The impact of thermal mass vs insulation.| Monday BS with Emu Mariana - Feb 28, 2022

A common misconception, especially in the world of sustainable or "green" building, is the impact of thermal mass vs thermal insulation. A lot of this confusion comes from well meaning design movements like "Passive Solar" and earthships. Often, in single-family design, there is an outsized expectation that the effect of thermal mass will be much greater than it is on the performance of the house. In other words, in residential buildings the impact of thermal mass is secondary compared to other elements of the building envelope (e.g. insulation, air sealing, windows, shading). On the other hand, in larger buildings with highly variable occupancy, thermal mass can start to be part of a strategy to optimize mechanical systems.

Join Mariana as she approaches this topic at a high level. Where would Emu put its money - thermal mass or thermal insulation?

Please see our blog for research sources: https://emu.systems/2022/02/28/the-im...

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What is this series? We're trying a thing. Join Emu Co-Founder, Mariana Pickering, for a super casual and quick 5 -10 min video every Monday covering some commonly asked B.S. (Building Science) questions we get as Passive House educators. Requests for future topics highly encouraged in the comments!