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THE DIRT: Spring 2012 Newsletter

Taking Advantage of Thermal Mass

Sam Rodell, Kirkwood Rodell Architects and Earthwall Rammed Earth Architecture

We don’t heat and cool the buildings we inhabit. For the most part, we can’t; they have no real capacity to retain thermal energy. Instead, we heat and cool the air inside them.

So when there is a temperature difference between outdoors and what we want to live with inside, we either burn polluting combustible material for heat (coal, oil, wood, etc.) or we use mechanized heating (or cooling) systems. Those machines cost a lot of money to design, build, install, operate, and maintain, and of course they use lots of energy and also contribute substantially to our pollution and waste stream. But we have come to accept these practices as a normative and necessary aspect of modern architecture and life.

Presently, we invest over a third of the construction cost of many buildings in these systems. In the U.S., we spend almost forty percent of our national energy consumption feeding them, paying a considerable economic, environmental, and geopolitical price. If there is an interruption in our power supply, or if we simply can’t afford the equipment or the power bills, we’re just out of luck. Although this state of affairs represents the generally accepted standard, it really would not seem to make much sense – if only we could see a viable alternative.
Read more…

See how SIREWALL takes advantage of thermal mass.

SIREWALL On the Road in Alberta

SIREWALL Founder Meror Krayenhoff was pleased to meet with several changemakers in Calgary and Edmonton this month. So many great conversations and lots of new ideas came out of these meetings. Thank you to everyone who helped introduce SIREWALL in Alberta!

The Vital Conversations event, Your Energy Footprint, hosted by Jeff Reading of C3 and Lauren Mangion of Green Calgary was an energetic discussion that Meror was pleased to attend and contribute to.

At SAIT Polytechnic’s School of Construction, Tracey Loston and David Silburn hosted a presentation by Meror on insulated rammed earth and how it is suited for a variety of climates with special emphasis on the suitability of SIREWALL for Alberta’s climate.

Shannon Leigh and Sea Change Calgary hosted a meet & greet with Meror for architects, designers and passionate people who are in action in the green building community in Alberta.

Lastly, Meror lead a morning presentation with Keith Robinson, Stephen Boyd and the team at DIALOG (a fully integrated multidisciplinary team of architects, engineers, interior designers, urban designers and planners) to discuss their upcoming project for the Edmonton City Zoo.

Want to host Meror the next time he’s in your city? Dig in and learn more about SIREWALL and how your ideas for residential and commercial projects can be put in motion. Contact us today.

Get to Know SIREWALL, May 2 – 4 at Living Future

Living Future 2012 – Women Reshaping the World
May 2 – 4, 2012 Portland, Oregon

Where the green building movement’s leading thinkers and practitioners come together to share their deep expertise and dearest hopes, we can leap ahead as a movement and as a society. Living Future, our annual unConference, offers a unique forum for exactly this kind of gathering.

“The innovative seminar formats and range of visionary businesses featured at Living Future draws leading minds in the green building movement”, says SIREWALL Founder Meror Krayenhoff. “I am glad to attend again this year and continue the conversations around innovations and new approaches to addressing ecologic and social challenges. We welcome discussions on how SIREWALL can be designed into residential and commercial projects as a resilient solution to rise above these challenges.”

Are you attending? Make sure to visit SIREWALL at the tradeshow. Follow the #LF12 tag on Twitter and get in the conversation. Ask us about how you can save $100 off an upcoming SIREWALL Intro Course in 2012!

Introduction to Insulated Rammed Earth Course

SIREWALL System inventor Meror Krayenhoff hosts an Introduction to Insulated Rammed Earth Course that will change the way participants think about building green. Over the weekend, create your new vision for a dream home or commercial building and experience:

The comfort of rammed earth when touring SIREWALL homes
Types of soil required to analyze and choose the optimal blends
Exploring aspects of design and engineering
Building your own rammed earth sample
A range of possibilities digging into ‘deep green’ conversations.

The SIREWALL System for rammed earth construction has been introduced to thousands of professionals and enthusiasts. With over 20 years of research and development invested into creating this unique system, SIREWALL neither endorses nor considers the Introductory Course as preparation to construct a SIREWALL or rammed earth home or building. The weekend course however, will ensure participants are inspired and see how rammed earth and SIREWALL can transform the built environment.

Salt Spring Island 2012 Course Dates:
Jul 7, 8
Sep 8, 9