permaculture

["Paul and Sandra" <crows@tkc.att.ne.jp>]

Hello Frank.

 

Sounds like you have a big opportunity.  I have mostly lived in well established house systems.  With a remodel that involves a bathroom and a kitchen and a greenhouse you have a lot of potential connections.  Here are some random thoughts.

 

reducing heat gain in summer: 

the ideal seems to be to prevent the sun from hitting the glass in summer.  options: shade cloth (not pretty), louvre (sp?) angled to take advantage of the changing angle of the sun (this may only be necessary on the top and could even be removable.  Maybe exterior trellis with deciduous vine (maintaining the vine could be a pain over glass, maybe make a small shade house separate and above the greenhouse.  Find a real fast grower (grape), have one on each post and prune heavily in early winter, removable trellising.  Light shade tree (like some high thin Honey Locust).  I had a friend who trellised vines inside - didn't seem to do much for the heat gain problem though it was fragrant (jasmine nudiflorum i think).  My grandma used to have these crazy mylar window shades in summer...

 

managing waste heat:

almost unavoidable.  Copious top venting.  Where do you WANT heat in summer.  Integrate a hot water pre-heating system for the new facilities.  Food/Clothes drying facility that receives vented heat. (I seem to think that humidity is a problem in Kentucky, and I don't understand the principles of dehumidification that would make a system like this work like a charm.)  solar chimney? (dark vertical pipe to accelerate thermal draft.)  Maybe try to arrange the green house as a sucking force to encourage a draft from the south (measure and channel summer breeze).

 

Thermal mass: 

were you planning on water or stone?  something like a 'trombe wall' (shared stone wall bewteen glazed area and house) seems really problematic unless you have some serious summer shade element in place.  Water might give you more options.  Maybe some create venting mixed with a seasonal hot water preheater (black box with pipe/hose swings (or rolls?) into place on top of greenhouse.  Water could be drained and replaced in a hot spell (is there any use for a ton of warm water in summer?).

 

Gambatte,

Paul Cereghino - Tokyo

crows@tkc.att.ne.jp