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[Dick Fischbeck <dick_fischbeck AT yahoo.com>]

> > >I am thinking very light weight metal, portable and slabless homes.
> > 
> > Have you spent much time in a totally metal building? 

I take it you are anti-metal homes, or would that be an overstatement?

I lived in a 5 meter diameter metal shell for a year.

> >They tend to be cold 
> > and lifeless. Metal conducts heat and cold very quickly so needs special 
> > insulation and ventilation design to disallow condensation and subsequent 
> > rot of interior wood. 

Lifeless? I'm talking about saving lives. There is nothing lifeless about 
that idea, if metal
homes are part of the solution to the refuge shelter problem. 
 
> Humans respond to their abodes psychologically; it is 
> > important that certain design factors are employed. 

My concern is the physical survival of disaster victims.

> Have you read Pattern 
> > Language? Also suggest you research the Farraday cage effect.
> 
> I'll google them.

I can get you a list written by Bucky about the requirements for a home as he 
saw it in 1927. Many
lists of requirements are out there but  is there much argument about 
availibility and safety as
the top two requirements regarding a home?

I don't see where Faraday cage effect has any relevance here. 

> >What we now have is not a proof that metal homes can't be built right.
> 
> What is your criteria for being built "right"?

Ultra-low-cost, light weight, safe and comfortable.
 
> > >They tend to be cold
> > > and lifeless. Metal conducts heat and cold very quickly so needs special
> > > insulation and ventilation design to disallow condensation and 
> > subsequent rot of interior wood.
> >
> >I don't agree. I like metal a lot.
> 
> What is it that you don't agree with, the first or second sentence?

Metal structures don't need to be cold and lifeless.

A well designed metal home will not have condensation problems.
 
> >What is special insulation?
> 
> Don responded to that. Any insulation next to a metal skin must be 
> unaffected by moisture or it loses its insulation value. When warm, moist 
> interior air hits cold metal, the moisture condenses out of the air and 
> clings to and runs down on the metal. Any untreated wood--like 
> purlins--that is continually wetted will rot, and informed people do not 
> want treated wood inside their homes. Any insulation such as fiberglass 
> becomes soaked and looses its insulation quality. One solution is to leave 
> a dead-air space next to the metal and to have adequate insulation and 
> interior air-tight barrier to keep the warm, moist air inside the structure 
> and away from the metal. I suspect that in a humid climate there will be a 
> problem in certain weather conditions unless there is good air flow just 
> under the metal skin. But, unless the residents are willing to live in a 
> totally metal structure, there will be wood connected to the metal at some 
> point, and almost certainly at doors and windows because metal frames on 
> doors and windows are highly energy inefficient.

Again, I am interested in discussing solutions to the after-tent-stage of a 
disaster. What comes
after the tent-?-!-?-! What is the scientific 21st century shelter 
solution(after atrps and tents)
to this most recent earthquake in Pakistan?

> >Availability is the number one factor(some shelter is better than no 
> >shelter). Safety is number
> >two factor.
> 
> Well, as to availability, tents go up much faster than metal buildings and 
> can cover much larger areas.
> 
> >After that, it's anyone guess.
> 
> Are you serious? Far from guesswork, many factors are well known. The 
> design features of homes are vitally important to human health and 
> happiness. There are a large number of factors that make houses homes. 
> Architects spend much time studying these factors and learning how to 
> incorporate them into the houses they design.

I am serious. Maybe I should not have said that the way I did leaving the 
question too wide open
but it is an academic debate to decide what is required of a home after 
availablity and safety are
exist.




        
                
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