#buildingScience

SeaFury ๐Ÿฆœ๐Ÿ‰SeaFury@aus.social
2025-07-10

Joined a group of building scientists this morning. We investigated a grand old Launceston building. It felt like we were paranormal investigators. Three thermal cameras (we had one each!!!) - I did a blower door test. #buildingScience #architecture

A small vintage sink with a mirror cabinet above it. You can see the top half of my head in the mirrorThermal camera image around a fireplace. Showing leaks around the bottom and right edge of the fireplaceAn olive green wallpaper. The pattern is white bamboo fronds.A fireplace with built in timber seats next to it
SeaFury ๐Ÿฆœ๐Ÿ‰SeaFury@aus.social
2025-07-01

I did not go to sleep early. I sat up and wrote my presentation for the Aust Institute of Architects. I'll be talking about what's up with current Australian air tightness regs and what we are seeing on the ground - What's good enough and what construction strategies we need to pay attention to to get there. Free lunch time 30 minute session on Thursday 3rd July. Register here if you want to go #buildingScience #architecture members.architecture.com.au/Ev

SeaFury ๐Ÿฆœ๐Ÿ‰SeaFury@aus.social
2025-06-24

I'll be giving a talk to the Australian Institute of Architects sustainability committee on 3 July. Register here if you want to go! As far as I know, it's free - and a very short talk, 15 mins plus Q&A. I'll be having a chat about "good enough" air tightness in residential buildings #architecture #buildingScience members.architecture.com.au/Ev

SeaFury ๐Ÿฆœ๐Ÿ‰SeaFury@aus.social
2025-06-05

Have been booked for another talk later this month. This time to passive house builders. #BuildingScience

SeaFury ๐Ÿฆœ๐Ÿ‰SeaFury@aus.social
2025-06-02

My colleague has just published her first paper. All my #academicChatter people know how huge this is! Let's get some clicks on her paper!!! It's about energy efficiency and mould risk in residential buildings - go have a read ๐Ÿ˜ #writingCommunity #BuildingScience
mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/11/2843

2025-03-11

Fellow #BuildingScience nerds: any recommendations for a Kill-a-Watt or Emporia-Vue-like power meters? Assume I know nothing. Are electric box meters better? Point-of-use? Would love any insights you want to share. Main goal is understanding how much power different devices use / adjusting behavior.

Phil LamPKL
2024-12-01

Okay, I recently learned how bricks work, and WHAT THE HELL MAN.

So, the brick acts like a sponge, soaking up water when it rains. The reason the water doesn't just end up inside is that the brick...just kinds of holds onto it.

In other words, old brick buildings are like giant sponges, and you basically hope they sponge longer than it rains, or else you get wet. If you live somewhere rainy, you just add (you guessed it) MORE BRICK.

๐Ÿคฏ ๐Ÿคฏ ๐Ÿคฏ

2020-11-16

The effect of air infiltration on CO2 in the home. Normal level is 1240 ppm for our family of four with windows closed. Home has no principal ventilaton fan. Now with wind steady 42 km/h, gusts to 70, we are getting 941ppm: unintentional ventilaton. #buildingscience #covidCO2

2022-04-03

Moisture from the sweat and breath of 400 people makes up half the fog droplets in this arena. Low ventilation rate allowed moisture and COโ‚‚ to steadily accumulate. After 1 hour COโ‚‚ was 2000 ppm, indicating 4% rebreathed air; 1 in 25 breaths from others. #BuildingScience

2024-11-03

I've made some progress improving the building envelope by closing off openings to the outside. I'll eventually be using an insulation system to try to bring the house into 21st century energy efficiency range. Water management in buildings has been a topic I've sought a lot of education on. I am worried I am going to do it wrong.

2024-06-14

Ideal house features, including design

If I could build a house from scratch: rammed earth walls, metal roof, proper sitting and site design to catch warm sunshine. You could do a lot to both stay warm and stay cool using only passive elements, without needing any power. Doesn't that sound handy right about now?

I am greatly inspired by Ben Falk and WrathOfGnon with their discussions of traditional building techniques and passive resilience.

Here is Part 2 on my list of ideal home elements - brownfoxff.substack.com/p/idea

I especially like Energy Vanguard's description of the "hot water rectangle" - energyvanguard.com/blog/effici
How often have you run the tap waiting for hot water? No more.

#house #BuildingScience #resilience #PatternLanguage

2024-06-07

House Improvements you can make without changing the design

Hey home experts - if you won the lottery and could make any improvements to your house, what would you do?

I'm first going through a list of changes that don't require breaking any walls.
A metal roof? Hot water heat recovery? I'd love to hear your list. What am I missing?

brownfoxff.substack.com/p/idea

#resilience #BuildingScience #house #renovation #diy

Angus MacPhersonngsmcphrsn
2023-07-26
2023-07-12

Keep Your Home Cool without power or air conditioning - A thread ๐Ÿงต

With increased #ExtremeWeather events and more #ClimateChaos , how do you stay cool without using power or air conditioning?

A ๐Ÿงต , working from outside to in -

1. ๐ŸŒณ Plant trees. Trees create shade and reduce the ambient temperature around your home. Plant trees in appropriate spots where they won't dig into your foundation. This may take some forethought and planning but also helps the planet. Chat with a local arborist about the best types for your region. #PlantMoreTrees

#BuildingScience #PassiveHouse #PassiveDesign #StayCool #cooling #HelpThePlanet #climate #ClimateChange #ClimateChaos #resilience #trees #heatwave

2023-07-10

#BuildingScience #BookReview "Pretty Good House", by Kolbert, Mottram, Maines, and Briley. A thorough overview of the best modern building practices - how to create houses that last a long time and perform well.

The authors are builders, designers, and architects with decades of experience. They include case studies to explain construction and renovations.

The photos are beautiful.
They say: Use simple shapes, a simple roof, and good site design. The authors wanted to explain and inspire to _drag_ modern house design into a more sustainable direction.

Official website: prettygoodhouse.org/

More detailed review: brownfoxff.substack.com/p/book

#houses #housing #HouseDesign #GoodUrbanism

2023-07-05

#introduction Hello! I am a Zone 3 gardener who loves #permaculture , planting trees, and trying to grow food forests. I love #BuildingScience and learning how to fix or improve my house. Lately I have been getting into passive house design, insulation, and #resilience - reducing our house energy use, conserving water with rain barrels, etc.

I'm a fan of #Homesteading but also #GoodUrbanism - constructing buildings with local materials and traditional techniques so they can be cheaper, last longer, be more resilient, and better for the planet. For example #RammedEarth walls and thatch roofs. I write book reviews and longer notes on brownfoxff.substack.com/

2023-07-04

Watching UCL conference again tonight, it has just kicked off with a keynote about thermal insulation, climate change and mould growth risk within timber framed walls #BuildingScience

2023-07-02

I was in the paper yesterday. Its really sad that so many people in my state suffer with cold homes ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ข #BuildingScience

The newspaper article is titled โ€œWhy are homes in Tassie so cold?โ€ It talks about airtightness and insulation lacking in residential buildings.

Client Info

Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.04
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst