03-22-2006, 11:53 PM
The man in Maine has a point -" Tightening Up Homes Tightens Energy Bills" From NAHB: Nation's Building News, March 6, 2006 (the url referenced)- but is far off from the original question and unless installing heating and/or a/c, has little bearing on how we live in Hawaii. Proper ventilation rather than heat loss is probably our goal.
The point of my poorly worded earlier post regarding mold was that is many cases there was little or no ventilation so any moisture was trapped. In these "tight" houses, without functioning HVAC and closed windows, there was no ventilation. (Note HVAC doesn't function when electricity is turned off, as in vacant property)
In my own house design, the R20 walls were not a must-have, just a bonus, but the location of doors and windows that open to take advantage of the trade winds and cross ventilation were a serious planning consideration.
You can bet the buildings described in the above article were designed strictly for mechanical air exchange and quite appropriately so for Colorado but not the open airiness most of us anticipating here in Hawaii.
David
Ninole Resident
The point of my poorly worded earlier post regarding mold was that is many cases there was little or no ventilation so any moisture was trapped. In these "tight" houses, without functioning HVAC and closed windows, there was no ventilation. (Note HVAC doesn't function when electricity is turned off, as in vacant property)
In my own house design, the R20 walls were not a must-have, just a bonus, but the location of doors and windows that open to take advantage of the trade winds and cross ventilation were a serious planning consideration.
You can bet the buildings described in the above article were designed strictly for mechanical air exchange and quite appropriately so for Colorado but not the open airiness most of us anticipating here in Hawaii.
David
Ninole Resident
Ninole Resident