I'm agreeing with John and adding my thoughts along those lines about
"breathing Walls" Have I missed something here? I am refering to the
rammed straw/clay walls (Robert Laporte) If air flows through the
walls, doesn't that amount to a filter you could never clean? Isn't the
straw a food source for microrganisms?
I remember as an elementary teacher how I grew "critters" for my
students to observe. I sterilized a glass jar and the water in it, then
added a handful of straw. In one day there were microscopic and visible
plants and animals. I have this picture that the breathing walls would
"culture" some questionable life forms too.
I had the same reservations about the "Double air-envelope walls" of a
few years ago. Those spaces where air would circulate around the house
could get dusty besides harboring any number of pests.
Likewise the "hypocaust" systems of passive heat storage in hollow
cement block floors. Seems like a mouse bunker to me.
Any filter that can't be cleaned would simply become a dirt sink after a
while. Even some of the rotary wheel type HRVs cannot be cleaned
despite what their manufacturers say.
Pat Ballentine
-- MZ
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