Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: COHOUSING-L digest 669

[Glen Orcutt (gorcutt]

Jay Jacobson wrote:

> We (EcoVillage at Ithaca) have started infrastructure development and
>are finalizing our plans for heating/ventilation systems.  We'll have
>radiant floor heating for winter but the question is how to avoid
>overheating in summer when there's a lot of window area.  We plan on using
>vegetation for cooling but our consultant still predicts overheating.  Any
>advice on cooling for the dog days of summer when even opening windows
>doesn't help much?  Has anyone designed a ventilation system for exhausting
>heat overnight and drawing in cooler air?  

A couple of ideas come to mind:
1.  We use whole house fans in this climate to inexpensively draw in cool
air and exhaust heat.  You turn them on for 15 minutes in the evening and it
pulls all of the warm air into the attic, pulling air from the windows that
are opened.

2.  I have heard of people running radiant heating backwards in the summer
to cool the floor, but cold floors aren't real pleasant even in the dog days
of summer.

Hope this helps.

Glen Orcutt
Valley Oaks Village
Chico, CA
(Where the common building is getting roof rafters and homes are getting slabs.)