4 ms·

No, just good insulation and a heat-exchanging ventilation system. See Amory Lovins's banana trees in Snowmass, Colorado.[0] [0]https://mountaintownnews.net/20

• masklinn 7y ago
  That's super interesting for a 40 years old home, around here homes from that time sometimes don't even have double-glazed windows. It's too bad that there are no details being provided, but other articles[0] give more information and aside from the house being covered in solar panels it doesn't look too alien (save for the very bendy walls) at least until you find out the walls are 40cm thick and the greenhouse is absolutely integral to the concept. I really like that the greenhouse uses permanent water fixtures (a waterfall, brook and pond) for both ambience and humidity control, I've been thinking about this sort of things and how to heat responsibly: mixed wood / pellet furnace was about my best idea, and apparently the Lovinses still have a backup wood-burning stove though their 2009 "v2" renovations allowed them to get rid of the gas-fired stove and heater. One of the things which I find more interesting is how diametrically opposite they went for one of the directions: opening up the house using efficient glass panes, where I was thinking more towards burying it, in a more extreme version of turf houses. But that makes sense if you want to produce your own electricity using solar panels, you couldn't maintain a proper turf cover then. [0] https://grist.org/climate-energy/amory-lovins-high-tech-home-skimps-on-energy-but-not-on-comfort/ https://grist.org/climate-energy/amory-lovins-high-tech-home...