed outside force being applied:
Heat always moves to lesser heat until equalized.
Moisture always moves to lesser moisture until equalized.
Pressure always moves to lesser pressure until equalized.
Mass always moves to lesser mass until equalized.
With a directed outside force being applied:
Heat moves to greater heat.
Moisture moves to greater moisture.
Pressure moves to greater pressure.
Mass moves to greater mass.
Great information
Thank you
Building my new house I'm constantly torn about how much waste I'm generating and adding to landfills. However conversely living in an old inefficient house is a big energy waster too. So in my mind the tradeoff is worth it.
so i just asked Google's Gemini to explain what is "wrong" about thinking of heat as a "something" (i previous times a caloric) that slows through space and materials/gases/solids. Here is the prompt i used , and the AI's reply followed Some people say that heat flows, as if heat were a property, a substance, that travel through materials that are gases liquids solids . But the motions and vibrations of molecules in these gases solids liquids "is" temperature. And the processes ofequilibrium between these various different energy states is gives an impression of "something" flowing . So for example consider the wall of a well built house where the inside air temperature is 70 degrees F while the outside air temperature is 0 degrees F temperature. How does conduction (not convection) of energy through the materials of the wall work? It sounds wrong to say heat is flowing from the warmer air inside the house to the colder air outside the house, and equally wrong to say cold is flowing from outside to inside through the medium of the walls and insulation. What is wrong with this human imagining?
You're absolutely right about several key points:
Heat is not a substance. It's a form of energy transfer caused by the motion of molecules and atoms within a material.
Temperature is a measure of this molecular motion. The higher the temperature, the faster the molecular motion.
Thermal Equilibrium: Systems tend to move toward thermal equilibrium, meaning energy will transfer until the temperatures of the two systems become equal.
Conduction in a Wall
Let's break down what's happening in your wall example using the correct lens:
Energy Transfer, Not Heat Flow: Molecules in the 70-degree air inside the house have more kinetic energy (they're moving faster) than those in the 0-degree air outside.
Collisions: When molecules at the interface of the warmer air and the wall collide, some of this kinetic energy is transferred to the molecules of the wall material.
Chain Reaction: These newly energized wall molecules collide with their neighbors, transferring energy further into the material. This continues outwards, layer by layer through the wall.
To the Outside: Eventually, the energy reaches the outer surface of the wall, where it transfers to the slower-moving molecules in the cold air outside.
So, why do we use the term "heat flow" if it's technically incorrect?
Convenience: Saying "heat flow" is a simplified way to envision the process. It captures the general idea of energy moving from a warmer to a colder area.
Historical Context: The idea of heat as a substance (called "caloric") was a prevalent scientific theory in the past. Though we now have a more accurate understanding, some of this old language remains.
The Right Way to Think About It
It's more accurate to say:
Energy is being transferred from the warmer air to the colder air via the wall.
The wall is conducting thermal energy.
The rate of energy transfer depends on the temperature difference and the material properties of the wall.
Let me know if you'd like a deeper dive into thermal conductivity or any other aspect of heat transfer!
BTW it's farmers who can & hopefully will save us from climate change. Modern farming is about carbon & water sequestration. Of growing the soil and relying on rich invirgrated soil to grow the food.
If you want to contribuye, go look at Key Line design and design your homes to work with Nature, so that water is shed from buildings into swales & burms. So that water, soaks into the land, no runs off with the top soil.
Perhaps Design in grey water recycling, perhaps even plant food forests as part of the garden plan, so customers find themselves with an abundance of perenial food without even thinking about it.
When tiinking about homes it's weird from a European perspective. I live in a new home it's a 3 level town house built by Pye in the 1970's. I used to live in a housing estate famous for the cutteslowe wall that was only built a hundred years ago, there are victoria terraces everywhere built using pattern books. I live in Oxford I regularly hang out at New College it was built in the 13th century, but then again the church in my home visit was built in the 12th. My home village dates from before the Doomsday Book and the Romans used to have a factory that mined and fired clay items before shipping them by the river Thames.
Matt being Christian you really must take the time to do a busmans holiday and go see European churches, they are some of the most extraordinary spaces. I especially recommend Rouen, whilst the cathedral is amazing their is a church dug into the ground that is like an inverted ship. As a builder you will be utterly amazed by the design language. Speaking as an agnostic I can only thank the world religions for the beauty they have created. There is a garden in Jerusalem where I think Jesus lay for 3 days after his death. It is the most wonderful and gentle island of peace in the hubub of a city. If your in Jerusalem, also visit the mosque it is unbelievable beautiful.
The house also needs to look nice and feel good. If future humans don't want to take care of the house they will want to get rid of the house.
Efficient houses are pleasant to live in, they’re always comfortable.
Why would anyone want to remove that? And Most passive houses look great.
@@FreekHoekstra I'm sure all the houses in 300 years will be very comfortable and efficient. People like new things. If this old house is in a nice location, it will be knocked down if it is ugly.
@@nerdslikeus6690 whats fashionable changes anyways, but as best we can tell most passive houses actually look really lovely.
Better built and lasting then most, and typically more expensive with a proper architect involved.. so less likely to be knocked down
Perhaps the environment owes me for not remaining 70° all the time. Your comparison between Texas and everywhere else is interesting, You know Texas isn't that old. Without know where you were from it was clear it wasn't Texas.
Hawaii is 47.9 c per KWh
I believe the highest in the country?
I have an honest question. Are you convinced that the zip wall on a new house is going to be there in 200 years from now?
I get it, now at the grocery store where did the BEEF come from ? LOL 😁
Being economical is being ecological.
That's one part of the equation, an other part is the type of material, i.e. regrowable materials (like wood, hemp,...) vs plastic materials (like spray foam, EPS, PIR, vinyl,...).
Ah, finally you're taking environmental responsibility into consideration! 🙂
As a consequence, will you avoid sprayed foam insulation as maximum as possible in your future projects?
_(Would be nice!)_
Technically, whilst the cold, the lack of heat, doesn't move, cold air moves. As cool air has higher density than warm air, the difference in pressure creates airflow from cold to warm. Heat lost through the walls does not have the same mechanics as cold air leaking into the house. Anyway, who cares.😂
Everybody should get this straight, any time a house is built that isnt pretty much a simple box tiny house, you are going to create a bigger embodied energy, higher HVAC power requirements and more CO2 emissions.
The same goes for remodeling jobs that aren't aimed exclusively at improving efficiency with insulation or better appliances.
The thing is nobody cares. People still want luxury and space.
If you can build for longevity, reduce construction waste, increase efficiency and use local materials so you aren't wasting energy shipping things around the world, that's great but don't think you are saving the world or minimizing environmental impact.
The good news is that it doesn't matter one way or another. If you listen to the likes of Greta Thunberg, we are all supposed to be dead by now. Obviously things have not changed enough to change that so the claims of environmentalists are clearly wrong. Although i like the idea of minimizing impact, increasing efficiency and building for a 300 year lifespan instead of 50 year, it's not going to save the world or even change the environment outside of my house.
Maybe if everyone in the world started building better and we planned communities to improve quality of life and reduce commuting by putting affordable residential areas near centers of employment, there might be a positive impact but that practically requires central planning and if environmentalists ever get the authority to do that, most people will wind up.forced to live in shared 400ft² flats in giant brutalist housing developments that like to catch on fire like the AC unit in the LEED Platinum office building i used to work in.
The truth is as much as we try in the first world, the third world will always do things like slash and burn rain forests, over fish, pollute and build concrete buildings with bamboo instead of rebar. We can't fix that impact and we can't stop it so we better hope it doesn't matter because if it does matter, there is nothing we can do to mitigate it.
We aren't steering the ship on this so what we do doesn't really matter. The best we can do is hope that what the third world does doesn't really matter either. With all the failed predictions of a new ice age, global warming and now "climate change", I'm not too worried.
I still want to build efficient so I can be off-grid and self-sufficient and I'm going to adjust the scale of my house to make that happen but I want what I want and I'll build it that way.
I think there is value in building for longevity and efficiency no matter what you think about the environment. It ultimately can reduce cost of ownership with lower utility bills and amortizing construction cost over the longer lifespan. If a builder wants to be honest, concentrate on this and then concentrate on how to build for efficiency and longevity on the lowest possible budget. If you can double longevity with a 0-10% increase in cost, i think that's a pretty easy sell.
Appreciate the thoughts. I would add that it’s OK to build better for the benefits that YOU and your family will enjoy from a well built home. Durable = No mold growth = healthy buildings. Comfortable = More Efficient = less energy use. Lots of synergies for you and the greater world when we build better.
@@buildshow yeah but even saying OK is a judgement suggesting that some things are not OK. I'm sure if some single guy with no family wants a 5,000 ft² house with 4 bedrooms and 13 baths, someone is going to think that's not OK even if it's the most comfortable way for him to live.
People need to stop being judgey and builders need to figure out how to build really really well without increasing the price much beyond "builder grade" or else governments and banks need to create programs where the additional cost of high quality building is financed differently so the same monthly payment will buy the same size house with the same down payment, maybe reduced PMI, a longer loan term and equity only payments at the end of the loan.
If you make it easier for people to choose high quality building, that's fine but you shouldn't do it by penalizing "builder grade" and code minimum.
Just remember... Building to code is building the worst house allowed by law.
Yes, many forget that!!
Seriously, Steve? If you can't bring yourself to publicly acknowledge the reality of climate change, you need to find some much needed courage. The reluctance of intelligent people to discuss this incredibly important topic is part of the reason we've made so little progress in addressing it. There aren't two sides to this issue and we need to move beyond that nonsense so we can finally begin to address the problem in a serious way. There is no escaping it because even countries that enjoy a relatively temperate climate will have to deal with climate migration from the hottest parts of the world.
Appreciate your passion my friend.
I'm glad he has the ability to control himself. So many climate activists are essentially religious zealots.
It's very possible to care about the environment without feeding the irrational fire of "impending apocalypse."
When I was born (1956) there was a CO2 concentration of 313ppm - it's now upwards of 417ppm - it's gone up over a third in my lifetime! We need to stop burning stuff - electrify everything and use renewable energy to provide the electricity. Of course, with efficient homes there is not such a great requirement for heating and cooling...
@@ridethetalkDo not worry about. The president is working on it by making everything more expensive so people get more roommates which would make less consumption which goes in less production with end result of less pollution
@@andreycham4797 There is always a clown in the mix that tries to make everything into a partisan political issue. So ridiculous.