A Green Future (A New York State of Mind)

Our company 'Thermal Mass Construction INC' through architectural & mechanical ingenuity has developed a set of building materials and procedures that allow us to build state of the art residential or commercial structures 100% off the grid. We have a set of options for the level of efficiency a home buyer/owner can afford to achieve. According to their budget, as well as the amount of government subsidies and tax credits are available at the time a client may have certain restrictions on the size and scope of a new build, or the level of retro-fitting efficiency they can achieve.

Using the materials and procedures developed by Thermal Mass Construction INC new construction for a client is priced at $100 a square foot, which leaves considerable room for profit by the local contractors. Our 'thermal mass green building system' incorporates the heating & cooling system into the mass of the structure itself by way of thermal mass insulated concrete panels that have radiant coils embedded in them.

Geo-thermal, solar, and even wood & pellet stoves can be and are used during the coldest winter months to supplement heat in concert with each other. In cases where a client would like ambient heating to come from a propane fireplace or corner eternal flame producer with a heat exchanger, we can provide propane heating as a supplemental option. There are a lot of different, simplified solutions to the home energy question, and we have them all. Geographic specific analysis is done on-site to determine the best, most energy and cost efficient system your location can provide you.

The cost to the consumer is as good as or better than traditional stick built homes that use a forced air heating and cooling system. We will provide thousands of jobs for local contractors from excavation, general contractors, heavy equipment, trucking, mining, concrete production, mining, finishing laborers, to a new subdivision of the truly green housing industry, the local monitoring agency.

The monitoring agency can provide oversight and control of a local communities heating and cooling systems through the ease of a software application. Basically each home is built from thermal mass concrete insulated panels that are the main component to the heating & cooling system. Water runs through the radiant coils embedded in the panels to either heat the structure using solar hooked up to a copper manifold to 70 in cold months, or cool the structure using the 55 degrees available just below the surface of the earth during the Summer months. This is all hooked up to a thermostat that turns the system on and off accordingly.

This is the way to kick start the Green Revolution in New York, and we plan on leading the way. Please check out our blog ~ follow us on twitter @SelfSustaining ~ on Facebook Thermal Mass Construction INC, and ask us any questions you might have about what we are offering.

Cost Effective Energy Efficiency

As fuel electricity prices rise the average working class citizen is wondering how to keep up with the cost of living. Heating oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed in the past decade due to speculation in the market, and wages have stagnated leaving the average workers reaching for lint their pockets. Many economists believe the cost of food and fuel will cause another recession. It makes us all wonder if there is something more we Americans can do to solve the energy crisis.

The truth is alternative energy solutions exist all over the globe, but in America we have not done all we can to support and grow the industry. Oil & Gas companies are some of the most profitable corporations on the planet and are extremely influential in the political arena; they have worked to suppress alternative energy to some degree, yet right here in New York State we have created a company that can build you a residential or commercial structure 100% off the grid for good.

If you want to update your home for energy efficiency and raise the value retrofitting with Thermal Mass Construction INC can bring you immediate efficiency with a basement retrofit. Elevating your home off the foundation and stripping it out will allow you to install thermal mass panels fit with radiant tubing and a circulation pump to gain heat retention.  We will also install our maintenance boiler which operates at 100 degrees. The thermal mass basement design keeps the basement at 70 degrees giving you an immediate 75% greater efficiency as compared to a traditional basement and fossil fuel boiler system.

Traditional basements are kept at 55 degrees, according to the surrounding temperature of the earth.  It requires a lot of fuel to reach the 180 degrees necessary to heat up the heat exchanger and then heat the house.  The maintenance boiler can be adapted from a pellet stove or a wood stove for supplemental heat, and for 5 dollars a day in the coldest months of winter you will be able to keep an entire 4000 square foot home with the top floor wood framed at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The mass in the basement, garage and 1^st floor creates enough mass to sustain the structure so timber can still be used if you want.

So much energy is wasted just getting the heat exchanger up to temperature in a traditional forced air heating system.  With a thermal mass basement the insulated concrete panels retain the heat that is given off by the maintenance boiler as well as retaining the heat that is pumped back into the basement to keep it at 70 degrees.  Our green building techniques make the most effective use of all the mass a structure has to offer.  The more mass (weight in concrete) a structure has, the more energy it can retain.  Environmentally friendly spray foam insulation on the outside of the structure will protect the heat energy from reradiating outside.

Start with the basement to gain 75% more energy efficiency than your traditional basement and heating system provides, then start planning the phases for the retrofitting of the rest of your home one panel at a time.  With the passage of the Green Jobs Financing Law in New York on June 22^nd 2011 this state has taken a big step towards creating an environmentally and economically sustaining model.  Now is the time to take advantage of the most efficient Green building techniques available with Thermal Mass Construction INC.

Why Thermal Mass Construction?

Stone most defintely retains temperature better than stick building, properly cured concrete retains energy extremely well. Once Thermal Mass is brought up to temperature it is very difficult to change that temperature, therefore it takes little energy to maintain it. A geo-cell consisting of 1,000,000 lbs. of stone aggregate andf item 4 can be used under the slab to store heat energy collected from a series of 10 geothermal wells, with a basement cooling loop(closed system), or outside water source (open system) to cool the structure during the warmer months. 

The temperature in the earths soil is 55 degrees. A consistent flow of 55 degree water throughout the radiant tubing coils within the thermal mass panels will bring the structure down to temperature, which is always set at 70 degrees; it is the most comfortable temperature to maintain all year round with no expansion or contraction of the structure. Since it is not a forced air heating system where the temperature of the house will change every time the wind howls because cold air is replacing the forced hot air and the boiler system has to continually start up to heat the house. The thermal mass structure will retain it’s 70 degree temperature with minimal energy applied to the system.

Each thermal mass panel is lined with radiant tubing coils that utilize circulation pumps to create the flow of the heating & cooling system.  The thermal mass itself is the largest component to the system.  The more mass you have the more efficient the retention of thermal energy.  If you build a 2 story 4,000 sq. ft. structure you would only need to build the geo-cell, the first floor, and the garage with thermal mass panels and stick build the 2nd floor to keep costs low and still promote the lumber industry as well as local carpenters.

The business model we hope to achieve will put local contractors to work doing the assembly and finishing work, which can be extensive or minimal to save on costs.  Contractors can put their own unique finishing designs my manufacturing forms to mold the design pieces they plan to mold the structure with, and the molds will last forever if taken care of, once manufactured.  The possibilities for local job growth, tax revenue, and economic restoration are substantial.  We need banks to invest in retrofitting as well as mortgages for new construction.  The conceptual designs and techniques we at Thermal Mass Construction INC have developed will change the energy crisis if supported and embraced by not only individuals, but businesses, towns and municipalities who can support green building for municipal construction, like schools, libraries, and the fire house; all of which can be built completely, or partially off the grid.

Retro-fitting for energy efficiency

Energy conservation is more important now than ever before.  The world’s fossil fuel resources are dwindling and the extraction of these resources is becoming more and more toxic to our environment. The costs of our reliance on fossil fuels can be measured at the fuel pump, the forced air home heating system, and also the grocery store; the transportation of the industrial food supply costs the industry profits, so the cost of fuel for them is transferred down to the customer.  The best way to conserve and live sustainably is to maximize your home’s potential to produce and utilize energy while drastically minimizing your energy costs by using the Green architectural methods created by Thermal Mass Construction INC.

The truth is we can actually take you completely off the grid with the right combination of Geo-Thermal, Solar, and Thermal Mass Construction panels.  The geo-cell will provide the storage space for heat in the hot Summer months; the stone aggregate holds the heat in and reradiates it back into the structure when the outside temperatures begin to drop, a proportionate solar array will supply the heat for your hot water as well as supplying electricity for mechanical needs, and the thermal mass panels that will make up the housing structure will be the core of the heating and cooling system.  The panels lined with radiant tubing will absorb and retain the heat while circulating pumps will transfer the warm air throughout the entire structure, keeping every inch at 70 degrees.

Can retro-fitting be done to existing homes using Thermal Mass Construction?  The answer is YES.  As long as the structure is supported we can retro-fit one panel at a time.  If you want to do it in stages it is very easy to do one side of the structure at a time. Our structures do not require load bearing walls so adjusting the positioning of the panels prior to setting is easy. 

Each section of the home can be retro-fitted independently of the rest of the home.  Even the basement can be retro-fitted by raising the structure off the foundation, crushing the existing cinder for use in the newly dug geo-cell (saving material costs), and installing a new thermal mass constructed basement slab, walls, and ceiling.  The new structure will be heated by a wood or pellet heating transfer system, which directs the heat into the structure as well as the basement keeping it at 70 degrees thereby conserving the energy that is wasted in a traditional petroleum boiler system where the heating coils have to heat up to 100 before the forced air system can operate; traditional homes have an average basement temperature of 50 degrees.

Our architectural concepts will give you self-sustainability and take you off the grid.   You can invest in the retrofitting of your home one piece at a time or all at once; either way that initial investment will reap you rewards for the rest of your time in the home.  Say good-bye to fossil fuels and high energy costs.

TMC INC Heating Concept

Heating – GEO Cell - Solar Battery (Heat)/ Cooling Cell 

A GEO Cell is a means of storing energy during the summer months when solar energy is abundant. How can this be done? One way would be to install full 8 to 10 ft tall basement panels instead of frost walls for a garage that is connected to a house. The basement wall panels are already insulated on the exterior side and the radiant tubing in each panel will absorb the heat and redistribute to the rest of the structure. Next lay down insulation at the lowest level, over virgin ground. Fill this are with an aggregate such as Item 4, this material will help minimize air spaces, strategically place boulders and radiant tubing. Loops for heating the mass will be placed on the bottom and loops to collect the heat will be near the top. Heat with solar in the summer months and store for winter use. Use wood boiler to help charge system in winter months along with solar array.

Thermal Mass Monthly Temps ~

A monthly overview of what systems are running, mass temperatures and what energy is being stored. Starting with the end of the heating season:

March

Near the end of this month the heating system will be turned off. The inside temp will be 70 degrees.

April, May and June

When the mass inside is at 70 degrees and the outside temperatures are average, the mass tends to maintain a constant temperature.

At the end of April the temperature inside will be 70.

At the end of May the Temp will be 70.

June the temperature of the mass will start to rise.

By using the BCL (Basement Cooling Loop) and a circulating pump tied to a thermostat the structures temperature can be maintained.

July and August

During these months the GEO Cells can be charged by using a solar array.

During peak cooling season the mass may be brought down to 65 degrees.

A dehumidifier and or air-conditioner may be needed to help control humidity.

September, October

Near the end of August or beginning of Sept. the cooling gets turned off.

Concrete naturally starts to warm up bringing the temp back up to the 70 degrees.

Solar array will still be heating GEO Cells.

November and December

Use solar array to maintain 70 degrees inside.

Use GEO Cell to compensate when solar is not enough.

Stove/Boiler can be used as back up. The heat that it produces will first be absorbed into the concrete structure. After the structure is up to temperature the wood boiler can then charge the GEO Cell.

January and February

You will still be using Solar as main source of heat.

Use the GEO Cells up Completely

Wood Stove Burning at night and solar during the day will maintain a comfortable 70 degree plus temperature inside.

Innovative Efficiencies

            We all know that the awareness of the need to conserve energy has been developing for some time and is now wide spread. The field of events that provide opportunities for development of practical and stable mechanisms is now upon us.  This gives us the ability to implement change in basic building protocols to enhance energy conservation. Using Thermal Mass as an integrated component of any appropriately sized building reduces its energy operating consumption and has the desired effects of true economy in the preservation of our resources, our environment, and our families’ future.

            Each of the elements commended upon are expandable through theory, practical application, physical results and translation into actual economics on both individual and community levels.

            As in all successful endeavors the simpler and more basic the idea, the more profound the results. Thermal Mass Construction is simply that, a basic application of energy absorption, storage, and reradiation.  In TMC we place large amounts of mass using concrete precast walls, and position the concrete walls inside of a well insulated shell.  Unlike traditional methods of heating or cooling the air inside the structure, TMC maintains the mass’s temperature at approximately 70 degrees year round creating a more comfortable, consistent temperature. By combining TMC with solar hot water and photovoltaic components to your home we will approach a practical self sustaining structure.

            The concept of Thermal Mass Construction could be considered the Bridge that closed the gap between the amount of energy a home consumes and the maximum sustainable output produced from an appropriately sized Solar System.