Vacuum Bottle Houses from 1932
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05.13.07
They were really on to something here. At the time this was proposed they were worried about the return of an ice age but it works for warm climates too:
"Why, then, have we never adopted the most perfect form of insulated house known to science—the vacuum bottle? Not that the house would necessarily look like a vacuum jug; it would simply make use of the insulation principles which keep liquids in such a container hot or cold for hours."
They figured out the engineering:
It is obvious that we must be careful in the design and construction of our vacuum bottle houses if they are to withstand an atmospheric pressure that will amount to over ten pounds per square inch (this is for a partial and not a complete vacuum). No merely double concrete wall will withstand this.Consequently the wall must be made cellular; that is, honey-combed with tiny chambers inter-connected so that air will pass freely from one to the other. A good idea of this construction will be gained from the drawing. By the use of this sort of construction, great pressure may be safely withstood and there would be no danger of a house falling victim to the relentless atmosphere.
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Neat idea. Just be careful how far you drive that nail in to mount that nice picture frame you just bought :) (slurp!). [I'm joking, of course, self-sealing tanks are something that have been around for ages...)
Jesting aide, it would be neat. A two walled metal structure would probably be difficult (think submarine. Now think millions of them, all over. Do we have enough steel for millions of "land submarines"? Even given that they don't need to be all that thick...there'd be a lot of them!). If you depart from metal and use some strong films, or something not around yet, I could see it possibly taking off. If the energy saved is worth the cost of putting that vacuum there, it'll happen (eventually), as energy costs go up and technology advances (ie. vacuum costs go down).
With that much insulation you'd have to run the air conditioner in the winter just to keep out heat from appliances. And of course you'd need some kind of fresh air exchanger.
This tech has been deployed for cabinet wall insulation of refrigeration units. It works, and allows the walls to be less thick, leaving more space for food.
Hate to say it but the science is kinda old news.
When researching for a grade 9 science project some 20 years ago, the best insulator is a vacuum.
The second best insulator is Air.
...the engineering on the other hand, could be tricky.
Cost? well....
search on "vacuum insulation panel"
http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inventory/Interior-Partitions-Ceilings/vacuum-insulation-panel
Re: A
no kidding the science is old news! They are referencing an article from 1932.
Perhaps it'd work best in the summer if there was a hatch that opened in the roof to let convection lead heat out, maybe with an attic fan to help it out? Oh, and vents that open on ground level to let cooler air in. This could work very well, possibly better than conventional house's cooling. It'd be interesting to see a concept trailer home built this way. It's cheap enough to test the concept, and has a minimum number of rooms to engineer out.
I kinda had this idea during my 1st term in architectural school after hearing the insulating properties of air.
I thought of simple to install presized rectangular boxes filled & sealed with air in typical or custom construction sizes to go between studs. I didn't envision them to be a vacuum, more just a tightly sealed 'air box' that was made with the right material to allow air to very, very slowly breathe through it. I don't believe in an 'airtight' house.
Any space around the edges of the could be filled with a insulating foam, or if not very 'green' some other loose material that may also hold the panels in place. They could also be hung in place if it proved to be more efficient for installation & long term usages.
I also though a great way to implement these would be to possibly have them be 'inflatable' but that would require a proper material that could be locked into it's inflated shape indefinitely. It would reduce the overall cubic size of shipping these, allowing more to be shipped per truck.
Lastly, my sci-fi future version would be a series of panels linked to a central, solar powered, air compressor to keep the panels inflated. Small pressure sensors would trigger the inflating action, and would probably use minimal energy in the inflating process, if the air was routed correctly.
The iNFLATe House.
Hi think lower teck. ceramic vacuum microspheres have been developed by NASA for space shuttle tiles . They are available as a paint addative. I live in Az. it is 114 and we are keenly interested in insulation. Try Insuladd.com they are amazingly effective and the best bang for the buck,super space technology mix 1 bag in 1gal paint. No I dont work for them just love the product,I painted the inside of my roof as well as all outside walls and inside walls and celings and the difference is amazing. Larry