The best way that I can think of to add a large amount (20+ tonnes) of thermal mass to a solar home is by adding concrete floors. By doing this, one can get two uses, thermal storage and a finished floor,  out of the same investment. Furthermore, since the mass of a concrete floor is so spread out around the home, thereby giving it a large surface area with which to absorb and release heat, it really is the ideal thermal storage medium for a house with large solar gains.

So we added a 2.5 inch topcoat of concrete over the subfloor. In order to support the extra weight we had to add (recycled!) beams that run the length of the house (north to south).  After it was poured, the concrete was simply trowelled as a preliminary finish.

pouring concrete floors over a regular subfloors (the walls had to be made 2.5 inches higher to compensate for the depth of the floors)

a freshly trowelled concrete floor

For the final finish, we were partial to an acid-stain because we've seen some gorgeous stained finishes. Peter Amerongen convinced us to go for a water-based dye for environmental reasons. Man those green types can get in the way sometimes!

A talented man named Skip from Desco Coatings did the final finish. Peter describes the finish as such:
”We sealed the concrete with lithium silicate, then dyed it with water-based dye. The final coat was an epoxy coating, 2-part , 100% solids (so no offgassing because the soldis do not evaporate)."

The finished product is wonderful – a bit different at first, with an organic, charactery type of feel to it (yes, I just made up the word charactery).

The floor has been growing on me by the day.

we love the saw cuts in this floor  read more... »

Note from Conrad:This is a guest post by fellow Edmontonian Alice Harkness. Thanks for your excellent work Alice!

I experimented last winter with a very simple way of upgrading the insulation value of the beautiful original windows of my house: I added a third, Low-E glaze between the double hung window and the storm window.

Method

There is a 3/4 inch thick space inside the storm window created by the stop (the strip of wood that serves as the outside edge of the channel for the upper double hung window, and backing for the storm). Here’s what I did:  read more... »

I've always wanted to install a metal roof on the Mill Creek NetZero Home. The installation is almost complete now, and I'm very pleased with the sharp look of the roof. Style wasn't our main motivation for choosing to go with metal though.  read more... »

MCNZH, Second Floor. As built on the left, and "flexing" on the right.

Durability is absolutely key to sustainability. Everything we buy, every precious drop of fossil fuel that we burn, should be put to best use by creating as much value from it for as long as possible.

I see no reason why the Mill Creek NetZero Home (MCNZH) can't stand for hundreds of years. To be as useful as possible during its long lifetime, we designed it to flex with the changing needs of its occupants.  read more... »

My previous post regarding the problems with Taylor Munro Energy Systems was very negative.  While the problems with TMES are still not resolved, I'd like to focus this posting on a part of my renovation that worked really well:  The high efficency boiler and the heating system.  

There are three main components to the system: 1) a source of heat: the boiler, 2) something to replace my furnace: a fan coil and 3) a domestic hot water (DHW) tank that runs off the boiler.  In addition, I've done a retrofit of radiant floor heating.  This step is optional and was done to allow zone heating of different areas of the house.

 read more... »

The old house at 9805 - 84th Avenue was built in 1910, so the property title says. Those were different and amazing times - I'm guessing that most houses had no indoor plumbing, and all heating was done by burning wood or coal in stoves.

As I deconstruct this house to make way for the Mill Creek NetZero Home (MCNZH), I've been encountering a lot of history. For example, when it was originally built, every square inch of the house was covered in 15-foot long, 3.25-inch wide planks of old-growth Douglas-fir.  read more... »

This is a thermally insulated pressure cooker. We're not going to buy our way out of the environmental crisis, but certain purchases can make a big difference if they reduce our consumption of fossil fuels.

Pressure and Insulation for Efficiency

Pressure cooking is a super-efficient way to cook. A pressure cooker "can drop the consumption [of energy] by ... 68 percent ... compared to a flat-bottomed pot" (Stoyke, 2007, p. 80). It's so efficient because when it's under pressure, water can boil at a much higher temperature (about 120 degree Celcius), which makes the food cook faster.  read more... »

MCNZH, First Floor

We have a bad habit in North America of not planning for the future. In our built environment, one way in which this habit manifests itself is disposable buildings. Tearing down a building after 30 years, a practice that would shock most Europeans, is completely normal here. We need to change this mindset.  read more... »

I've never understood people who buy new books. Even before I became concerned about the earth's death spiral, I just didn't understand why someone would pay $20 for a book that they could borrow for free from the library.  read more... »

Sometime in the eighties, the advertisers managed to convince us that durable frying pans are"stick" pans. That is, they aren't "non-stick". It's a lie that has had devastating consequences for our shared environment.  read more... »