What is passive solar design? It goes by many names, though all are similar: passive design, passive solar, passive heating, Passivhaus, and passive house. Buildings using this strategy rely on the heat of the sun to moderate the temperature indoors without the need for artificial heating and cooling. How do they do it? Thermal…
Tag Archives: thermal mass
21
May
May
The word adobe comes from the Arabic word al-tob, which means “the brick” and from Coptic tube, which also means “brick”. A brick is precisely what adobe is, a sun-dried brick of clay-soil and sand, with fiber added in some instances as well. These fibers, which add tensile strength, are usually straw, hair, or even horse manure. Yes, I said horse manure! Building with adobe is one of the oldest building techniques in the world, and some of the world’s oldest standing buildings were constructed with adobe.