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  #41  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 7:50 PM
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Originally Posted by bilbao58 View Post
I was really referring to his/her comments about old versus new building and energy standards. You can replace you air conditioner every month if you want, but if the design of your home or building is not such that interior temperatures remain tolerable, the only real answer is to replace the structure altogether. That's where things start taking some time when a population of 7 million people is involved.

Anyone who really knows Houston, knows that air-conditioning made the city's growth possible. In fact, a/c made today's Texas possible. I can't help but wonder what would happen if energy costs spiked suddenly. Or if the economy becomes such that people just no longer have the money to afford the sh!tload of electricity it currently (no pun intended...OK...maybe it was intended) takes to keep this state livable.
No need to replace the structure. Our house is not as energy efficient as we'd like it to be despite a new AC system and insulation because the original 70's era windows. Windows are expensive but cheaper than a brand new house.
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  #42  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 8:06 PM
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Originally Posted by JManc View Post
No need to replace the structure. Our house is not as energy efficient as we'd like it to be despite a new AC system and insulation because the original 70's era windows. Windows are expensive but cheaper than a brand new house.
I'm really thinking about massive structural changes to the entire physical layout of the city...density...public transit...elimination of the total dependency on automobiles.

Also, take a look at the two links I posted up thread that discuss life in Houston before air conditioning. Houses and buildings were designed and built in totally different ways than they were after a/c. Everything from high ceilings and double-hung windows that open top and bottom to create air flow to large porches and even to things like arcades along commercial streets to shade sidewalks (think Galveston's Strand.)

Increasing the energy efficiency of what we have now is great, and must be done. But it's not the solution to the problem...it's just a way to make it a little less bad for the time being.
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  #43  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 8:09 PM
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That was common everywhere and unfortunately, that fell out of favor. No one uses their porches so developers stopped building them. I think Houston should continue to become more multi-nodal (not concentrate on one or two areas) so there's less commute times and gridlock.
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  #44  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 8:32 PM
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Originally Posted by JManc View Post
That was common everywhere and unfortunately, that fell out of favor.

It fell out of favor because air conditioning made building like that unnecessary. My whole point is we'll be in big trouble if energy ever becomes too expensive to maintain the livability of the vast majority of the structures in the city today.


ETA: Anyone who's ever had to suffer through a week or two without power after a hurricane knows that even the best insulated modern houses become miserable quite quickly.
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  #45  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 10:14 PM
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Originally Posted by bilbao58 View Post
I would advise you do some research into the differences in design of homes and buildings specific to Houston and to Texas from before and from after the advent of mass availability of air conditioning. Insulation and air sealing will not satisfactorily help a house whose physical structure is designed so that it heats up quickly and does not direct that heat away from its occupants.
First off, I am sorry for your loss. I hope that you had a great time and life with your dog.

Second off, thank you for providing civil discourse. I much rather discuss things with others in a civil manner, than engage in a pissing match of wills. We all have much to learn, and the two articles that you provided were quite interesting.

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I live in a 3-year-old house in San Antonio that exceeds current energy-conservation standards, has the latest insulation technologies, is clad in 4-inch thick stone, not brick, that absorbs and then radiates heat, and the house has a metal roof that reflects heat away from it. There have been a couple of occasions where the air conditioning was off for more than 24 hours because of poor drainage design for a/c condensation and even for bad plumbing work that tripped the a/c water-sensor cut-off, amazingly the home was quite comfortable for most of the day, but it was obvious that that comfort was not going to last much longer.
Here is my take, from the view of a certified Passive House Consultant:

1. I am unsure of what exceeding current energy-conservation standards means for your house. As of now, current energy-conservation standards are still fairly crappy. They will not produce a truly energy-efficient building. They are, at best, a bare minimum standard (if even that).

2. Stone, brick, concrete. It doesn't matter what you use. They all have poor thermal conductivities. Their thermal conductivities may be better than that of aluminum, copper, or steel, but that's not saying much. In Passive House design, they are all considered thermal conductors and thermal bridges. You generally want to do one of the two options with them if they remain in your building structure:
- isolate them so that your unbroken insulation remains inside of them. This can also be done by using thermal break materials to prevent them from transmitting heat.
- cover them up with continuous insulation on the outside.

3. There is no such material that only absorbs heat but does not radiate heat. It would break Kirchoff's Law of Thermal Radiation. Your stone cladding is definitely emitting heat somewhere. It is likely being absorbed and blocked by the insulation, and is being dissipated in the air before it can travel inside.

4. The metal roof isn't the best material, since it is a thermal conductor. But if it is properly thermally broken from the building envelope, that should be ok.

5. Can you describe a typical wall system in your house? Is it stone cladding outside, and wood stud and insulation wall inside? Besides the vapor barrier, do you have proper air-sealing close to Passive House standards? The energy code minimum air sealing requirements are substantially improved from prior to the codes were implemented, but still far below Passive House standards.
- Even having a 1 inch square hole in your thermal envelope will have a massive effect on how much humidity enters your house.

6. What type of windows do you have? Do you have double-glazed double hung windows? What material are the window frames made from? Aluminum, wood, PVC, or fiberglass? Do you know the manufacturer's stated overall U-value for the window?
- Technically speaking, hung or sliding windows are strongly discouraged in Passive House design because they leak too much air. Weirdly enough, lift and slide doors can be used in Passive House buildings, possibly because it provides enough of an air-seal compared with smaller windows.
- From an energy efficiency POV, it is better to have a few larger windows than many smaller window. This is because the worst energy performance comes from the frame and the installation area, and not the glazing portion.
- Passive House design actually encourages opening windows for ventilation, as long as the air is cool and dry enough. Of course, this

7. Shading and window placement is an important part of Passive House design to prevent overheating as well as to to encourage winter heating.
- Passive House design discourages placing too many windows on the east and west facing facade. This is because the building will overheat from these windows either in the morning or in the afternoon.
- Passive House design encourages placing windows in the north and south facade. During the winter, the south facade windows will let in sharp-angled sun, "passively" heating the building with free heat. During the summer, the sun is at a much higher angle, so it doesn't enter the building as readily as it does during the winter. Still, to prevent all direct sunlight from entering, external shading projections are installed above windows to block out the summer sun.

8. By properly designing a building with the right amount of insulation and air-sealing, by designing away thermal bridges from the building's thermal envelope, and by reflecting heat away during the summer (through cool roofs using light colors, and other such techniques), your building will most assuredly have a physical structure that "directs that heat away from its occupants".

9. A properly design new Passive House building or a retrofit can likely survive multiple weeks without electricity, even in the middle of a Houston heat wave. If they have a solar panel that was designed for the building, it will likely provide enough power to continue to run the continuous HRV/ERV systems and intermittent A/C to occasionally cool the building. Alternately, a gasoline or diesel generator, while not the most environmentally friendly energy source, can provide the power without breaking the bank.

I encourage you to learn more about Passive House design. You can definitely improve on your current house with retrofit measures to the point that it is "physically designed to stay cool or even stay tolerable", even without the A/C running all the time. I guarantee it. PM me for more details, or you can reply in this thread.

Quote:
And none of this addresses the sprawling nature of the vast majority of the region
which leaves most of its residents utterly dependent on automobiles to get to, frankly, just bout anywhere and everywhere they need to go any time they need to go somewhere.

To change Houston to a highly efficient city, and I mean everyone in the city, not just increasing the energy efficiency of City of Houston services (city government that is carbon neutral doesn't mean a lot when 7 million private citizens are still spewing carbon) will be a HERCULEAN task that includes, not only new and upgraded building standards and retrofitting, but it really would need a massive restructuring of the urban fabric of the entire city itself on a scale not seen since the days of Baron Haussmann and his "bulldozing" of old Paris.

It may happen at some point, it may HAVE TO happen at some point. Or the city may end up just being, for the most part, abandoned. But my original point was that I don't think any structural changes that are massive enough to address the problems can possibly happen in our lifetimes. I just don't think there is the political will in this country to accomplish such a monumental task.
Ah, perhaps I was mistaken in my perception that you may lack imagination. You imagination may be a bit too large, and mine a bit too small.

I am interested in speaking further about your ideas, perhaps over the next few days. Tonight, however, I have a rare Pokemon to go catch in Pokemon Go, and it is only available until tomorrow morning.

As for myself, I threw myself into learning about Passive House design because I feel it will truly make a difference if enough of the world adopts its principles. I was once fairly interested in Urban Design and Planning, but realized that the real players in that game need to be political animals to make a difference. So now that I am older and less idealistic, I will try to make a change in my sector of the world.

For me, going big is great, but not if it leads to constant disappointment and discouragement because your ideas and ideals aren't being met.
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  #46  
Old Posted Jun 17, 2020, 11:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bilbao58 View Post
It fell out of favor because air conditioning made building like that unnecessary. My whole point is we'll be in big trouble if energy ever becomes too expensive to maintain the livability of the vast majority of the structures in the city today.


ETA: Anyone who's ever had to suffer through a week or two without power after a hurricane knows that even the best insulated modern houses become miserable quite quickly.
If we got to the point where energy became too cost prohibitive for most, we'd have more problems than sitting in a house with no AC.
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  #47  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2020, 2:55 AM
ThePhun1 ThePhun1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Double L View Post
Houston/Galveston was a big city long before air conditioning was invented.
Tens of thousands of people is a big city?
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