Agenda - Council - 04/22/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 ~PLATO course continued from page 1 building codes and zoning ordinances, waterproofing, insulation, energy as- pects, berming, interior planning, mechanical Ii.e., heating, ventilation and air conditioning] systems, and financing." Students will interact directly with the computer on the nine lessons; a workbook supplements the computer sessions. Grass on the Roof, the recent- ly completed film on earth-sheltered housing (see Underline, Vol. I, No. 2) will introduce the students to basic earth sheltering concepts. A film strip, summarizing the course and showing examples of houses that have been built, will complete the course. Four people-a builder, a contrac- tor, an architect, and a homemaker- were shown the pilot version of the course and suggested changes. "They were all favorably impressed, and had only minor suggestions to make," Lane says. "Our experience with this pilot group suggests that both the general public and professionals will benefit from it," Lane says. Lane stresses that knowledge of computers is not necessary for taking the course: "Believe me, if you can turn on a TV set, you can take a PLATO course," The course, which was funded with a $50,000 grant from Control Data to the Underground Space Center, was developed by a team including Under- ground Space Center staff and CDC personnel. Lane and Dr. Ray Sterling provided the technical expertise and knowledge of earth sheltering; the CDC people provided the computer know- how and familiarity with the PLATO system. Lane says, "Our expectation is that people should finish this course with the necessary background to build an earth-sheltered house right, and will know where and when to get profes- signal help. People interested in build- ing an earth-sheltered home shouldn't have to be at the mercy of sales- people-they should be able to make many of the decisions about how and where to build on their own." Estimated cost of the PLATO course is $75. For more information about the course and for a directory of Con.trol Data Learning Centers, call the education division of the Control Data office nearest you. Monitoring continued from page 1 humidity sensor-will provide readings that will be recorded on cassette tapes, in the same way that data are recorded for the MHFA houses. In this home, however, all the power has been turned off except for one refrigerator-no heat, lights, cooking or people are warming the house. As of early February (over four weeks after the house power was turned off), the Iow- Underground Space Center Research Associate Charles Lane points to a data logger, which will collect energy use information from the houses being monitored by the Center. est temperature recorded in the house was 45° F., even though outdoor tern- peratures had dropped below 0° F. more than a half-dozen times. "What we've found happening so far," says Lane, "is that the house gets a solar recharge of about 10 degrees as the sun comes in the south facing win- dows. At night the temperature might drop down to about 45 or 48 degrees. Then, as the sun comes up and in the windows, it pushes the temperature up to about 55 or 56 degrees. "This demonstrates a thermal lag or thermal mass effect," Lane explains. "In a conventional structure, you'd find a much wider range in hot and cold temperature extremes. We've known that earth sheltering gives that effect, but it's interesting to see it actually happening and documented." Lane also plans to monitor the house for a month with the drapes closed, "so that we can see what hap- pens to the temperatures when there's a reduced passive solar gain. Closing the drapes-which are made of light material-will probably filter out about 50 percent of the potential solar gain to the house." Ideally, according to Lane, the monitoring of the MHFA houses should continue for at least three, and preferably five, years in order to pro- vide sufficient hard data on energy use in earth-sheltered dwellings. "We know that earth-sheltered housing works from an energy standpoint," he says. "But what we know now is only the net result of energy savings-that is, how much total energy is used. What we want now is to know quantitatively how each component of the house be- haves thermally, so that engineers, architects, designers, and builders will have the necessary data to make sound assumptions for design judgments in the future." Subscription Information Beginning with the May issue of Underline, the regular bimonthly news- letter will be available by subscription only (an 8-page fall issue detailing the Underground Space Center's annual conference series will be sent to everyone on the Center's mailing list). To receive all six issues for the coming year, peel off your address label from this issue (correct name/address information if necessary), attach it on the subscription form be/ow and return it with pay- ment to: Underline, Underground Space Center, 11 Mines and Metallurgy, 221 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455. Please enter my subscription to Underline. Enclosed is my check or money order for $4.00 for a one-year subscription. (Payable to the Underground Space Center) Name Mailing Address City State Zip . Interests