Q: 4 BLDG SVCS ENGINEERS related 2 house building in the Tropics. IF?

Question

Houses built in the UK have 2 walls filled with insulation and double glazed windows to keep the warmth IN, if the same building methods were applied to a house built in tropical climes of 25-40 deg C with terential monsoons, would it keep the heat OUT? (would insulation work in reverse or is it better to leave it out altogether?).

ALSO, as for the services within UK houses, are they easier to access in an emergency (e.g a burst pipe) because they're housed between the interior and exterior wall? I ask because here in the tropics houses are built using walls with one layer of bricks then cemented/plastered, including any pipes and wiring etc. So when we had a pipe problem in the bathroom we had to remove tiles and chip away at the wall to get to the pipes. They're completely enclosed in concrete! I find it staggeringly impractical and unbelievable that builders would choose this method to build. Obviously it cuts costs. Opinions please...?

THERMO...Oh how I wish Malaysia worked like that! They don't know what an 'environment' is. They'd build using cardboard boxes if cut costs! It's 'build fast. build cheap. Use foreign workers.' If you saw the [non] methods applied you'd be appalled. I'm currently buying a house & wish to rennovate & considered building and extra exterior wall outside our bedroom as it gets the afternoon heat until evening & can be unbearably hot.

Answer 1

Insulated walls and roofs also keep the heat out in tropical climates as does double glazing. Glazing is the worst culprit allowing high solar gains. You can buy heat reflecting glass to reduce this by as much as 50% and also use horizontal solar shading projecting out from the building where windows face the sun, even venetian blinds assist. Heavily built walls are an advantage as heat takes longer to travel through these so that the effect of the sun during the day does not begin heating the room until night time when often heating is beneficial. A competant Engineer or Architect can design a building to be comfortable and economical to operate.

Even in the UK with cavity walls it is not good practice to locate services in the cavities as they inaccessible and subject to freezing. Some silly people in the UK do cement copper pipes solidly in walls and floors as happens where you are, but as copper has a high rate of expansion this often leads to fractures at elbows and tees. If vertical pipes are to be concealed, they should either be contained in a wall chase (a recess cut into the wall) allowing the pipes to expand and contract then filled with a semi rigid insulating material to allow these to be either plastered or tiled over or alternatively dropped in a nearby cupboard or contained in a boxing.

Answer 2

Boy...You have no idea how much I've thought about that question. We bought 22 acres about 7 years ago and built a tiny "mother in laws" house with plans to build a bigger home at a later time. We own two contracting companies, Natural Stone Fabrication and the other w/ a contractor's license does installations. We also own a nice Italian Restaurant. Need I say what the housing crisis has done to our contracting companies...ditto with the restaurant because NO ONE is spending right now. I would just build a one level three bedroom, three bath home with a huge backyard for the kids. Right now the kids share our bedroom and it's horrible. Our wood fence blew down during the Santa Ana's and we don't have the money to re-build it. I can't get a break from these kids to save my soul. I even had Mike cut my hair because it's too much of a hassle to get someone up hear to babysit for an hour to get my hair cut. YOU SHOULD SEE MY HAIR! OH MY LORD! *roflmao* I don't know if that's maniacal laughter or the laughter of lost causes!

Answer 3

Buildings are a calculated science from the engineered perspective. Architects use specific regional temperature extremes to design buildings for comfort, energy use, fire integrity, emissions and to not have a negative impact on the atmosphere. We don't want to generate urban heat because it literally warms the globe and changes climate.

Ideally we are to function as one with nature.

Here is an example of that technical process from the national to municipal level. Environment Canada passes on the most important part of our building codes called regional climatic data. Provinces accept or amend but it is law. In my area, the design temperatures are 33 degrees C to simulate the hottest time of the year and -20 degrees C to simulate the coldest time of the year. I then design the building to accomodate that environmental load. Those temperatures are critical to building performance. The amount of energy consumed, the GHG emissions, the size of the heating system is determined by those 2 extremes.

The Artic insulates for different extremes as does the tropics.
In our formal education as building designers, we can calculate with the greatest of accuracy providing the inputted information is correct.

If a building is functioning as designed, it shouldn't gain heat in the summer, it is insulated for those design temperatures.

The problem is that universities, techs and trades use calculators for temperature considerations. In the end the entire national to municipal process is signed off as compliant and insured.

That is where the misconception of windows supplying heat gain indoors comes from. The walls and roof are the source of indoor heat because of UV impact. Go to http://www.thermoguy.com/globalwarming-heatgain.html and see what is happeining outside calculators. Go to http://www.thermoguy.com/globalwarming-heatloss.html to see the heating function of a building.

Enjoy the information, it is information being reported as an unprecedented emergency environmentally.

Answer 4

I'm a builder and i have homes in the UK and the south of France ..in the summer its as hot as southern Spain ..i built this home ..and i insulated as high as possible as you are right that insulation works both ways ..our home is really cool in summer (provided we keep the windows closed)...no pipes are in the walls..all in skirting boxes for access electrics are in trunking ..basically its commonsense building

Answer 5

All insulation works in reverse. Just think of the thermos flask. It will keep hot drinks hot for a long while and keep cold drinks cold for a while.