Cohousing-L Mailing List: Heat generation in Common Houses

[RAYGASSER (RAYGASSER]

Here's a question I never thought I'd be asking:

Ithaca NY is an area that has some pretty cold winters. Our energy 
consultant (and future resident), Greg Thomas, is telling us we may
have a problem in the Common House: overheating! We have a lot of
solar exposure, the construction is going to be very tight, we'll have
a lot of bodies (30 households), and the stove, refrigerator, and
walk-in will be generating BTUs galore. 

Has this been a problem with any existing communities? What kinds of
ventilation systems do you use? Open Doors? Fans? We'd like to avoid
air conditioning if possible, for $$ & energy consumption reasons, but 
will we need it? Venting of refrigerator heat directly outside?

I'm going away for a week, but will probably be checking in for replies
(if I don't and the volume is like the last couple of weeks, I'll never
catch up!!). Please send replies directly to Greg at 
72477.2131 [at] compuserve.com. And I'd like to see them, too (I sure am
picky, aren't I?).

Ray Gasser, EcoVillage at Ithaca
raygasser [at] delphi.com