Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 24, 2020 10:07 pm Hi All, Designing our future build in Albany, WA. We're trying to incorporate passive solar principles where we can, to reduce energy input whilst keeping within budget. We've been looking at Reverse Brick Veneer (RBV) as our primary construction method, but we're unsure on whether all external walls should be RBV, purely from a thermal mass perspective. We're aware that the point of RBV is retaining thermal mass on the inside, but is there a critical point where you exceed the internal mass? It's noted that you can have too much thermal mass which counteracts by absorbing heat from the house when not it's not supposed to. Question is, do we have to undertake NatHERS modeling to estimate an appropriate quantity of thermal mass from RBV, or is the effect negligible? Perhaps there's a compromise in that the excess thermal mass is partially compensated by the extra insulation that RBV provides? Understand there are plenty of variables, so generalised responses or advice is most welcome! Cheers Re: Reverse brick veneer - thermal mass 2Aug 25, 2020 1:03 am You mainly need to locate thermal mass in the areas which are exposed to direct sun for extended periods of time e.g. opposite glazed windows or facing your heaters. In your area, in most cases you will be fine with just few internal brick walls strategically placed opposite north facing windows. Re: Reverse brick veneer - thermal mass 3Aug 25, 2020 10:10 pm ![]() You mainly need to locate thermal mass in the areas which are exposed to direct sun for extended periods of time e.g. opposite glazed windows or facing your heaters. In your area, in most cases you will be fine with just few internal brick walls strategically placed opposite north facing windows. Thanks Alex! Yes, we were thinking of doing RVB on the northern and western walls, and potentially a poly type method on the south and east walls. Try get the best of both worlds. Re: Reverse brick veneer - thermal mass 4Aug 25, 2020 10:59 pm ... correction, ideally, it should be walls opposite to the northern windows, not the northern walls themselves ![]() I wouldn't be doing well against western walls as in that case RVB will be generating lots of heat overnight during summers. There are large volume builders in NSW that do this as standard practice and have done for many years. Personally i would never allow this on a home i was to build for… 2 4400 ![]() DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair fair question about the slope. Re soil I mean that it doesn't look like reactive clay which swells and shrinks with wetness/dryness. If the floors in your house are… 3 30502 We used pro clima walls and roof. It's a high quality product (good vapour permeability and water resistance) and can withstand UV for a long period of time. Pro clima's… 10 22551 |