The increasing efforts for insulation of housings often are combined with reduced windows areas to avoid overheating by the sun. This trend does not take in account that the energy of the sun is for free ....especially in the winter time.
Dr. Michael Heine, I think every country has formulated building codes for the changing environments. It seems the matter of awareness and following / implementation of such rules. There mighty be some financial issues as well. You have raised a very appropriate question which is the need of the day.
This question is so "out of the blue". I can't imagine humans living in thermos flasks but one thing i do know is that anything can happen. However, with reduced emission of carbon dioxide and other poisonous gases into the atmosphere, ozone depletion, global warming and greenhouse effect can be reduced and this will reduce the severity of the sun's rays on the earth. If this happens i don't think humans of the next century will live in thermos flasks. On the contrary, if we aren't able to achieve this i still don't think we'll be living in thermos flasks.
The global campaign to cut down emissions is in the increase. The concept of energy efficiency, energy management and energy saving is all embracing in institutions, private and public organizations. With this it is believed CO2 emission will gradually reduce. If this persist then the global increase in temperature will take a new dimension. Therefore living in thermos flask will be equivocal. Except otherwise.
At the moment, there are "smart home" designs that cut the energy bill by 25% or more each month. I think that existing & cutting edge technologies (in civil engineering, polymer chemistry, material sciences, architecture and sustainability-related fields) will cooperate to design & construct better houses for the future. By the next century, it is feasible to attain comfortable houses that provide real life testing of smart grid & energy efficiency technologies.
Everything is possible between the initial moves & the hoped for better housing (I cannot rule out the possibility of "thermos" or "fridges" or "saunas" when the new homes are in the development stages).
I'm a little puzzled: the nature more easily find tailored solutions to such problems. Why We crampon by artificial rules and regulations? We are in the 21st century; it would not be wiser to better understand the nature?
It's a fairly simple thing to design and build off-grid housing in Canada that doesn't need a heating system - just build sufficient thermal glazing, thermal mass, and insulation. The quick numbers say it costs about the same as conventional construction to build, and costs effectively nothing to operate (still needs maintenance, but even that can be minimalized, and I don't have a good replacement for 'cooking'). And the quick numbers also say that method would work across the entire Temperate zone, but not farther north than that. It's not much of a reach to see that if people wanted to live that way, they would be. And they don't, so there is likely a reason we don't want that. Currently, we demonstrate our wealth and power by what we can afford to waste. So, unless we expect that energy consumption will become shameful, then we will continue to waste energy. Which means conventional housing will be the norm for a while yet.
It seems to be true in coming days if some solid steps are not taken on time.
Michael, a very interesting way of raising a question about heat loss. Personally, I would prefer to wear base layers of clothing to keep warm rather than live in a Thermos flask - but this may not be a widespread viewpoint.
Dear Hamit,
many thanks for this relatively complete survey of insulation possibilities. Following these we surely will end in a thermos flask with ventilation :-)
With best regards
Michael
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