Rammed Earth: Achieve Energy Efficiency With SIREWALL

Buildings consume 45 percent of our energy use in Canada and the United States. With energy costs at an all time high and mass environmental awareness forcing change, buildings are the primary place we can impact global warming. In this age of peak oil and historic oil spills, we can transform the built environment now through proven ecological and sustainable alternatives.

The combination of heat retention from the mass of rammed earth and insulation makes SIREWALL suited for various climates. In fact, heating and cooling is efficient and there is little or no maintenance with SIREWALLS.

SIREWALL insulates 13.5 times more than a concrete wall of the same thickness.   SIREWALL insulates 5.5 times more than a rammed earth wall.  SIREWALL’s insulated rammed earth also has incredible thermal capacity, capturing and storing energy through passive solar design.

With the SIREWALL System, sun-facing outer walls of immense thermal mass form a continuous insulation layer, stabilizing interior humidity and temperature with performance equivalent to that of R50 wood-framed walls. Passive solar involves collecting and using solar energy without mechanical parts (like fans or pumps) to move it around. With nothing to degrade, passive solar is maintenance-free and offers the same results on Day 10,000 as it did on Day 1.

The thermal mass of a SIREWALL makes the use of low dynamic heat systems such as solar and geothermal extremely viable – and the goal of “net zero energy” for thermal conditioning reasonable – with the superior comfort of radiant heat.  Eliminating air conditioning is equally possible.