Browse Forums Eco Living Re: Is masonry better than clay bricks? 8Nov 01, 2008 5:08 pm Casa2 When you say effecient, do yoou mean thermaly effecient, construction time effecient or somethign else. If talking about thermal effeciency, a double brick wall is better than a single concret block for two reasons. Firstly, there is an air cavity which increases the insualton value. Secondly, there is a high thermal mass on the inside, which is a good thing. You don't need double brick to get the thermal mass benefits. Reverse BV is more cost-effective as long as you use a cheap exterior cladding. Timber, colourbond or fibrocement are options. You can do Hebel power panel with render if you want the modern look. The cavity is not that insulative in itself. Adding bulk insulation is the most cost-effective. Another issue is Embodied energy - fired clay brick and solid concrete are very energy intensive products. In a BV home they are not even structural materials - just a facade. However, they do have an extremely long life-cycle unlike timber. I've dug some footings to embed a post anchor into. My holes are around 450mm deep which I'll put a 200mm stirrup into. The bottom of these holes seem firm enough. … 0 3322 brokers will also be in a position to get you a better rate than the advertised rate most times. 6 7579 Bigger the better for storage for me IMO. But I guess it's harder to tell the cost/benefit in your example - mainly the 'cost'? If you go 700mm, what are you doing extra… 2 977 |