Re: insulation gaskest for electrical boxes
Whoa... from electrical cover plate gaskets to PERSIST. That's an enormous leap!
Firstly, the thin foam gaskets have virtually no insulation value - they are air-sealing gaskets, since in most conventional homes with 2x4 or 2x6 walls, fiberglass insulation (probably not behind the electrical boxes) and no air barrier, outlets are a major vector for infiltration and this is one of the least expensive and most cost-effective energy conservation remediations.
Secondly, as for the PERSIST (and its cousin REMOTE) approaches to cold-climate building, they are the building scientist's (and perhaps builder's) wet dream.
Contrary to Ray Moore's enthusiastic statement, these super-sealed houses are "advanced" only in the sense of being far removed from the kind of shelter that co-evolved with human beings and served us well for millions of years. The systems DO take modern building science to its extreme in terms of isolating the structural frame from the exterior environment, but this also isolates the human occupants from the same environment.
Most building scientists, being scientists, seem to forget that buildings are meant for human habitation and need to be designed around our needs. Most of the current global crises and much of our modern pandemic of ill-health are secondary to our increasing separation and isolation from the natural world in which we evolved. We were not meant to live in a plastic box, kept minimally habitable by complex mechanical systems of life-support. The only place such a structure is appropriate is in outer space - i.e. a completely inhospitable environment.
Our skin and our clothing must breathe (transpire moisture) in order to maintain an inner environment amenable to life. Our shelters, which are our third skins, also need to breath. The Bau Biologie (biology of the house) movement, which integrates shelter with health, understands this.
Whoa... from electrical cover plate gaskets to PERSIST. That's an enormous leap!
Firstly, the thin foam gaskets have virtually no insulation value - they are air-sealing gaskets, since in most conventional homes with 2x4 or 2x6 walls, fiberglass insulation (probably not behind the electrical boxes) and no air barrier, outlets are a major vector for infiltration and this is one of the least expensive and most cost-effective energy conservation remediations.
Secondly, as for the PERSIST (and its cousin REMOTE) approaches to cold-climate building, they are the building scientist's (and perhaps builder's) wet dream.
Contrary to Ray Moore's enthusiastic statement, these super-sealed houses are "advanced" only in the sense of being far removed from the kind of shelter that co-evolved with human beings and served us well for millions of years. The systems DO take modern building science to its extreme in terms of isolating the structural frame from the exterior environment, but this also isolates the human occupants from the same environment.
Most building scientists, being scientists, seem to forget that buildings are meant for human habitation and need to be designed around our needs. Most of the current global crises and much of our modern pandemic of ill-health are secondary to our increasing separation and isolation from the natural world in which we evolved. We were not meant to live in a plastic box, kept minimally habitable by complex mechanical systems of life-support. The only place such a structure is appropriate is in outer space - i.e. a completely inhospitable environment.
Our skin and our clothing must breathe (transpire moisture) in order to maintain an inner environment amenable to life. Our shelters, which are our third skins, also need to breath. The Bau Biologie (biology of the house) movement, which integrates shelter with health, understands this.
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